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STEM-ED Scotland Building a New Educational Framework to Address the STEM Skills Gap a Fundamental Review from a 21St Century Perspective

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STEM-ED Scotland Building a New Educational Framework to Address the STEM Skills Gap a Fundamental Review from a 21St Century Perspective STEM-ED Scotland Building a New Educational Framework to Address the STEM Skills Gap A fundamental review from a 21st century perspective Annexes A: Science storylines supporting entry to study in higher education B: The teaching Units Report by STEM-ED Scotland December 2010 STEM-ED Scotland is a partnership aiming to champion world class education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Acknowledgements The work of this report was carried out by STEM-ED Scotland, and the authors would like to thank our funders, the Scottish Funding Council, for providing the support that made this project possible. Thanks are due to the University of Glasgow, who kindly allow us the use of our office space, and to our STEM-ED Scotland partners and others for helpful discussions and comments at various meetings. Particular thanks are due to Robert Risk, who helped greatly with the development of Units which were of a biological nature. Authors Professor John Coggins Pro Vice Principal, the University of Glasgow Professor Alan Roach STEM-ED Scotland, the University of Glasgow Dr Michael Guy STEM-ED Scotland, the University of Glasgow Moira Finlayson STEM-ED Scotland, the University of Glasgow Nigel Akam Skills Development Scotland 1 Copyright © 2010 STEM-ED Scotland Stem-Ed Scotland 12a the Square University of Glasgow Glasgow, G12 8QQ Web: http//www.gla.ac.uk/stem 2 Contents Annex A: Science storylines supporting entry to study in higher education .............................................................. 5 Physics ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Chemistry ........................................................................................................................................... 13 Biosciences ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Earth systems science ............................................................................................................................. 18 Annex B : The teaching Units ................................................................................................................. 21 Numeracy ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Atoms and molecules ............................................................................................................................. 45 Forces, motion, energy ........................................................................................................................... 53 Earth processes .................................................................................................................................... 67 Ecosystems .......................................................................................................................................... 77 Energy sustainability .............................................................................................................................. 89 Reactivity .......................................................................................................................................... 101 Electricity .......................................................................................................................................... 111 Equations and graphs ............................................................................................................................ 123 Study of a domestic appliance ................................................................................................................. 131 3 Calculus ............................................................................................................................................ 143 Eukaryotic cells ................................................................................................................................... 151 Radiation ........................................................................................................................................... 161 The human organism ............................................................................................................................. 171 Investigation of a large infrastructure project .............................................................................................. 187 Statistics ........................................................................................................................................... 199 Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 209 Prosthetics ......................................................................................................................................... 219 Industrial chemical processes .................................................................................................................. 229 Commercial case studies ........................................................................................................................ 239 Information systems .............................................................................................................................. 251 The universe ....................................................................................................................................... 267 Nanotechnology ................................................................................................................................... 279 Genetics ............................................................................................................................................ 289 Analysis of a commercial application ......................................................................................................... 299 4 Annex A: Science storylines supporting entry to study in higher education In approaching any new area of study or application, a good STEM practitioner will set out to understand, and form a mental model of, the topic on the basis of a conceptual picture established from previous studies of science. This conceptual picture is described here as a series of basic science storylines, presented at an appropriate depth as a basis for entry to study at higher education in Scotland, in any STEM subject. The storylines are written descriptively. They form an appropriate mental starting point. The rigorous scientific investigation and analysis to follow require application of the appropriate levels of skills and methodologies described in Chapters 3 and 5 of the main part of this report on Building a New Educational Framework to Address the STEM Skills Gap (STEM-ED Scotland, 2010). The storylines are listed under the discipline subject headings of Physics, Chemistry, Biosciences and Earth Systems Science. This can be a little misleading as the science disciplines do not represent separate water-tight areas of study, and conceptual strands bridge traditional subject boundaries. Several of the storylines described below could in principle have been set down under different subject headings. Nearly all of the storylines are relevant to the understanding of topics conventionally studied under more than one disciplinary banner. Physics has a significantly longer list of distinct strands of storyline than other sciences viewed in this way: this reflects the fact that many of the ideas of other sciences are themselves couched on a basis of fundamental ideas derived from physics, as is the technology used in many experimental investigation techniques. ANNEX A y SCIENCE STORYLINES SUPPORTING ENTRY TO STUDY IN HIGHER EDUCATION 5 Physics Mass and energy are two fundamental properties. Within classical physics these two quantities are conserved. Matter carries mass and is built of a number of different types of atoms, each containing a small central nucleus orbited by a number of electrons (described more fully below under the Chemistry heading). The constituent protons and neutrons of atomic nuclei are themselves composed of yet more basic elementary particles. Energy exists in various forms including kinetic, gravitational, electrostatic, electromagnetic and nuclear. Energy is carried by radiation; material substances carry chemical energy and internal energy; and energy is held by materials distorted under stress and by gases under pressure. Energy can be transferred from one form to another. Energy involved in internal motions of molecules and atoms within substances is described as heat. In any body or ‘system’ of material left to itself (isolated from any possibility of energy transfer in or out) random collisions between constituent particles distribute the ‘heat’ energy in a way that results in ‘thermal equilibrium’, with a uniform settled temperature throughout the body or system. Temperature, for a given system, is related to the total amount of heat energy contained: at the absolute zero of temperature the very minimum possible energy would be present, and the greater the total quantity of heat energy present the higher the settled temperature would be. When bodies at different temperatures are brought into contact, heat energy will spontaneously flow from the warmer into the cooler body, till both settle at a uniform, intermediate temperature level. A force acting
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