As Ofsted notes, science helps us to answer our biggest questions and to meet our most basic needs: from explaining the deepest mysteries of the universe to the structure of elementary particles that form atoms. The findings of science have fundamentally shaped every aspect of our world, and continue to do so. Science drives innovation, creating new knowledge to help us solve current and future problems, as well as underpinning the technological advances we take for granted.
It goes without saying therefore that all young people are entitled to a high-quality science education, and the understanding and opportunity it brings. In particular, all young people benefit from the curiosity science generates about the world, and that’s something we always aim to foster with our students at Breakthrough.
Often this means looking at ways that we can bring science to life and apply practical experiences to cement learning, and we are fortunate to have a team of inspiring science teachers working with our learners at each centre. We wanted to share with you some examples of recent science experiments that students have especially enjoyed.
One of our A Level biology students recently completed a lung dissection as part of an exploration of a mass exchange system.
It is possible to learn about the function of lungs from diagrams, models and animations. However, the experience of dissecting actual lungs adds an extra dimension to understanding the structure of the lungs and the relationship of structure to function.
The student found the experience hugely valuable.
As part of a recent science session, a student and member of staff had fun creating catapults. In this activity, the mini-catapult is an example of a simple machine using levers. When someone pushes on the end of the catapult, they apply a force (or effort). The force is then multiplied to launch the object.
The intention was to investigate the action of levers (with a little bit of healthy competition thrown in for good measure!) to see who could hit the target!
