• About Science in School
  • About EIROforum
  • Submit an article
Science in School
Science in School
  • Understand
    • Recent research and science topics
      • Astronomy / space
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Earth science
      • Engineering
      • General science
      • Health
      • History
      • Mathematics
      • Physics
      • News from the EIROs
      • Science and society
  • Inspire
    • People, events and resources
      • Advertorials
      • Career focus
      • Competitions and events
      • Education focus
      • Resource reviews
      • Science and society
      • Science miscellany
      • Scientist profiles
      • Teacher profiles
  • Teach
    • Activities and projects
      • Astronomy / space
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Earth science
      • Engineering
      • General science
      • Health
      • History
      • Mathematics
      • Physics
      • Science and society
  • Archive
  • Login
  • Contact
Issue 15
 -  23/06/2010

Science on Stage: gathering momentum

Eleanor Hayes

Many of the national Science on Stage organisations are already beginning to select which teachers from their countries will attend the European teaching festival in 2011. Eleanor Hayes reports on the Austrian and Belgian events.

Science on Stage Austria


Food webs – a model developed
by secondary-school students for
kindergarten children, sponsored
by the Science Center Netzwerkw4

Image courtesy of Science on Stage Austria

I was lucky enough to attend the Science on Stage Austria event as a member of the jury. After two days, my head was in a whirl: how to compare a primary school’s 7 km scale model of the Solar System – complete with a rucksack full of experiments for the children to perform on each ‘planet’ – with a project in which secondary-school students developed experiments to explain the physics of music to younger children? And how should we judge those against some impressive original research into the effects of diet on health, performed by students at an agricultural secondary school? Only nine projects could be selected to attend the European teaching festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2011w1 – and it wasn’t an easy choice for the eight scientists, educators, and members of the Austrian education ministry who made up the jury.

All the 41 projects presented were wonderful; all represented inspiration and hard work by teachers and students alike. There were ideas for measuring your mass (not your weight), getting a feel for food webs (with the help of some cuddly toys), investigating the beauty of polarisation, or using Excel to model predator and prey populations; there were also plays, demonstrations and hands-on experiments. From all over Austria, 180 teachers and students came to Linz on 25-26 February 2010 to share their enthusiasm for science, to swap ideas and to gain inspiration for their teaching. Another success for Science on Stage.

For more details, including the winning projects, visit the Science on Stage Austria websitew2.

Science on Stage Belgium

Where could you take a virtual trip to Mars, learn how to build a ‘green’ battery, or discover the physics of music? Again, at Science on Stage – this time in Belgium, where on 27 February 2010, 140 teachers, inspectors and other participants converged on Ukkel for the Playful Science 4 event.

The day was full with a programme of teachers and university scientists demonstrating the delights of science. For those who preferred something hands-on, there were plenty of activities: you could test for yourself whether film stunts obey the laws of physics, run a gel electrophoresis and calculate the size of a DNA fragment, or try out a solar-powered water pump from Mauritania.
To learn more, visit the Science on Stage Belgium websitew3.

 

Web references

  • w1 – The national Science on Stage events culminate in a European teaching festival every two years, the next one being in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 16-19 April 2011. To learn more about Science on Stage and find your national contact, see the Science on Stage Europe website: www.science-on-stage.eu
  • w2 – More information about Science on Stage Austria is available here: www.scienceonstage.at
  • w3 – To find out more about Science on Stage Belgium, see: www.scienceonstage.be
  • w4 – Science Center Netzwerk connects interactive science centre activities throughout Austria. See: www.science-center-net.at

Institution

Science on Stage   

Author

Dr Eleanor Hayes is the Editor-in-Chief of Science in School. She studied zoology at the University of Oxford, UK, and completed a PhD in insect ecology. Eleanor then spent some time working in university administration before moving to Germany and into science publishing, initially for a bioinformatics company and then for a learned society. In 2005, she moved to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory to launch Science in School.

CC-BY-NC-ND
Log in to post a comment

Issues

  • Current issue
  • Archive

Events - School Projects

The Beamline for Schools competition



Beamline for Schools is an international Physics competition organized by CERN and DESY. Write the proposal for an experiment to be realized at the DESY II. The task is challenging, but the participants can count on the help of the organizing team and many scientists spread around the world. The winning teams are invited to spend two weeks at DESY to perform their experiments with the help of a group of scientists and engineers. 

Age: 16-19 years old. Application Deadline: 15 April

Institutions

Tools

  • Download article (PDF)
  • Print
  • Share

Related articles

  • Welcome to Valencia! The EU Contest for Young Scientists
  • Science on Stage: countdown to the international festival
  • Science on Stage: recent activities
  • Science teachers take to the stage
  • Science on Stage: recent international events

Login / My account

Create new account
Forgot password


Contact us

Please contact us via our email address editor@scienceinschool.org.

  • More contact details

Get involved

  • Submit an article
  • Review articles
  • Translate articles

Support Science in School


EIROforum members:
CERN European Molecular Biology Laboratory European Space Agency European Southern Observatory
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility EUROfusion European XFEL Institut Laue-Langevin


EIROforum
Published and funded by EIROforum


  • About Science in School
  • About EIROforum
  • Imprint
  • Copyright
  • Safety note
  • Disclaimer
  • Archive
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
ISSN 1818-0361

CERN
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
European Space Agency
European Southern Observatory
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
EUROfusion
European XFEL
Institut Laue-Langevin
EIROforum

Published and funded by EIROforum
  • About Science in School
  • About EIROforum
  • Imprint
  • Copyright
  • Safety note
  • Disclaimer
  • Archive
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
ISSN 1818-0361