Science
Week
A varied program of activities was held during science week
A STEM Fair (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) was held in the
Sports Hall. All Year 10 students from Sherburn together with students from other
high schools attended a series of workshops to help them understand Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math’s applications in industry and commerce.
The workshops focused on structural challenge construction Skills; engineering
design of highways; Math’s and technology involved in horse racing; go
kart construction; road safety in respect of stopping distances and car speeds;
plaster casts and broken bones; data logging using sensors; chemical analysis
of water and modeling the nervous system.
There were two birds of prey demonstrations involving Y7 and Y9 students.
Year 8 students visited a mobile planetarium which had been set up in the drama
studio.
All year groups attended a 40 minute presentation in the main hall followed by
a chance to see, and ask questions about, the 11 metre Starchaser rocket, which
when launched in 2001 was the largest rocket ever to have been flown from the
UK mainland! In addition there were two rocket factories. All of Y9 made and
fired rockets using compressed air, while a selected group of over 30 Year 9
and 10 students built motorized rockets which were fired reaching a height in
excess of 300 feet before coming down by parachute!
New Scientists’ club
A thriving ‘New Scientists’ club is organised by Mrs Walker, for
year 7 students. Earlier in the year, some students from this club achieved success
when they were awarded first place in the Salter’s Festival of Chemistry
University Challenge, held at York University.
Years 4 and 5 day
As well as year 6 day, students from years 4 and 5 of our local primary schools
are invited to visit the department each summer. They carry out a range of activities
on this day, to which the Geography department also contributes.
Key Stage 3 curriculum
At Key Stage 3 the department has developed its own schemes of work to implement
the Science National Curriculum. The subject is taught as a series of topics,
each lasting about three weeks. Assessment is ongoing using topic tests, and
progress through the whole key stage is tracked by the use of a record card for
each student. The students are able to monitor their own progress as they help to
complete the record cards themselves.
Topics in year 7 include cells, energy, light, chemicals and where they come
from, reproduction, acids and alkalis, variation and classification, sound, burning,
forces, environment and gases.
Topics in year 8 include astronomy, food and digestion, physical changes, elements
and compounds, electricity, photosynthesis, respiration, reactivity, generating
electricity and energy resources, and heat transfer.
In year 8, students visit Drax power station as part of the course, linked to the ‘generating
electricity and energy resources’ topic.
Key stage 4 curriculum
At Key stage 4, the majority of students follow a modular double award GCSE course,
but some opt to take the three sciences as three separate GCSEs. A small number
of students who would have great difficulty achieving a good GCSE grade take an
entry level course (Science Plus), although they are still given the option of
being entered for GCSE as well.
The department teaches the OCR ‘21st Century Science’ suite of syllabuses.
Assessment of this course is by means of module tests, a data analysis question,
and a case study. The case study is also the coursework component of the course,
and is 20% of the final mark.
For more information visit
www.ocr.org.uk
www.21stcenturyscience.org
Post 16 curriculum
The department offers Biology, Chemistry and Physics at AS and A2 level.
In Biology, we teach the Edexcel Salters Nuffield ‘A’ level Biology
course.
For more information, visit www.advancedbiology.org
In Chemistry, we teach the Edexcel Nuffield Chemistry course, with food science
as a special study.
For more information, visit www.nuffieldchemistry.org
In Physics, we teach the OCR Advancing Physics course.
For more information, visit http://advancingphysics.iop.org
All these courses have a strong emphasis on practical work. Course materials
include a range of activities including practical work, data analysis and review
questions. In the case of Biology, the course is developed around a substantial
internet based system of resources.
Open
Evening
At
the recent open evening a variety of activities proved popular with
visits to the science department. These included the new year 7 students
demonstrating the experiments they have done since they arrived at
the school 5 weeks ago, the ‘New Scientist’s
club’ and the ever popular ‘setting Mr Pringle on fire!’
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