Science practicals filmed for Education Scotland and BBC Bitesize offering
Academics from Edinburgh Napier’s teacher education programme have been helping bring science into the home for thousands of secondary school pupils in Scotland.
The University’s Dr Colin McGill (above), Dr Fiona Savage and Dr Eric Easton have worked with Education Scotland and the BBC Bitesize team to film a number of practical experiments to ensure that pupils studying science subjects continue to learn as lockdown restrictions remain in place.
Work with Education Scotland commenced last Autumn, with a selection of practical experiments filmed within the laboratories at Edinburgh Napier’s Sighthill campus.
These films – which saw the team work with Ian Stewart, a Chemistry teacher from Beeslack Community High School in Midlothian – are available via YouTube, West OS and Glow – Scotland’s nationally available digital environment for learning – as part of the National e-Learning Offer (NeLO).
In addition to supporting the development of these films for NeLO, Ian also teaches on the Senior Phase Study Support programme run via e-Sgoil for NeLO.
The content covered in the videos is broad, ranging from general science activities such as making a pH indicator from red cabbage for S1-S3 pupils, to videos to support learning at National 5 and Higher Chemistry such as measuring the average rate of a chemical reaction and testing carbonyl compound.
Dr McGill has also recently completed further filming for the BBC Bitesize platform.
Filmed over three days again at the University’s Sighthill campus, Dr McGill teamed up with Education Scotland and Ian Stewart to devise around 30 – 40 video ideas for Chemistry and the sciences.
This content was aimed at the Broad General Education (BGE) sciences curriculum all the way up to Higher Chemistry and included demonstrations on testing for gases, electrolysis and cracking alkanes. The BBC Bitesize filming was co-ordinated by Education Scotland.
Edinburgh Napier’s Dr McGill was delighted to play a part in supporting teachers through the on-going pandemic. He said: “I think these tools are very important to help pupil learning during the pandemic.
“It’s impossible for many practical activities to be done remotely so this at least gives pupils an opportunity to see the practical activity taking place and to then apply their learning from watching the activity.
“Teachers have been amazing during this pandemic and I would argue that the work they have put in to support their pupils is hugely underestimated, so if these videos have gone some way to help reduce their workload in any way then that is a huge positive for me.
“If and when things start getting closer to normal, these videos will still be very valuable for pupils to go over a practical that they carried out in class, or to support pupils who are absent from school for any reason.
“The technical support from Bill Surrage and Sandra Dunbar has allowed this practical work to take place – I’m really grateful to them for the support they have provided. I’m also really grateful to everyone that has made safe access to the Sighthill campus possible.”
A selection of the Education Scotland videos can be viewed on YouTube here or can be accessed via the NeLO supported resources blog.
Edinburgh Napier’s Professional Diploma in Education (PGDE) courses are designed by teachers, for teachers. The programme specialises in Biology, Chemistry, Maths or Physics, allowing students to become a secondary school teacher.
Each subject is accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
More information on the programme can be found here.
Matthew Thornton, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of St Andrews, is presenting his research to politicians, Parliamentarians and a panel of expert judges as part of STEM for BRITAIN today (Thursday 4th March).
STEM for BRITAIN is an annual poster competition, usually held in the House of Commons, involving some 200 or so early career researchers. The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee runs the event in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society of Biology, Physiological Society, Council for the Mathematical Sciences, and the Nutrition Society.
The aim of the competition is to give members of both Houses of Parliament an insight into the outstanding research work being undertaken in UK universities by early-career researchers.
Dr Thornton’s poster will be judged against dozens of other scientists’ research, in the only national competition of its kind.
His presentation will explain how he and his colleagues are expanding our knowledge of quantum systems, which will enable the design of new and remarkable sources of quantum light.
The most important inventions of the 20th century, including the transistor, the laser and the atomic clock, were built on a deep understanding of the quantum nature of materials and atoms. For example, quantum physics is required to explain how electrons move within semiconductors, and so helped to predict the underlying behaviour of transistors.
Matthew’s work will improve the stability of atomic clocks such as those used in GPS satellites, enable development of microscopes which can take higher resolution pictures of small objects with less intense light than normal, and help enable a secure, unhackable quantum internet.
He said: “This prestigious event is a great opportunity to display some key outcomes from my time in St Andrews, and to practice communicating the underlying principles.
“The foundational idea of my recent research is that effects which ordinarily destroy a quantum state can, in some contexts, actually create quantum light from a classical input. I find this both counterintuitive and beautiful.
“In the future I plan to move further into the quantum technologies arena in order to create devices which help people.”
Stephen Metcalfe MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said: “This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to see the work of a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.
“These early career engineers, mathematicians and scientists are the architects of our future and STEM for BRITAIN is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them, virtually on this occasion, and understand their work.”
Matthew’s research has been entered into the physics session of the competition, which will end in a gold, silver and bronze prize-giving ceremony.
Judged by leading academics, the gold medalist receives £1000, while silver and bronze receive £750 and £500 respectively.
Due to COVID-19 the 2021 event is being held online, but will nevertheless still be supported by Parliamentarians, including those Members of Parliament whose constituents have been shortlisted to present their posters.
The winners will be announced virtually on Monday 8th March.
As the country remains in lockdown with millions of parents, carers and students facing weeks of remote learning, Amazon is offering free and inspirational learning essentials to help while schools are closed.
Below we have listed a range of educational resources freely available from today across Science, Mathematics, English and Physical Education.
· Amazon Maths4All now offers hundreds of free maths games, apps and challenges on Alexa, worksheets for Kindle and Fire Tablets, and caters for a range of ages across primary and secondary school, learning styles and abilities.
· Students can tune into a maths lesson from Rachel Riley, Countdown presenter and the nation’s favourite mathematician, who joined our Very Important Breakfast Clubs to play the numbers game and show that maths is ‘easy as Pi’.
· You can even involve Alexa in learning from home. Get started by saying, “Alexa, ask the Maths Coach to start a test”, or “Alexa, ask the Maths Coach for a hard addition test”.
The Hour of Code Dance Party is the perfect feel-good Friday finish after a long week of remote learning. This interactive dance-themed online coding tutorial gives students the opportunity to build their computer science skills while have some fun coding characters to dance to songs from leading artists.
Dr Ranj Singh, the NHS doctor and BAFTA award-winning TV presenter, is providing a short brain-busting lesson in biology. Children in years 1 -7 can learn about the growing brain and how to keep your brain healthy.
Amazon Future Engineer is our comprehensive childhood-to-career programme designed to inspire, educate and enable children and young adults from lower-income backgrounds to try computer science. Earlier this year, Amazon Future Engineer launched free virtual coding programmes to help young people build computer science skills while learning at home.
Those aged 11-16 can enter the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize, which challenges students to develop technological innovations to help solve some of the world’s biggest issues (entries close 12th February 2021)
English
· Young people and parents can listen to stories at Stories.Audible.com, with specially curated categories such as ‘Littlest Listeners’ and ‘Elementary’ offering free audio books. Get whisked away to Alice In Wonderland (read by Scarlett Johansson), Jane Eyre (read by Thandie Newton), Anne of Green Gables (Read by Rachel McAdams) and Frankenstein (read by Dan Stevens).
Physical Education
· As breaktime moves from the playground to indoors, students can practise their football freestyle flair with Lia Lewis, British freestyle footballer and TikTok superstar, who will teach neck stalls, knee blocks and how to do a cross catch in her lesson.
The first effective vaccine against coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows.The vaccine developers, Pfizer and BioNTech – have described it as a “great day for science and humanity”.
Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis
Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants
Study enrolled 43,538 participants, with 42% having diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety concerns have been observed; Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected
Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November
Clinical trial to continue through to final analysis at 164 confirmed cases in order to collect further data and characterize the vaccine candidate’s performance against other study endpoints
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE today announced their mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, against SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated evidence of efficacy against COVID-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on November 8, 2020 by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study.
“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO.
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen.
“With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”
After discussion with the FDA, the companies recently elected to drop the 32-case interim analysis and conduct the first interim analysis at a minimum of 62 cases. Upon the conclusion of those discussions, the evaluable case count reached 94 and the DMC performed its first analysis on all cases.
The case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicates a vaccine efficacy rate above 90%, at 7 days after the second dose. This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a 2-dose schedule.
As the study continues, the final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary. The DMC has not reported any serious safety concerns and recommends that the study continue to collect additional safety and efficacy data as planned. The data will be discussed with regulatory authorities worldwide.
“I want to thank the thousands of people who volunteered to participate in the clinical trial, our academic collaborators and investigators at the study sites, and our colleagues and collaborators around the world who are dedicating their time to this crucial endeavor,” added Bourla. “We could not have come this far without the tremendous commitment of everyone involved.”
“The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent COVID-19. This is a victory for innovation, science and a global collaborative effort,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder and CEO.
“When we embarked on this journey 10 months ago this is what we aspired to achieve. Especially today, while we are all in the midst of a second wave and many of us in lockdown, we appreciate even more how important this milestone is on our path towards ending this pandemic and for all of us to regain a sense of normality.
“We will continue to collect further data as the trial continues to enroll for a final analysis planned when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to make this important achievement possible.”
The Phase 3 clinical trial of BNT162b2 began on July 27 and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of November 8, 2020.
Approximately 42% of global participants and 30% of U.S. participants have racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. The trial is continuing to enroll and is expected to continue through the final analysis when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued.
The study also will evaluate the potential for the vaccine candidate to provide protection against COVID-19 in those who have had prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as vaccine prevention against severe COVID-19 disease.
In addition to the primary efficacy endpoints evaluating confirmed COVID-19 cases accruing from 7 days after the second dose, the final analysis now will include, with the approval of the FDA, new secondary endpoints evaluating efficacy based on cases accruing 14 days after the second dose as well.
The companies believe that the addition of these secondary endpoints will help align data across all COVID-19 vaccine studies and allow for cross-trial learnings and comparisons between these novel vaccine platforms. The companies have posted an updated version of the study protocol at https://www.pfizer.com/science/coronavirus.
Pfizer and BioNTech are continuing to accumulate safety data and currently estimate that a median of two months of safety data following the second (and final) dose of the vaccine candidate – the amount of safety data specified by the FDA in its guidance for potential Emergency Use Authorization – will be available by the third week of November. Additionally, participants will continue to be monitored for long-term protection and safety for an additional two years after their second dose.
Along with the efficacy data generated from the clinical trial, Pfizer and BioNTech are working to prepare the necessary safety and manufacturing data to submit to the FDA to demonstrate the safety and quality of the vaccine product produced.
Based on current projections the companies expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
Pfizer and BioNTech now plan to submit data from the full Phase 3 trial for scientific peer-review publication.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference at 5pm and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the vaccine announcement is welcome news.
The First Minister ended today’s lunchtime media briefing by saying: “It might not be all that visible at the moment but there is light at the end of this tunnel.
“The news we’ve heard this morning – that early indications show a vaccine being developed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which has been trialled in other countries across the world, is 90% effective – is good news. Perhaps amongst the best news we have had in recent weeks.
“It’s not going to provide us with the way out of this today, or tomorrow, or next week, or perhaps not even in this calendar year. But this development, along with all of the work that is going into the development of other vaccines, does give us real hope that in the not too distant future, science is going to find us the way out of this terrible time.
“So hold onto that hope today, and also use it as a motivation. What we are living through right now, and all the restrictions that are so difficult for all of us, will not last forever. But it is really important we stick with them so that we get out of the other side of this with as few people as possible becoming ill, with as few people as possible losing their lives.
“That means all of us sticking with these tough restrictions that we are all fed up with but which we know will reduce the impact of this virus.
“So please stick with it for now and keep hold of the hope we have today that there is an end, and that we will see it in the not too distant future.”
Microbiologists take steps to reducing plastic waste
“Everyone can make a difference!” urge microbiologists after developing a new approach that could reduce their laboratory’s plastic waste by over 500kg a year.
The group, based at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, developed an approach to reduce plastic waste produced by their lab. They have shared their approach in the journal Access Microbiology, with the hope that other labs will follow suit.
Led by Dr Amy Pickering (no relation – Ed.), the lab replaced single-use plastics with re-useable equipment. Where alternatives were not available, the group decontaminated and re-used plastic equipment which would have usually been thrown away after one use.
“We knew that we were using plastic daily in our research, but it wasn’t until we took the time to quantify the waste that the volumes being used really hit home. That really emphasized the need for us to introduce plastic reducing measures,” said Dr Pickering.
The lab developed a new scheme which focused on sustainability, moving away from the use of single-use plastics wherever possible. In some cases, the research group would use reusable wooden or metal items instead of plastic.
If there were no alternatives, the group focused on reusing plastic equipment by chemically decontaminating the plastic tubes before a second level of decontamination under heat and pressure – known as autoclaving.
To determine the success of the scheme, the lab of seven researchers spent four weeks documenting the plastic waste produced in regular conditions. They then measured the amount of waste produced over the next seven weeks with new processes to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic.
Dr. Pickering said: “Once the measures were in place it was quickly clear that large impacts were being seen. The most surprising thing for us was how resilient some plastics are to being autoclaved and therefore how many times they can be re-used. This means that we were able to save more plastic than we originally anticipated.”
In implementing these replace and reuse practises, 1670 tubes and 1300 loops were saved during a four-week period. This led to a 43-kilogram reduction in waste.
The typical microbiology laboratory uses mostly disposable plastic, which is often not recycled due to biological contamination. In 2014, 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste were generated in research laboratories worldwide. The Edinburgh lab works with dangerous disease-causing bacteria, due to the dangers of contamination, their waste must be autoclaved and incinerated at a high environmental and monetary cost.
Practices to reduce plastic waste in research labs is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, with researchers from the University of York decontaminating and re-using plastic flasks and researchers from a chemistry lab in Edinburgh recycling 1 million plastic gloves in 2019.
“It’s important to take some time identifying what plastic items you are using the most. This will allow you to identify both the easy wins, such as replacing plastic inoculation loops for re-useable metal ones, as well as the bigger tasks, such as re-using plastic tubes. That will help you to bring others on board and build momentum,” added Dr Pickering.
The new protocols not only prevent plastic waste, but also save money according to Dr Pickering: “Over a 3-month period of implementing the protocols we will have saved over £400 of plastic tubes, inoculation loops, and cuvettes” she said.
New satellite data centre will use cutting-edge satellite technology to help combat climate change.
new government-backed virtual satellite data centre will analyse the impact climate change is having on the UK, help shape policies on reducing carbon emissions, and contribute to reaching net zero targets
50 new PhD researchers and £5 million investment to enable use of satellite images to better predict future weather trends and protect communities from flooding and pollution
Earth Observation experts from the Universities of Edinburgh and Leeds will work with 18 businesses on pioneering work to monitor the impact of climate change
Ocean Terminal will be filled with drop-in science activities and cosy talks (with free tea & biscuits) today when Edinburgh researchers will show us what they’re doing inside their labs.Continue reading #LeithLabsExplores at Ocean Terminal today
