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Working with Linux
Michael Rimmer, a student on the Computing in the Classroom course, developed these materials which introduce college-level learners to Linux....
Cryptography – a brief history
This lesson, created by Computing in the Classroom student Stirling McGee, teaches early secondary school learners about cryptography using...
Meet our scientists | Dr Rob Ogden
Watch Dr Rob Ogden talk about conservation genetics - How genetic research helps wildlife conservation, the importance of involving communities and...
Meet our scientists | Dr Megan Davey
Watch Dr Megan Davey talk about how embryos grow - Why we have five fingers, recreating 250 million years of evolution, Sonic the Hedgehog and the...
Meet our scientists | Dr Mark Barnett
Watch Dr Mark Barnett talk about the genetics of bees - The creation of the campus apiary and how whole genome sequencing, bioinformatics and...
Meet our scientists | Dr Gerry McLachlan
Watch Dr Gerry McLachlan talk about Cystic Fibrosis - Gene therapy treatments for cystic fibrosis in humans, the challenge of engaging the public...
Meet our scientists | Dr Vickey MacRae
Watch Dr Vickey MacRae talk about bone formation and calcified arteries - Similarities and differences of bone formation and calcified arteries, and...
Science Talks | Sarah Fletcher – Using genome editors to produce disease-resistant pigs
Watch Sarah Fletcher talking about how we use genome editors at The Roslin Institute to attempt to generate resistance to disease in pigs. Sarah...
Science Talks | Remi Gratacap – Understanding genetics to breed more disease resistant animals
Aquaculture production needs to increase by 40 percent by 2030 to meet global demands for fish. In this video, Remi Gratacap will focus on how he...
Science Talks | Megan Davey – The day in the life of a scientist – chicken finger, dinosaur toes
Watch Megan Davey explain her work with chicken embryos. Megan is a developmental biologist, which means understanding how we grow from a single...
Real-life Research Data | No bones about it – PHOSPHO1 and the skeleton
PHOSPHO1 is an enzyme which is important for the proper development of our skeleton in infancy. You can learn about the function of PHOSPHO1 in the...
Read about Real-Life Science | How to build a bone – PHOSPHO1 and the skeleton
Before we do any work in the lab, scientists have to make sure that the animals they're working with are the correct genotype. This case study from...
PCR Simulation Activity
This paper-based PCR simulation activity to reinforce how PCR works (created by Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre) is free to download and use in...
DNA Gel Electrophoresis Wall Tank
This photocopiable resource has been developed by the Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre to help support teachers who are teaching the theory of...
Read about Real-Life Science | Does the type of home affect piglet play or fighting?
Through this short critical reading text designed for upper primary, pupils see how Jessica and Emma have used the scientific method to answer the...
Read about Real-Life Science | Do Rats Like Being Tickled?
Through this short critical reading text designed for upper primary, pupils see how Tayla has used the scientific method to answer the question: "Do...
Read about Real-Life Science | Hunting for Bacteria in Sheep Lungs
Through this short critical reading text designed for upper primary, pupils see how Laura, a microbiologist, has used the scientific method to look...
Animal Behaviour Toolkit – Opening a Can of Worms
In this teacher toolkit, we will provide some examples of investigation topics, give you some tips on how to support your learners and give you the...
Science @Home | Marvellous Mixtures
Use this Science @Home investigation to explore the question "Can I separate my leafy mixture?". Download the workbook, follow the instructions and...
Science @Home | The Big Balloon Blow Up
Use this Science @Home investigation to explore the question "Do yeast need sugar to grow?". Download the workbook, follow the instructions and...
Science @Home | Wonder Worm
Use this Science @Home investigation to explore the question "Do worms prefer wet or dry places?". Download the workbook, follow the instructions...
Lab Techniques in Action ¦PCR
This video, created by the Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre, has been designed to support Higher Biology and Higher Human Biology learners to...
Lab Techniques in Action ¦ Gel Electrophoresis
This video, created by the Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre, been designed to support Higher Biology and Higher Human Biology learners to...
MyPasswordIsPassword: Educating Young People about their Privacy Online
School of Informatics student Elena Lape has created a video crash course is designed to provide you with just the right tools and experience to...
AI and sharks! Machine Learning for High School Students
How easy would it be to train a computer to tell the difference between a dolphin and a shark? How does machine learning work? If you have ever...
Computing Science Scotland
A group of Computing Science teachers in Scotland have come together to drive forward support for all Computing teachers in schools. Download the...
Have Fun with Maths
This is a collection of resources for P5-S3 students, aimed at developing problem solving and mathematical thinking. The resources focus on strategy...
Past paper explorer for History exams
A group of University of Edinburgh students are so enthusiastic about developing tech solutions to help teachers that they spent their Christmas...
Scotland’s School Data
Have you ever thought about rummaging through the publically available data on school education in Scotland? It is now available in a very...
Distance Learning Resources
Some teachers have been trawling the web for resources to use in and around the classroom, especially during the covid-19 period. The pedagogy...
Lightning Strikes
It is amazing what pops up on news feeds when we have a weather event. There is a website that tracks lightning strikes in various parts of the...
literary responses to COVID-19
For literary responses to COVID-19 from writers around the world, check out our Voices from the Pandemic series. This resource is for teachers, learners, parents and carers to use in Expressive arts / Health and wellbeing / Languages / Religious and moral education for Probably Early level / First level.
Discover Sharia and Islamic law
Discover Sharia and Islamic law, and learn more about some of the diverse roles they play in Muslim life. This resource is for teachers to use in Religious and Moral Education for For teachers of RME/RMPS at all levels..
Upside-down Faces
Several parts of the brain are responsible for the recognition of aspects of the face. The fusiform gyrus in the temporal lobe does, however, appear...
Data Education in Schools
The Data Education in Schools team brings together leading educational researchers, professional learning and digital skills consultants, and...
Hashtag Learning Professional Learning Resources – Free
Hashtag Learning has made a range of resources freely available to teachers.
John Hattie interview by Stephen Cox – Build Back Better
Our Build Back Better webinar with John Hattie is now available to watch on Youtube
Stacking rings – Mental health risk and resilience
A stacking rings activity to stimulate conversation around risk & resilience.
Our stacking rings activity was inspired by Dr Jehannine Austin’s jar analogy.
We are born with a certain amount of genetic vulnerability (yellow balls), but over time, we also accumulate stressful experiences (orange triangles), which can tip us over into an active episode of mental ill-health (full jar).
Protective factors such as exercise and good sleep add ‘rings’ to the top of our mental health jar, and expand its capacity.
Paper Chain People
A ‘paper chain people’ activity to stimulate conversation around stratified medicine
This activity was designed for a family science festival audience.
Big Data Research Processes
A card-swiping computer game to explore the complexities of Big Data research.
The premise of the game:
You are the researcher in charge of a Big Data project.
You need to keep Knowledge, Ethics, Money and People in balance (the symbols at the top of the game screen)
Make decisions by swiping each card (scenario) left or right (yes or no), but be warned, every decision has consequences.
Have you got what it takes to keep the world of big data in balance?
Tip: Gently the tip the card to read the possible answers
Neuroscience Resources
Here you will find a curated list of free online resources to help you teach neuroscience concepts in the classroom or revise at home. Furthermore, these resources are linked to specific points on your Biology syllabus to assist you in pinpointing exactly where they fit in.
Project Soothe
The resource provides a collection of wellbeing tools designed by young Citizen Scientists aged 10-21 years old. Children and young people are invited to test these wellbeing tools as young Citizen Scientists and to use them as self-help tools at their leisure. Children and young people are also invited to submit their own soothing images to the Project Soothe’s database which will be displayed in a gallery on the website.
Edinburgh Maths Circle
The Edinburgh Maths Circle is an opportunity for children aged 5 to 16 and their families to join us for an afternoon of fun and stimulating hands-on mathematics. This post gives you instructions to sign up to the mailing list to be notified of future events.
The April Maths Circle has been cancelled due to the current situation.
If you would like to be notified of future Maths Circle events, you can subscribe to the Maths Circle mailing list. To do that, please send an email to sympa@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk with no subject, and text:
SUBSCRIBE edinburgh-maths-circle Name Surname QUIT
You will then receive an automatic email, asking you to confirm your subscription.
If you need any further information, please contact Francesca Iezzi by phone (0131 650 5842) or email (francesca.iezzi@ed.ac.uk).
Number Recognition Snap!
A simple “Snap” card game suitable for young children (early or 1st level), but also suitable for older pupils who are still practicing counting and recognising numbers from 0 to 10
Universities UK – Emerging from Lockdown
Universities UK have shared a helpful paper on emerging from lockdown which is useful across all sectors of education.
Teach Computing Science: A guide for Secondary
Authors: Kate Farrell from Computing at School Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, Professor Judy Robertson from the University of Edinburgh,...
Teach Computing Science: A guide for Primary and Early Years
Authors: Kate Farrell from Computing at School Scotland, Professor Judy Robertson from the University of Edinburgh, Professor Quintin Cutts from the...
Maths Trail: The Meadows
This resource is a maths trail suitable for an older Primary or younger Secondary school pupil, suggesting mathematical questions that they could think about during a (socially distanced!) walk around The Meadows in central Edinburgh.
Moray House Online Conversations 10th June 2020
Join us to learn more about the EU wide perspective on learning and teaching during lockdown. About this Event Join us to hear more about...
South West Grid for Learning Checklists
Visit the South West Grid for Learning and you will find a huge range of support materials on making the internet a safer place to be. Check out these checklists…
‘Healthy Mathematical Snacks’ videos from the Association of Teachers of Maths
The ‘mathematical snacks’ are tasks, puzzles, challenges, and games produced by the Association of Teachers of Maths to support children who are currently home learning, to support and enrich the mathematics taught at school. Many can be accessed by very young children, with a little bit of adult support, and all of them are relevant to pupils across the whole school age-range.
Recurring Decimals Investigation
An investigation for pupils into recurring decimals. Suitable for able P6/P7 pupils or S1-S4 pupils. Pupils require knowledge of how to convert a fraction to a decimal, but the rest of the worksheet is designed for them to work it out as they go along.
The Mathematics of Virus Modelling
A topical PowerPoint lesson resource focussed on some of the mathematics involved in the current Covid19 pandemic. The resource covers the topics of indices (powers), sequences of numbers and data representation (graphs). The topics covered go up to Higher/Advanced Higher maths level, but this resource would be suitable for able S3/S4 pupils because the more advanced concepts are presented in an accessible way. The resource is aimed at teachers but could also be used by learners for home learning.
Indoor Maths Trail
An ‘indoor maths trail’ suitable for pupils in early secondary school and older Primary school pupils to do in their homes: first using maths skills to create a map of the house, and then creating a ‘maths trail’ of activities using everyday household objects. This task would be suitable for siblings from the same family to work on as a group task in the home.
Worksheets on Number Topics
A set of three resources for teachers for fractions/decimals and subtracting integers suitable for pupils working at 2nd or 3rd level.
Units of Measure Worksheet
This resource is a worksheet covering the topic of converting units of measure, using a diagram with ‘jumps’ to help structure learners’ thinking to help them convert (for example) hours to seconds.
Plastic in the ocean
Plastic in the Ocean is a project aimed at educating learners about the negative environmental effects of plastic. Over the course of four lessons, the learners are taught what plastic is, why it is bad for the environment and what can be done to address this environmental problem. As well as fun and interactive lessons the learners are given the opportunity to explore the local area collecting litter/plastic, putting what they have learned in the classroom lessons into context with the real-world. This resource is for teachers to use in sciences IDL for Second (P5-P7).
Home-Made Playdough
When you mix the dry ingredients you make a mixture — look at it with a hand lens, or USB microscope, and talk about how it can be physically separated back out using a fine sieve. Mix the water and food colouring, making a solution. You can add oil and show that it won’t mix in — link to density and miscibility…… This resource is for teachers, learners, parents and carers to use in Sciences for Early: age 3 to P1 (3-6 years old) First: P2-P4 (5-9 years old) Second: P5-P7 (8-12 years old).
The Solar Spark
On this website you’ll find loads of information on solar energy. You can find out how the sun’s energy is already being used, what scientists are doing to make solar power better, and even do some experiments yourself! This resource is for teachers, learners, parents and carers to use in Sciences / Numeracy / Technologies for First: P2-P4 (5-9 years old) Second: P5-P7 (8-12 years old)Third/Fourth: S1-S3 (11-15 years old)
Senior Phase: S4-S6 (14-18 years old)
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EPCC Outreach materials (various) — in progress
Materials used at science festivals and other outreach events to demonstrate HPC and computational science This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Technologies for Any.
Teach Computing – a guide for primary school teachers
If you're a primary school teacher who'd like to get up to speed on teaching the computing outcomes within the Technologies strand, why not have a...
Supercomputing MOOC
Discover how supercomputers work and the real-life scientific breakthroughs made possible by today’s computer simulations. This resource is for Learners to use in Technologies for Senior phase (S4-S6).
Moray House Online Conversations 3rd June 2020
Join us to discuss approaches to blended (online and home) learning in primary. This session features Moray House colleagues providing an...
Harry Potter Physics Activities
This resource is for teachers to use in Sciences for Second (P5-P7).
Astronomy activities
This resource is for Teachers/Parents and carers (originally designed for librarians) to use in Sciences for Second (P5-P7).
Descriptive Statistics: Dispersion
A power point resource for teachers of biology, geography and environmental science for pupils studying at Advanced Higher, ( AS-Level, and above), and early FE/HE levels. Of use for helping to achieve a basic understanding and application of the ‘spread of data’ in fieldwork, assignments and examination questions. It complements the Guide to Descriptive Statistics in Geosciences. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology, Data Science for Advanced Higher.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Guidance Booklet
This resource is a booklet with a collection of strategies for improving mental health and wellbeing, a list of youth support agencies and a section with templates to aid the completion of some strategies. The target audience for this resource is anyone aged 12+ This resource is for teachers, parents, carers, learners to use in Mental Health, PSE for Learners of Level 3 upwards.
Tackling Mental Health
Two workshops covering what mental health is and how to promote it – aimed at learners aged 11 to 14. Includes workshop plans with presentations. This resource is for teachers, parents, carers, learners to use in Mental Health, PSE for Learners of Level 3 upwards.
Design a passport for an alien!
This fun activity is aimed at children aged 9+. You will need a printer to print some template sheets. Would you like to help an alien by designing its passport so that it can complete intergalactic travels? This resource is for Learners to use in Sciences for Second (P5-P7).
Quadratic Equations (National 5 Maths)
This is a set of worksheets and resources about quadratic equations which will be suitable for pupils who are either currently doing National 5 maths, or who are about to begin Higher maths and want to revise the topic of quadratic equations.
Maths Outdoor Learning Trail: Leith Walk
This activity is suitable for learners and parents/carers who are based around the Leith Walk/Calton Hill area, and gives ideas for mathematical tasks thoughts you can do whilst out and about enjoying a (socially distanced!) walk. It is probably most suitable for learners in early secondary school.
Vectors Puzzle Worksheets
These two worksheets give learners the chance for learners to explore the topic of vectors which gets introduced during the National 5 Maths course. Learners will need to have experience of vectors to be able to attempt these tasks. This resource would be suitable for teachers, or potentially for learners who are already familiar with the topic to do self-study.
Moray House Schools Online Conversations – 27th May 2020
Join Shana Ferguson and colleagues to hear more about the experiences of educators in the USA during lockdown. Discussion will include: how we've...
School of Divinity Outreach
The School of Divinity is committed to offering support for the teaching of Religious and Moral Education (RME) / Religious, Moral, & Philosophical Studies (RMPS) in Scottish schools. We run a series of visit-days for pupils and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events for teachers, in which colleagues share their expertise in accessible formats relevant to the Scottish curriculum. We are also developing free resources for use in schools, and these can be accessed below.
Tangrams
A tangram is a fun maths puzzle made up of seven shapes that can be arranged to form many different designs. Cut out the tangram pieces and then see if you can work out how to rearrange it to make the shapes shown. This activity is suitable for most primary and younger secondary students and parents/carers might enjoy to do them with their children.
Maths Puzzles: Graph Theory (Networks and Maps)
These resources is a set of games, puzzles and worksheets which provide a basic introduction to the mathematical topic of graph theory, which has many real-life applications but isn’t often covered in maths in school, so this resource would provide for interesting extension tasks for secondary school pupils and older Primary school pupils. Graph theory has real-life applications to the maths of maps and network diagrams; and in this resource there is also a very topical activity applying graph theory to the spread of a global virus. Further activities are themed around transport networks and city maps.
Post-16 Transitions
Resources to assist transitions from school to Post-16 destinations from Education Scotland.
Transitions in 2020
This resource from Education Scotland provides practitioners advice, guidance, signposting and practical resources to support children and young people through transitions in the context of COVID-19.
Supporting primary children at points of transition
In this Wakelet collection from Education Scotland, you will find resources and links to materials to help you plan for the multiple transitions our children, young people, families and staff face over the coming months.
Supporting young children at points of transition
In this Wakelet collection from Education Scotland, you will find resources and links to materials to help you plan for the multiple transitions our young children, families and staff face over the coming months.
Corona Is a Ball with Spikes
For literary responses to COVID-19 from writers around the world, check out our Voices from the Pandemic series.
Maths at Work
This series consists of five videos about how Maths is used in the World of Work. They are aimed at S1-S4 students, but might be suitable for younger or older students because the puzzles do not require much background knowledge.
Guide to Drawing and Interpreting Graphs in Geosciences
A resource for pupils studying at SCQF Level 6-7, (Scottish Higher, AS-Level, and above) which details the use of graphs in the field of geoscience. May be of use to teachers of geography, the sciences or even as an application of mathematics. Of use for helping to achieve problem solving, data handling and scientific investigation learning outcomes. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology and any subject area using graphs for Higher.
Seeing is Believing
This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Sciences (SCN 1-12b / SCN 2-11b / SCN 2-12b / SCN 3-12a) for First / Second / Third (P2 – S3).
Reverse-3D Dragon
The preference of our visual system to see a normal face is much stronger than the smaller visual things that our eyes notice – such as the slightly odd shadows – so our brains assume that a mistake has been made, and that we are looking at a normal face. This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Sciences (SCN 1-12b / SCN 2-11b / SCN 2-12b / SCN 3-12a) for First / Second / Third (P2 – S3).
Optical Illusions
This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Sciences (SCN 1-12b / SCN 2-11b / SCN 2-12b / SCN 3-12a) for First / Second / Third (P2 – S3).
Inverse Colour Illusion
#REF!
Hole in the Hand
Your eyes normally see roughly the same image, with only a small difference between each eye. Even these differences are used by your brain to work out distances to objects. Your brain has evolved to quickly combine these two similar images, to form a 3D scene. This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Sciences (SCN 2-12b / SCN 3-12a) for Second / Third (P5 – S3).
Cube Illusion
The human visual system has evolved over many tens of millions of years to operate in a world that is mostly lit by white light. Systems in the brain, working entirely unconsciously, compensate for changes in illumination. This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Sciences (SCN 1-12b / SCN 2-11b / SCN 2-12b / SCN 3-12a) for First / Second / Third (P2 – S3).
Conflicting Signals
The principle behind this exhibit is that our brains have evolved to immediately process verbal information, so much so that this information will dominate the interpretation of the list of words, even when we are trying simply to read out the colours of the words. This resource is for teachers, parents and carers to use in Sciences (SCN 2-12b / SCN 3-12a) for Second / Third (P5 – S3).
Sea Level and Climate change
An eight-part project about sea level change since the ice age. Covers glaciation, global warming and isostasy. Includes lesson plans, presentations, workbooks and a template for a timeline poster to illustrate the content of the eight sessions. This resource is for teachers to use in Geography/sciences IDL for Third/Fourth.
Food Production and Insects
This resource is a set of 5 lesson plans with slides, an experiment (with worksheets for analysing the results) and assessment items. The target audience for this resource is for learners aged between 14 and 16 years. This resource is for teachers and learners to use in N4/5 Biology for SQA N4/5.
Cardiovascular Disease resource
Teacher and student resource pack covering the effects and causes of cardiovascular disease and medical methods for preventing it. This resource is for teachers/learners to use in Human Biology for Higher.
Prejudice Reduction Strategies
This resource is a presentation with activities about contact theory, the bystander effect and cognitive dissonance. It also contains short biographies of the two co-authors and details of their academic involvement in psychology. The target audience for this resource is learners studying the Scottish National 5 Psychology course (or equivalent). This resource is for teachers/learners to use in psychology, PSE for N4/5/Higher.
Descriptive Statistics: Averages
A power point resource for teachers of biology, geography and environmental science for pupils studying at Advanced Higher (AS-Level, and above), and early FE/HE levels. Of use for helping to achieve a basic understanding and application of ‘central tendency’ in fieldwork, assignments and examination questions. It complements the Guide to Descriptive Statistics in Geosciences. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology, Data Science for Advanced Higher.
Descriptive Statistics: Describing Data and Variables
A power point resource for teachers of biology, geography and environmental science for pupils studying at Advanced Higher (AS-Level, and above), and early FE/HE levels. Of use for helping to achieve a basic understanding of the different terms used to describe data and variables commonplace in literature on the internet. It complements the Geoscience Guides. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology, Data Science for Advanced Higher.
Guide to Inferential Statistics in Geosciences
A resource for pupils studying at Advanced Higher (A Levels) and above, which details the use of inferential statistics in the field of geoscience. May be of use to teachers of geography, the sciences or even as an application in a mathematics or statistics course. Of use for helping to achieve problem solving, data handling and numeracy learning outcomes. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology for Advanced Higher.
Guide to Descriptive Statistics in Geosciences
A resource for pupils studying at Advanced Higher (A2-Level, and above) which details the use of descriptive statistics in the field of geoscience. May be of use to teachers of geography, the sciences or even as an application in a mathematics or statistics course. Of use for helping to achieve problem solving, data handling and numeracy learning outcomes. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology for Advanced Higher.
Guide to Scientific Investigation in Geosciences
A resource for pupils studying at Higher, Advanced Higher (AS-Levels) and above which details scientific investigation and the methodology used in the field of geoscience. May be of use to teachers of geography and science (particularly biology). Of use for helping to achieve problem solving, data handling and scientific investigation learning outcomes. This resource is for Self guided learning for learners and teachers to use in Geography, Biology for Advanced Higher.
Attention and Advertising Tactics
Presentation with activities about different forms of advertising technique including inattentional blindness, change blindness and Pavlovian conditioning. It also contains short biographies of the two coauthors and details of their academic involvement in psychology. This resource is for Teachers/learners to use in Psychology, PSE for N4/5/Higher.