New draft Experiences and Outcomes
Topical Science

First Level - I have contributed to a class display of current scientific news items to help me develop an awareness of topical science.  SCN 116BB

Second Level - I can report and comment on a current scientific news item to develop my awareness of topical science. SCN 236BB

Word Bank for Talking about Summer Science

holidays – special science days – travel - sea and sand – picnics - foods - growing foods - weather – global warming - climate change and the end of the package holiday – sun tans and sunscreens – visits to zoos and gardens - summer fun

Write down as many words as you can, either individually or in a group, that have something to do with summer. Take each word and think about some aspect of science in each of the words chosen. The word bank above may help to give you some ideas.

Construct a poster with illustrations of the class’s summer science ideas.

Scottish Science in the News

Dundee University is collaborating with a consortium of six of the World’s leading pharmaceutical companies in one of the largest-ever industrial research deals worth $24 Million. Research is wide ranging but will focus on cancer, infectious diseases and diabetes. Scotland has a world class reputation for its diabetes research with Dundee University having a specialised 5* rated unit and some of the finest researchers in the world. Find out about diabetes, its link with obesity and the increasing concern about poor health and lifestyle in Scotland today. Even our pets are being diagnosed with diabetes. Have a look at these websites:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1559641/Britain's-fat-cats-face-obesity-crisis.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4686611.stm

The Let’s talk resource on Diet Diabetes and Obesity is discussed elsewhere in this bulletin.

Bat techniques could find tumours

Scientists in Scotland hope to mimic bat radar to locate and identify tumours hidden deep inside the body. The University of Strathclyde team are developing a diagnostic device that employs the same technique used by some animals to recognise objects.

Bats navigate and hunt insect prey by sending out pulses of sound and listening to the reflected echoes.

The team is looking at using the same principle to identify hidden tumours with ultrasound.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7089820.stm

According to a report in The Engineer magazine, http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/302799/Animal+magic.htm

The research is based on the way that bats, like dolphins and whales, have a sophisticated ability to tailor their ultrasound signals to individual targets. These "acoustic codes" are used to identify different kinds of objects.

A bat, for instance, might send out an ultrasound squeak that is specifically coded for prey. Its echo tells the bat it has detected a flying insect, rather than a falling leaf.

Professor Gordon Hayward, who is heading the research, said: "Bats, dolphins and whales use complex acoustic waveforms for object identification and navigation."

His team of engineers are working with mathematicians to come up with acoustic codes for a wide variety of targets, including cancer cells. The researchers hope to complete their work in the next three years. The system could also have military applications, such as the detection and removal of underwater mines.

"With improved image capability, you could envisage a mine hunter locating a mine, then classifying it and sending a small robotic vehicle to dispose of it," Prof Hayward said.

The team is working with US researchers from the Universities of Virginia and Southern California, where ultrasound has already been used to create images at the cellular level.

See Youtube video - Blind Kid Uses Echo Location!

Our Living World - Using my senses