Ertising in Science in School · Choose Between Advertising in the Quarterly Print Journal Or on Our Website
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How many schools Spring 2011 Issue 18 and teachers do you reach – worldwide? In this issue: Biomimetics: clingy as an octopus or slick as a lotus leaf? Also: News from the EIROs: Mars, snakes, robots and DNA Advertising in Science in School · Choose between advertising in the quarterly print journal or on our website. · Website: reach over 30 000 science educators worldwide – every month. · In print: target up to 15 000 European science educators every quarter, including 3000 named subscribers. · Distribute your flyers, brochures, CD-ROMs or other materials either to 3000 named subscribers or to all recipients of the print copies. For more details, see www.scienceinschool.org/advertising Published by EIROforum: I S S N : 1 Initially supported by 8 1 Subscribe (free in Europe): www.scienceinschool.org 8 the European Union: - Highlighting the best in science teaching and research 0 3 5 3 sis_18_RZ_.qxq:Layout 1 15.03.2011 18:08 Uhr Seite B About Science in School Science in School promotes inspiring science teaching by encouraging communication between Editorial teachers, scientists and everyone else involved in European science education. The journal addresses science teaching both across Europe and across disciplines: highlighting the best in teaching and cutting-edge research. It covers not only biology, physics and chemistry, but also earth sciences, engineering and medicine, Happy birthday, focusing on interdisciplinary work. The contents include teaching materials; cutting-edge science; interviews with young scientists and inspiring Science in School! teachers; reviews of books and other resources; and European events for teachers and schools. Science in School is published quarterly, both online his issue of Science in School is rather special: it’s now and in print. The website is freely available, with five years since Science in School was launched, in articles in many European languages. The English- T language print version is distributed March 2006. free of charge within Europe. During the past five years we have published 350 articles, on Contact us Dr Eleanor Hayes / Dr Marlene Rau topics ranging from particle physics and astronomy, via cli- Science in School mate change, earthquakes and spectrometry, to evolution, European Molecular Biology Laboratory biodiversity and diabetes. Many of those articles have been Meyerhofstrasse 1 69117 Heidelberg translated for publication on our website – producing a fur- Germany ther 788 articles in 28 European languages. [email protected] Likewise, our readership continues to grow and grow: about 15 000 copies of the Subscriptions Register online to: English-language print journal are distributed across 41 European countries, and · Receive an email alert when each issue is our website receives well over 30 000 visitors from across the world every month published – a figure that continues to rise. Science in School is read not only by teachers, · Request a free print subscription (within Europe) · Swap ideas with teachers and scientists in the but also by teacher trainers, scientists and many others who are interested in Science in School online forum science education. · Post comments on articles in Science in School. Submissions Perhaps you, as one of our readers, have wondered who is behind Science in We welcome articles submitted by scientists, teachers School? Who makes it possible for science educators across the world to share and others interested in European science education. inspiring teaching ideas or keep up-to-date with cutting-edge science – for free? See the author guidelines on our website. Referee panel First, there are the publishers of Science in School: the eight European inter-gov- Before publication, Science in School articles are ernmental research organisations that make up EIROforum (see page 2). The idea reviewed by European science teachers to check that for the journal was born of EIROforum’s commitment to supporting and improv- they are suitable for publication. If you would like to join our panel of referees, please read the guidelines ing science education in Europe, and EIROforum has funded the journal right on our website. from the beginning. From 2005 to 2008, there was also generous support from Book reviewers the European Commission. If you teach science in Europe and would like to review books or other resources for Science in Francesco Romanelli, current chairman of EIROforum, explains: “EIROforum School, please read the guidelines on our website. recognises the importance of science education, both to train the next generation Translators of scientists and to ensure a scientifically literate public. Teachers are a vital ele- We offer articles online in many European languages. If you would like to volunteer to translate articles into ment in this process, and we are proud and happy to support them with Science your own language, please read the guidelines for in School.” translators on our website. On a day-to-day level, the journal is run by a two-person editorial team. Before moving into publishing, both my colleague Dr Marlene Rau and I spent several Advertising in Science in School – new lower prices years in research: Marlene in developmental biology, and I in insect ecology. We Science in School is the only European journal aimed source, edit and sometimes write the articles; organise the copy-editing, layout, at secondary-school science teachers across Europe printing, distribution and translation; maintain the website; publicise the journal; and across the full spectrum of sciences. It is freely available online, and 15 000 full-colour printed sell advertisements and generally keep everything running. It’s a lot of work but copies are distributed each quarter. enormous fun. The readership of Science in School includes everyone involved in European science teaching, including: Of course, none of this would be possible without a great deal of voluntary help. · Secondary-school science teachers We currently have 76 referees – European science teachers who help us decide · Scientists which articles to publish and how they could be improved. More than 250 scien- · Primary-school teachers · Teacher trainers tists and teachers have volunteered to translate articles into languages from · Science communicators. Albanian and German to Portuguese and Ukrainian. And of course there are the Web advertisements authors, who share their teaching ideas and scientific knowledge with our readers. Reach over 30 000 science educators worldwide every month. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to these people and to everyone else · € 200-350 per week involved. We look forward to the next five years of Science in School! Print advertisements Reach over 15 000 readers per issue. · Full page: € 1495 Eleanor Hayes · Half page: € 999 Editor-in-Chief of Science in School · Quarter page: € 560 Back cover (full page): € 1995 [email protected] · Distribution www.scienceinschool.org Distribute flyers, DVDs or other materials to 3000 named subscribers or to all 15 000 print recipients. For more information, see www.scienceinschool.org/advertising or contact [email protected] sis_18_RZ_.qxq:Layout 1 15.03.2011 18:09 Uhr Seite 1 Contents Editorial Welcome to the eighteenth issue of Science in School News from the EIROs 2 Mars, snakes, robots and DNA Events 6 Science on Stage: countdown to the international festival 10 Young scientists at the cutting edge: EIROforum prize winners 13 Young minds in science: the European Union Contest for Young Scientists 2010 17 Feature article 17 Battle of the birds: interview with Tim Birkhead Cutting-edge science 21 Moringa: the science behind the miracle tree 27 Uracil in DNA: error or signal? 32 A neural switch for fear Teaching activities 36 The resourceful physics teacher 40 Breeding dragons: investigating Mendelian inheritance 32 Science education projects 46 The heat is on: heating food and drinks with chemical energy 52 Biomimetics: clingy as an octopus or slick as a lotus leaf? Science topics 60 Single molecules under the microscope Additional online material Teacher profile 40 Teacher solidarity: a UK-Rwandan physics project Scientist profile To sea with a blind scientist Reviews Bad Science Instructables website Relativity: A Very Short Introduction Forthcoming events for schools: www.scienceinschool.org/events 52 See: www.scienceinschool.org/2010/issue18 At the end of each article in this issue, you may notice a square black and white pattern. With the aid of a smart phone, this QR code will lead you straight to the online version of the article. All you need to do is download a free QR code reader app (such as BeeTagg or i-Nigma) for your smart phone and scan the code with your phone’s camera. To find a suitable one for your phone, see: http://tinyurl.com/byk4wg Hint: the apps works better in good light conditions, and with a steady hand. You may also want to try holding your camera at different distances from the code. You can then use all the live links to the references and resources, download the PDF, send the article to your friends, leave comments, and much more. What do you think about this new fea- 60 ture? Does it work for you? Leave your feedback here: www.scienceinschool.org/QRfeedback Science in School Issue 18 : Spring 2011 1 sis_18_RZ_.qxq:Layout 1 15.03.2011 18:09 Uhr Seite 2 Mars, snakes robots and DNA EIROforum, the publisher of Science in School, is a partnership of eight European inter-governmental scientific research organisations (EIROs). As regular readers of Science in School will know, the range of research done at these organisations varies widely – from molecular biology to astronomy, from fusion energy to space science. The equipment is also very disparate – including enormous particle accelerators; beams of neutrons or high-energy X-rays; large telescopes or the International Space Station. Whether individually or as part of EIROforum, the EIROs are also involved in many outreach and education activities – for school students, teachers or the general public.