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  • SAPS Newsletter - November 2013

SAPS Newsletter - November 2013


Free teaching resources, a five minute practical and more
Welcome to the November 2013 newsletter from Science and Plants for Schools. As always, it’s packed with new teaching resources, ideas and opportunities for your classes. 

But lets start with the second in our video series, showing quick, cheap and easy biology practicals.
Can a Venus Fly Trap count? 

Watch the practical demonstration - can a Venus Fly Trap count?

Download the students' sheets and teachers' notes for this practical
Using this in the classroom

The Venus Fly Trap makes a great example of an extreme adaptation for the classroom, and a really nice way for students' to recreate some of Darwin's experiments for themselves, as given in the teaching notes above.

However, science teacher Chris Graham also suggests using it as a striking example of osmosis in action. (Controlled ion fluxes create osmotic movement of water molecules toward the outer-most surface of the leaf, resulting in the expansion of the outer cell surfaces, causing a distortion which then snaps the trap shut.) He begins with some well-known practical demonstrations of osmosis in cells (using red onion) and osmosis in tissues (using potato cylinders), and finishes by using the Venus Fly Trap to demonstrate osmosis at the level of the whole organism.
New Resource - CSI Trees (GCSE, A-level, RHS Level 3) 
A sickly tree might not look like much of a crime scene, but the influx of pathogens on plants is causing increasing concern in the UK. In this new resource, students take on the role of plant pathologists, asking questions to determine the cause of a tree's death, and deciding which tests should be carried out. This resource was developed by teacher Sarah Owen-Hughes after attending the Gatsby Plants Summer School 2013 - see below for more about the Summer School 2014. 

Download the resources
Our forests - natural environments or man-made?

This thought-provoking magazine article from the BBC discusses the various approaches to managing the spread of diseases across our forests. Should we actively try to create resilient ecosystems, or should we leave it to nature? A good one to print off and share with students in the classroom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24239440
Look out for your free photosynthesis poster - arriving this week

If you requested our free photosynthesis poster, or if you teach in a sixth form in the UK, watch out for your copy, arriving by post in your schools this week. The envelope will be marked 'University of Cambridge'.

Read the companion article to the poster, looking at the science in depth
Online lecture - Unlocking the secrets of C4 photosynthesis

If your attention has been caught by our photosynthesis poster and the accompanying article, why not hear one of the key researchers in the field share his experience?
Dr Julian Hibbert's lecture at the Gatsby Plants Summer School 2011 is now available to view online from the Gatsby TREE online teaching resource collection. (Free registration required)

Watch Dr Julian Hibberd's lecture online
Opportunities - Join the SAPS team for two fully-funded CPD events

We've got two CPD opportunities coming up over the next year. Curriculum Harvest (Cambridge, 12th-13th Feb 2014) will bring together teachers and plant scientists for two days of cutting edge science and resource development. And - get it in your diary now - the annual Gatsby Science Summer School will take place in early July 2014. A chance to spend 4 marvellous days with fellow teachers, biology undergraduates, and some of the UK's leading scientists, to revitalise your enthusiasm for science. Drop us an email if you're interested in finding out more. 
The future of A levels - have your say

A levels are being reformed and consultations on the changes are now open for your comments. The DfE is asking what the content of A levels should include and Ofqual is asking about their assessment.

Think that the subject knowledge and practical skills in A level Biology need to change? Respond to the DfE consultation by Friday 20 December 2013. More information here

Have views on the assessment of practical skills in A level Biology? Respond to the Ofqual consultation by Friday 17 January 2014. More information here

We'd like to know what you think about our newsletter. What would you like more of? Would you like us to continue our series of videos next term? Let us know, with an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Best wishes,


The Administratort, Dan Jenkins and Ginny Page

The Science and Plants for Schools team



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