How does one come up with the big questions in biology, collect
the appropriate data, test hypotheses and ultimately interpret what
it all means? It is a logical sequence of steps integral to the
scientific process that many of us have been trained in and which
is essential to making evidence supported discoveries. It is also a
valuable skill-set for life and, as it turns out, a key part of the
national curriculum in getting students to 'Work
Scientifically.'
The Crick has been working with local Camden schools to help
teach and assess these skills within the Year 7
curriculum. The goal was to develop and pilot an interactive
science project which encourages students to think creatively and
experience the process of making discoveries first-hand. Data from
this project, in the form of mini scientific papers produced by the
students, was used to determine a model for student assessment at
the end of Year 7.
In choosing a topic, we were inspired by research in our labs on
genome integrity and DNA repair. 'Where does UV light come
from, how can we measure it and how does increased exposure to UV
light lead to skin and as an extension, DNA damage?' Using UV LED
torches and UV sensitive beads, students explored these questions,
focussing on the effects of increasing UV dosage and the
effectiveness of different sunscreen SPFs.
Following the pilot, one student said 'I enjoyed finding out
about SPFs because I had never really thought about it and it was
really fun'. Another student commented: 'It was great because
everyone was included and it was an interesting topic.' Student
feedback on how we can further improve the project included
following up with real experiments using DNA in the lab. The
suggestion of also 'maybe offering a practical for every lesson in
class', triggered a few smiles among teachers.
'It was rewarding to see all the pupils plan and carry out the
experiment and obtain their own set of results. In particular, it
was hard not to be touched by their excitement at making
discoveries. It has been exciting to work together with teachers in
finding the most effective way of embedding the project within the
curriculum, and so now we are looking into ways of rolling out the
project across Camden schools.' said Dr. Ivana Petrovska, Science
Educator at the Crick. It is with such collaborations involving the
Crick, local schools and the Camden Community in which we hope our
educational programme will be a great resource to schools and an
inspiration to students across the borough.