Early Career Teachers
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This page has been designed to be the one-stop for early career teachers. Providing information, guidance and resources to support your teaching of biology using plants.
Growth Hub
The Growth Hub is your go-to for resources and articles designed to explore different ways of thinking about teaching biology. Put simply, it is an area for growing your plant science knowledge and skills. Key Growth Hub resources for your use:
The importance of biology – This article provides a framework that you can use with students so that students can build up their skills and appreciate the importance of studying biology and not just the specific application contexts of a specification.
Getting plants into different areas of biology – This comprehensive working document will provide you with ideas to embed plants throughout biology helping you to reduce compartmentalisation, highlight general principles and link learning to what students experience in the world around them. All of which will work towards making your students ‘all round’ biologists.
Misconceptions in biology – In this interactive article, using content from an online course developed by SAPS and STEM Learning, you will look at addressing the common misconception that plants only photosynthesise and only animals respire.
Key resources
Essential practicals – This collection includes six essential plant practicals for 14-16 and post-16 biology, covering a range of topics that you’re likely to teach during the course of a year.
Plant science posters – Decorate your classroom or lab with posters about plants as real-life contexts, careers incorporating plant science and plant disease. Posters come with downloadable resources.
Careers in science – Each of the six resources showcase careers with a contemporary scientist working in a different field, followed by a practical investigation and ideas for student projects.
A-level set practicals – Student worksheets, teaching and technical notes on topics covering key biological processes including factors affecting photosynthesis and osmosis
Plant disease – This collection of resources introduces students to the world of plant disease.
Resources supporting your teaching of key biological principles
| Using a potometer
|
Fluorescing bananas | Microscopy of a vascular plant stem |
| Osmosis with bell pepper
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Root tip mitosis | Kitchen classification |
| Plant disease
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Stomata in Tradescantia | Poster resources |
Using the above resources, you are well on your way to getting plants into different areas of biology.
Engagement with Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
We know that trainers in ITE have a crucial role to play in developing and inspiring you as a future generation of teachers and by ‘osmosis’ your students too. That is why we support tutors from Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and from School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) programs in their mission through two projects.
Our Train the Trainer event held annually in Cambridge provides tutors and their technicians from across the UK with an opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills using our resources. We invite both tutors and technicians for a collaborative approach reinforcing the significant role both have to play in the classroom.
Many tutors comment on the unique experience of being able to network with their peers as well as delve into cutting edge plant science research with an introductory lecture on contemporary plant science. If you think your ITE institution would benefit from Train the Trainer, get in touch via saps@botanic.cam.ac.uk
Here is what some tutors have said about Train the Trainer:
I have so many more ideas and enthusiasm for incorporating more plant science into the ITE programme.
Useful practicals to use when training teachers.
The ‘Biology Survival Guide’ is a USB memory stick preloaded with teaching resources voted most useful by ITE tutors (see images below). The resources cover a range of topics for 11–14-year-olds across biology, chemistry and physics within a plant context. There is also support for topics for students aged 14-16 and post-16. Trainee teachers across the UK are provided with two opportunities throughout the year to receive the USB from their University or SCITT tutor.
Meet us
Association for Science Education (ASE)
Each year we exhibit and facilitate sessions at the ASE annual conference. This offers you the opportunity to get hands-on with our practicals and explore our other resources as well as get advice from our team. The conference takes place at a different University each January across the UK. The ASE offer ticket concessions for trainee teachers and you can find out about what we have in store for the next conference by clicking here.
Contact us
Send us any query you have regarding one of our resources or plant science in general and your question will be fielded to a group of experts. We aim to get back to you with a response within a week. We are available for you to reach us throughout the year. Simply email us at saps@botanic.cam.ac.uk
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