Lloyd Forster

Science summer school starts tommorow! Still a lotta last minute things to do. Pupil lists, lunchs, directions all done but you know trying to get 100 pupils from 6 schools to a location, to arrive a given time……

As for me I am looking forward to0 it all. I need to get my trusty sony camera sorted out with charged batteries and memory cards with space!

Filed by lforster at 1:55 am under Metropolitan University Link, science
2 Comments

London Metropolitan University recently opened its new £30m Science Centre – the largest ever single UK investment in university science education. The Centre, next door to the new Arsenal Emirates Stadium in north London, boasts state-of-the-art facilities, including the 8,000m² Super Lab, equipped with the most advanced interactive teaching equipment in Europe. All the lighting for the Lab, which includes 280 individual student work-stations and extensive audio-visual equipment, was supplied by Concord:marlin.

The space has an open-grid ceiling, so the Concord:marlin team had to co-ordinate closely with the designers and contractors, in order to integrate the lighting within various exposed service ducts and other equipment. The main lighting in Lab is provided by 32 suspended linear rows of Concord:marlin’s Ovation 65 system. Each unit has 2×35W HE T5 lamps offering direct-indirect lighting distribution.

Energy-efficiency was a key component of the lighting brief, so the lighting is fitted with both daylight-linking and occupancy sensors, to avoid unnecessary burning when not required. However, individual control was important too, so each workstation includes a manual over-ride for the adjacent lighting, allowing students to raise and lower the lighting levels, depending on the visual task. Elsewhere in the new Science Centre, Concord;marlin Brio wall-fittings are used on the stairs and in the circulation areas — again these were equipped with presence detectors to ensure maximum energy efficiency.

This new £30 million facility and innovative Super Lab, equipped with its modern, interactive, energy-saving lighting, underlines the University’s commitment to delivering the highest standard of science education and to supporting British industry with first class science graduates.

Filed by lforster at 5:01 pm under Metropolitan University Link
No Comments

 On Tuesday 100 year 9/10 pupils from our schools are going to the science summer school at Metropolitan University. Out of the 5 topics the most popular is the DNA profiling. so here is an article from Wikopedia

‘Genetic fingerprinting, DNA testing, DNA typing, and DNA profiling are techniques used to distinguish between individuals of the same species using only samples of their DNA. Its invention by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester was announced in 1985. Two humans will have the vast majority of their DNA sequence in common. Genetic fingerprinting exploits highly variable repeating sequences called minisatellites. Two unrelated humans will be unlikely to have the same numbers of minisatellites at a given locus. In STR profiling, which is distinct from DNA fingerprinting, PCR is. used to obtain enough DNA to then detect the number of repeats at several loci. It is possible to establish a match that is extremely unlikely to have arisen by coincidence, except in the case of identical twins, who will have identical genetic profiles.

Genetic fingerprinting is used in forensic science, to match suspects to samples of blood, hair, saliva or semen. It has also led to several exonerations of formerly convicted suspects. It is also used in such applications as identifying human remains, paternity testing, matching organ donors, studying populations of wild animals, and establishing the province or composition of foods. It has also been used to generate hypotheses on the pattern of the human diaspora in prehistoric times.

Testing is subject to the legal code of the jurisdiction in which it is performed. Usually the testing is voluntary, but it can be made compulsory by such instruments as a search warrant or court order. Several jurisdictions have also begun to assemble databases containing DNA information of convicts.

The United Kingdom currently has the most extensive DNA database in the world, with well over 7 million records as of 2007: The National DNA Database (NDNAD). The size of this database,and its rate of growth, is giving concern to civil liberties groups in the UK, where police have wide-ranging powers to take samples and retain them even in the event of acquittal.’

Filed by lforster at 4:46 pm under Metropolitan University Link
No Comments

I think the summer school will be quite successful. I have looked at the project details and they are quite interesting especially for pupils interested in forensic science / CSI.

There’s:

Project 1  DNA profiling to examin and evaluate a mock crime scene

Project 2  The Rocket .using the explosive  nature of the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen to power a minature rocket

project 3 Spotty Betty. bringing togther microbiology and chemistry. looking at the mode and effectiveness of various essential oils on the acne bacteria.

project 4  Got protein. examining the protein content of a range of milk sources using sophisticated analytical tools

project 5    ‘GMO investigator’ investigating the presence of genetically modified (GM) content in popular food products

some ideas!

How about pupils assessing their work via a blog or comments on a blog.

I will need to set up a secondary blog for this purpose.

Filed by lforster at 7:23 am under Metropolitan University Link
No Comments

SuperLabMetroUni.pdf

Three pictures from SuperLab at metropolitan university. I used keynote to create file then converted it to PDF.

Filed by lforster at 9:58 am under Metropolitan University Link
No Comments

The prospects for the summer school are looking great with several schools expressing interest. The relevance of this summer school to the transformation is the link between BME and high quality resources to raise achievement; a link to my research question.

My contact was very impressed with the possibilities that the Mac platform has for producing high quality resources.

Most dash but more later with some picture of the super lab!

Filed by lforster at 5:01 am under Metropolitan University Link
No Comments