Survival Rivals is part of the Wellcome Trust’s offering for Darwin 200. It consists of the three experiment kits; I’m a Worm, Get Me Out of Here, Brine Date and The X-Bacteria.

 

The competition asks schools and colleges across the UK to order the Survival Rivals experiment kits, and creatively showcase the science learning’s through the medium of either film or photography.

 

Students have up until the 21st May 2010 to enter; however, the first 24 entries will be sent an extra Survival Rivals kit to their school for free.

 

The first prize is a once in a lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands in October half-term, for the group of students, their teacher and a creative practitioner.  There is also runner up prizes for students from each of the nine English regions and Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

 

To find out more, visit www.survivalrivals.org  

I have now settled in as scientist in residence at Lab 13 at Crown Hills Community College and look forward to our official launch on the 25th of February. There is a buzz going around the school fuelled by those who have discovered Lab_13 and have enjoyed the experience.

The lab has so far seen a number of Lunchtime clubs (exploring the science used in hollywood films) and an inventors club where students have had the freedom to design their own innovative project. A Come Alive With Science project (looking at the science behind fashion) has also taken place in the lab.

The experience of working with the students in Lab_13 at Crown Hills has also helped me to grow as an individual as I have had to manage the expectations of a school, a group of confident students as well as the aims and objectives of the project as a whole. Apart from all the amazing experiments I have been able to demonstrate so far, I have also learnt not to show students how to make slime and to leave decorating the lab to the art department! 
 
Tom Carter, Scientist in Residence, Lab_13, Crown Hills Community College

Find out more about Lab_13

 

 

As the end of the year draws closer, the East Midlands STEM Partnership Support Team would like to thank Partners for their continued support.  The Partnership reached its second birthday this year, and to date has come a long way, so far we have…

• Held 5 Forum Events, attended by 446 partners
  
• Recruited 190 STEM Student Journalists
  
• Posted 91 blogs which have received 18 comments and 67 ratings

Latest News… 

• Enriching the STEM Workforce of Tomorrow

The Forum Event at No 1 Nottingham Science Park in November was a great success, 122 delegates attended to listen to presentations from Sir Alan Jones, of Toyota and SEMTA, Kate Bellingham, National STEM Careers Co-ordinator and a host of East Midlands STEM employers, including, Siemens, NHS, 4energy and Easibind. 
If you missed out, presentations and photos can be viewed here.

• STEM Student Journalist Awards 2009

The STEM Student Journalist Award announcement took place this week and the winners are:

1. Best under 16 years Reporter – Liam Mullen, Trinity School, Nottingham
   
2. Best over 16 years Reporter – Kayleigh Lawrence, University of Lincoln  
   
3. Best Educational Institute – English Martyrs School, Leicester

All students who submitted a report has been sent a certificate, and all reports are live on the STEM Student Journalist student section of the website.  Congratulations to all!

2010 dates for your diary…

• STEM Student Journalist Workshop, Thursday 11th February 2010

Venue: Derby College
Time: 9.15am - 1.00pm

The fifth STEM Student Journalist Workshop will be led by BBC Business Correspondent Rob Pittam, and BBC Camera Women Sarah Sheppard at Derby College.  Students will experience hands-on activities to equip them with the necessary skills to become an East Midlands STEM Student Journalist.  Visit http://stembbcmediaworkshop.eventbrite.com/ for further information or to book your place.

• East Midlands STEM Forum Event, Wednesday 3rd March

Venue: 3M, Loughborough
Time: 9.30am – 2.00pm

The sixth East Midlands STEM Partnership Forum Event is hosted by 3M Health Care Limited and will focus on mathematics.  Due to the location of the event, numbers are strictly limited to 75 so places will be booked on a first come, first serve basis.  Visit http://stemforummarch2010.eventbrite.com/ for more information or to book your place.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

East Midlands STEM Support Team

 

Ever wondered what it's really like to be a scientist, engineer or mathematician?  The STEM Partnership Support Team has commissioned the help of Brady Haran from the BBC to produce short ‘day in the life’ videos of real life STEM professionals in the region. 

James Hind from Robert Manning College, Bourne, Lincolnshire shows us a typical ‘day in the life’ of his role as a STEM Teacher. 

We hope you enjoy it! 

Watch out… more 'day in the life' videos coming soon.

 

A new guide has been compiled with contributions from a range of UK-based companies to identify the top 10 employability skills which they look for in potential employees. The guide goes one step further by giving examples of how young people could show evidence of these skills in an interview or application for a job. Examples, many of which are STEM-related, are given of where young people may have developed and demonstrated skills both in and outside lessons. 

Employability Skills can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them ‘employable’. Along with good technical understanding and subject knowledge, employers often outline a set of skills that they want from an employee. These skills are what they believe will equip the employee to carry out their role to the best of their ability. 

Employability depends on your knowledge, skills and attitudes, how you use those assets, and how you present them to employers. 

The guide has been compiled by STEMNET and is available to download at http://www.stemnet.org.uk/resources/employability_skills_guide.cfm

Guest Blogger: Cathy Brown, STEMNET

 

As the East Midlands STEM Partnership gears up to its second birthday its achievements are captured in ‘emda leads the way on STEM promotion’.  This article highlights the achievements of the project, which is part of emda’s £9 million investment promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  

Throughout the two years of operation the East Midlands STEM Partnership has been integral to emda’s investment programme, bringing together all those involved in STEM including delivery organisations, businesses and educators across the East Midlands. 

Click here to read the full article.   

We are currently busy planning for the next STEM Student Journalist Workshop.  This workshop sets to be interactive, with hands-on activity led workshops including video journalism and top tips for interview/report writing.

We are currently in search of schools and partners to join us for the October workshop in Northampton, the workshop is open to all schools, colleges and universities within the East Midlands. 

Please help us to recruit new schools and partners by informing your networks and colleagues about the event.

For more information about the project visit emstempartnership.org.uk/Students

Partners and Schools can register for the workshop here.

The STEM Support Team are pleased to announce preparations for the 5th Forum Event are currently underway. 

The theme of this conference is ‘Enriching the STEM Workforce of Tomorrow' and will be held at the new Nottingham Science Park on 18th November 2009 (9.30am-2.00pm).  

This conference seeks to explore STEM employer engagement and welcomes keynote speaker Sir Alan Jones, Chairman of Semta.  As Chairman of Semta, and also the Employer Champion of 14-19 Diplomas, Sir Alan Jones will provide an insight and expertise in the UK industry and employers’ skills needs.  

As well as Sir Alan Jones, you will have the opportunity to hear from local key STEM employers providing examples of STEM engagement. 

More information and full agenda to be published shortly. 

To avoid disappointment please book your place on this conference ASAP, by clicking HERE.  

Last week Guest Speaker Claire Nix, spoke about the new Careers Education and Information, Advice and Guidance Practitioners Pack including the background to the national campaign and ways of equipping professionals to broaden students’ understanding of the options open to them in STEM.

If you missed the webinar you can listen to the podcast here – you just need to download the presentation along with the podcast and play them at the same time.

We are always on the look-out for new topics for our webinars and teleconferences, so please get in touch with any ideas.  

The East Midlands STEM Student Journalist Workshop took place at The University of Lincoln last Wednesday.  The event was a great success, and saw enthusiastic students leave ready to start reporting. 

The workshops consisted of:- 

Video Journalism, Brady Haran

Top tips for reporters, Louise Third 

Students from across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire attended. After the event, student reporter Rob Wells wrote an article for The Linc (The University of Lincoln's Newspaper) and a student from Da Vinci School in Derby commented on Brady's work on his You Tube site... 

"I'm a student that went to the Lincoln Uni STEM project...  I personally have never been a lover of science but these videos have opened up my eyes. Thank you so much :)."