The Science Department: Home

In today's research lesson, we will gain a broader understanding of arable crops. Find out the following:
Which crops are commonly grown (wheat, barley etc and a selection of vegetable crops)?
When are they planted?
When are they harvested?
Do they need any special care (soil, chemicals, watering)?
How much do they cost (seeds or seedlings)?
How much will they sell for this year?

Put all of this information into a table for us to discuss next lesson.

We need to build up on our ideas around redeveloping land. Yesterday, we looked at the work going on in Stafford, we now need to get ideas about smaller projects.

Have a look at this news article which is about a very local project to us.

Here we have a similar story of a project near Liverpool.

A great plan all in one place here

In this lesson, you need to gather more ideas and list them clearly. In a few minutes of research, I have found:
• Bug hotels, beehives, meadow flowers (all to increase biodiversity)
• Tree planting, orchards (in areas where there are few trees)
• Park area, dog walking site, swings/slides (outdoor activities in city centres).

Research more and save the web address of any news articles to share after.

Yesterday, we had the privilege to visit the Harper-Keele veterinary medicine school. Today, we are making a diary of the things that we did and learned. Make sure that you include:
•Puppy health checks
• Dog anatomy
• Bandaging wounds on animals
• Preventing infection in animals
• Dog CPR
• The tour of the university campus

It is now time to put into practice all of the things that we have been learning about since September.

Job 1, give your groundworks company a name. "Gav's Groundworks", "Egerton's Estate Management", "Lil's Landscapes"...

Next, What are you going to turn this into?

What work needs to be done? (PPE and equipment list)

What is the plan for the area, what will it look like?

Health and safety for your team, the public during the work and for those using it afterwards.

Environmental impacts and sustainability.

A School in North Staffordshire no longer uses the bus park at the front of its property. Imagine that we no longer use the bus park at the front of school and the council has decided to turn it into a small community space.

Plan what we could do with our bus park that would benefit our community (of which you are a part). Be realistic about the size of the space and costs. Come up with a variety of uses and save this as a document called "bus park plans".

Some in the group were lucky enough to visit the LAMMA exhibition yesterday. In today's lesson, we will hear from these students as they talk about what they saw.
For the rest of this lesson, we will find out what new technology was exhibited and you can then describe how each of these can improve:
Safety,
Yield (crops and livestock),
Costs (reduction in waste or labour costs).

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a blessing for conservationists and the organisms that live within. It can make it difficult for the land owner though. In this lesson, find out about SSSIs. The following will help:
The full legal documentation about SSSIs from the government.
The maps that show their location, have a look at our most local ones.
Finally, here is a news story involving SSSI land.

Summarise your findings and see how this can affect a land owner (positives and negatives). You will also benefit from generating a list of reasons that sites have been deemed to be SSSIs.

In the required practical that year 10 completed this week, one pair of chemists began the process of crystallising their copper sulfate and these beautiful needle like crystals formed in seconds. The crystals have since continued to grow.

On the 16th October last year, I shared the story about a local farm changing the use of land as they wanted to expand their dairy herd. They had their planning permission turned down and we discussed in lesson how their plans affected others including residents.
There has now been an update to the story in which it now looks like the farm plans are going to go ahead. Think about the cost (both time and financial) for the land owners to get to this outcome.

In today's lesson, begin to research how technology is used in the Land-Based industries. Although we naturally focus on farming, please consider other uses of land.
Here are some starting points:
• Data storage
• Climate control
• Precision farming (RTK)
• Robotic milking parlours
• GPS
• CCTV
• Communications
• Drones
This list is just the beginning, find examples and describe what they add to the industry and how they do that.

We recently saw the devastating effects of a flea beetle infestation in a field of oilseed rape. In this lesson, research and create a list of pests and diseases that affect crops here in the UK.

Think about how trustworthy the site is too, you should start with Government advice through DEFRA. Share experience of ones that have affected you.

Extension:
How can these diseases be reduced or prevented? Think about how they would be different in "organic" farms.

In lessons, we discussed the importance of a tractor. Some of us have very little idea about them so we are going to correct that now by finding out the following information.
What are the different "makes" of tractor?
How do the engine sizes vary?
What jobs are they used for?
What training/licences are needed?
How much do they cost (get a range)?
What is recommended for different types of farm?
Next week, you will present your findings as we decide what would be the perfect tractor for us if the school grounds were converted into an arable farm.

Part 2:
We will be having a test on Monday - Animal care/welfare, animal husbadry, feeding. Use any spare time to revise.

Having looked at caring for animals, we will now focus on what we feed them.
Research a range of animals (pet and farm), create a list of the different types of food given and explain why they are used and how often.
When you have completed this, find out about deficiency diseases that can be caused by missing out on certain essential parts of an animal's diet.

Key words to include:
Protein, fats, silage, haylage, grass, hay, minerals, vitamins, growth.

Read this update about the UK's first small nuclear power station that is being built on Anglesey. Wylfa has been there for a long time and its original site is undergoing decomissioning. This is great news for the area and our move away from fossil fuels.

With a focus on both pets and livestock, research how you can tell if an animal is in good health.
Remember from the last lesson what were the "5 freedoms" when caring for animals. Here is a place to start by looking at horses and their signs of good health.
Now find out how we can check the health of other animals without involving vets or other costly professionals. Think about cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs or any others that you have contact with.
Other useful sites:
Pets at home - advice centre.
RSPCA - advice centre.
NADIS information centre.

Today we are going to research how land is used in our energy industry. Find out the different ways in which energy is generated in the UK. Identify those types that are renewable and non-renewable. Look at this live information
Look at another version
Look at list of UK power stations
For each of these types, think about pros and cons, do they need much land? Do they need a water supply? Do they upset the local people?
Make an information sheet that summaraises this information.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Think back to last week's task, could you have used any of these to supply power to your community project?

Today we are going to look at how we can develop land that needs to be repurposed. It may be waste land or it is changing land use type. In this session, look at this particular piece of land. Research potential uses for this land and think about how it can be maintained after your project is completed. The brief is as follows:
A school has been given a small sum of money and support offered from the local community to help develop a reward space for students to use on a rotation. The school has decided that this yard area is not used effectively and needs to be developed. Come up with a plan to present to a committee. Your plan should include:
• Ground surface for all weathers (paths, grass etc),
• Plants/trees,
• Lighting,
• Shelter from the sun, wind & rain,
• A place that all students & staff will enjoy being
• Energy sources (if needed)
• Waste management

Following "Storm Amy", earlier this month, we need to assess the damage caused and use this in risk assessing development of land in the future. Create a simple summary on Word and save it into your Land-Based folder.
Start by looking through this BBC news article and then look at this Scottish council services update.
When you have completed your brief summary, have a look to see how Storm Amy compares with Britain's worst storms.

Extension task.
Research and list ways that we can prepare for these storms to avoid the loss of life, damage to land & property and essential services being stopped.

Today we need to complete the work that we started about plant reproduction. We know that there are lots of different varieties of the same type of plants, there are dozens of different tomato plants that you can choose from. There are different ways of getting the ideal tomato, or any other plant, this is through selective breeding. Look at the link and make a note of how it works in both plants and animals.
Another way of improving a crop is through genetic engineering. Follow that link and briefly explain how that works.
When we have all of these, how do we make sure that none of them are ever lost? Have a look at the global seed vault and you need to make a brief note about the important role that this facility plays.
Finally, as an extension, look at the impact that climate change is having on agriculture and the UK in general (think about all types of land use). Here is a starting point, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

Put the title National Parks in your book. You must then find a selection of national parks within the United Kigdom and research facts about one of interest. When you have done that, find attractions within that area and describe how they use the land. Car parks, public toilets, cafes, camping, climbing walls, zip lines etc. Make a list of the possible things that can be done with this land.

When you have done that, think about potential conflicts with other users of the land such as sheep grazing. How do the park try to balance "access to the countryside for all" with protecting the land?

Start with the title of Roles of the different Land-Based industries. Now research these different types and add to the list given by the exam board. They have suggested:

Land management and production: agriculture, horticulture, forestry, arboriculture, floristry, fisheries, land based engineering, leisure and field and adventure sport.

Animal health and welfare: animal care, equine, farrier and vet nursing.

Environmental industries: game and wildlife management and environmental conservation.

Finally, give examples for all of the main uses of land in the UK. Agricultural, forestry, urban/built-up, recreational, conservation, water-related, rural (including military and energy generation).

Have a look at Go Ape's website. How would you categorise this use of land?

In today's lesson, we are going to find out more about the agricultural revolution. We are particularly interested in findong out about the following:
1) Who was Turnip Townshend?
2) What was crop rotation and why was clover important?
3) Why were fields left "fallow"?
4) What was a seed drill, when was it invented, how does it work?
5) What is a threshing machine and when was it invented?
Now find out more about the changes in farming between the start of enclosure in the 1600s and today. This needs to be written neatly in your exercise books. Title is Agricultural revolution research.

You can now view all of the key words/terms in the Glossary page under literacy on the navigation menu. You can also select the the words for your topic. Firstly, select Biology, Chemistry or Physics first then choose the topic from the second box.

Wishing you a great Summer Holiday from the Science Department.

Thanks for the chicken!
Art by BP

Year 9
Year 9 will be sitting an "End of Key Stage 3" exam. This will be split up into 20 minutes of Biology, Chemistry and Physics (1 hour in total). Questions will be predominantly from the areas studies with us: KS3 Inheritance and Evolution, KS3 Earth and Atmosphere and KS3 Engineering.

Year 10
Year 10 students will be sitting a GCSE paper 1 for Biology, Chemistry and Physics. However, as students have not yet finished all of the content for paper 1, the 1 hour 15 minute exams have each been shortened to 1 hour and had the content removed that they have not finished. A full list of paper 1 content can be found here. We have removed Bioenergetics from the Biology paper, Energy changes from the Chemistry paper and Atomic structure & radiation from the Physics paper.

Year 11
Year 11 will sit full GCSE paper 2 in each science. Details can be found here.

Every winter, up and down the country, people add salt to roads and paths. This melts the ice...Job Done! Well, it is a little more complicated that that. In year 11 (Chemical analysis), we learn that adding salt into water makes the water "impure" which lowers the melting point from 0°C to a melting range of -2°C to -8°C depending on the concentration. When we add salt, it needs to be worked into the ice in order to make it a solution and roads rely on vehicles driving over it and paths rely on pedestrians.

In reality, when we arrive at school and it is covered in ice and/or snow, we can add salt but it needs to be trodden in for it to melt the ice and if it is too cold, no matter how much salt you add, it simply will not help.

Today you need to research the atmospheres on other planets and moons. Before starting, ensure that you can recall the 4 main gases in our own atmosphere and their abundance.
Start by looking for similarities and differences in the atmospheres, can they be grouped together? What are the reasons for these variations? Why is Earth such an anomaly?
Suggested sources:
Bob the Alien's information table.
Bob's type of planet.
Compound chem's data table.
NASA's data table.
Nasa's summary.
When you have all of this information, make your own basic summary in a Word document. List common trends and anomalies. You should also explain why Earth is an anomaly. Enjoy.

When you have finished that, look into the realities of "Manned missions to Mars". Some groups expect humans to visit Mars within 30 years, what are the logistics, barriers and solutions to getting people there...and back?

The Blast Furnace
In this lesson, you are going to research the blast furnace, how it works, what it produces (all products) and howit developed over time. Ensure that you look in detail at its links to the industrial revolution.
Useful links:
Abraham Darby and his impact on iron production.

With Britain's last remaining coal fired power station finally closed, of the remaining energy resources, which is the most negative for our environment? This story is very relevant to the Physics topic Energy.
Read more on the BBC news website.

Local changes to "use of land" stir up local people. Is it fair that local people can have so much say into how a farmer can use their land? Read more on the Sentinel website.

Finally - a glimpse of the Northern Lights from Stoke-on-Trent. Every time it happens, I miss it. Not the perfect picture but you can see the green on the right that fades to purple in the middle. The green caused by interactions of oxygen with electrons and the purple caused by the interactions of nitrogen with electrons.

Great news to students who struggle to learn formulae. The UK government has extended the Covid support for 3 more years by giving the enhanced formula sheet of GCSE physics. Read the full story here. Does learning the formulae make you a better scientist or just better at learning formulae?

The "Curriculum Health Check" section has gone live on all GCSE science pages now. Please be aware that this is the first time that I have seen them in HTML and am now going through the job of editing them when I find formatting errors. Enjoy, hope to be ready by September.

One of my A-level chemists has recently been accepted into the prestigious school of veterinary science at the university of Liverpool. Congratulations and thanks for the squishy cow, I shall always treasure it!