Creative Taching & Learning Special Issue with Shell

Creative Teaching & Learning

Special Issue

How will we power the city of the future?

You decide

Enter The Bright Ideas Challenge with an innovative solution to a major dilemma facing future cities – your school could win up to £5,000!

Battle of the bright ideas What are the judges looking for?

Get insider information from competition host Shell

Take a trip to the future today!

Plan your trip to Shell’s free four-day festival of ideas and innovation – coming to London in summer 2016! www.teachingtimes.com

What will cities look like in 2050 – how will they

be powered to be vibrant, healthy and clean places for people to live?

We’re looking for students’ bright ideas to solve the energy challenges of tomorrow. To find out more, including how your school could win up to £5,000 visit shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge

Teacher Information At Shell we’re committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. That’s why we’ve launched The Bright Ideas Challenge. It’s a new cross-curricular schools competition, inviting secondary students across Great Britain aged 11-14 to imagine creative solutions to energy challenges faced by future cities. The Challenge is student-led, but we’ve developed a toolkit to support you through each activity, step-by-step. You can download the toolkit and find out about the national, regional and student prizes online. Full terms and conditions apply.

See www.shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge

W

elcome to this free special issue of Creative Teaching & Learning! As you may know, one of our key aims as a magazine this year is to bring our readers some of most exciting and innovative developments in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education. Inspiring young people in STEM is so important, not only for the sake of the future labour market but for its intrinsic benefits to the development of thinking skills and positive attitudes to learning such as curiosity, creativity, and the ability to take risks and learn from mistakes. Most young children adore the freedom to imagine, design and invent, but unfortunately, as they grow older, their interest in STEM declines. This especially applies to girls, who are severely underrepresented in this field.

That is why Shell’s exciting new schools competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge, and their upcoming festival of innovation and ideas, Make the Future London, are

of so much interest to us. Both are aimed at secondary school students across Great Britain aged 11 to 14 – that critical time when interest and enthusiasm for science and other STEM areas begins to decline – and will show pupils the amazing things they can achieve, now and in their lives beyond school, if they just put their minds to it.

In this special issue, find out how to enter The Bright Ideas Challenge, plus how to get the most out of it in terms of teaching opportunities. Remember, the team with the brightest idea wins £5,000 to super-size their school’s STEM teaching, so the stakes are high!

And don’t forget to check out our own list of resources on page 11. From a step-by-step guide to running a class project, to the do’s and don’ts of web research in secondary schools, we’ve compiled a bank of articles and resources from the Creative Teaching & Learning library to get you and your pupils started on your journey to the brightest idea.

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Editor’s comment

Why education is Anna Haslam, Head of UK Social Investment, Shell

O

ur world today is more exciting, dynamic and fast moving than it has ever been, and it is scientists and engineers that have made this modern life possible. They’ve cured diseases, transformed communications and sent mankind to the depths of the oceans and into space.

That power to transform and to positively shape our future should make being a scientist or engineer the most coveted, over-subscribed career in the world, with students clamouring to become one. But unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. EngineeringUK predicts that the UK has an annual shortfall of over 69,000 engineering graduates and technicians.1 The UK’s skills shortage in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) is a big challenge facing our future. We simply have to inspire more secondary school students to pursue STEM careers. It’s therefore critical that schools and industry work together to bring STEM ingenuity and innovation to life and help change the world around us.

That’s why we work with Tomorrow’s Engineers. Our investment of over £1million has enabled the launch of a new programme – The Energy Quest. This programme is giving hands-on engineering experience and careers information to 70,000 students over the next three years.

To build on this work, we are inviting students across Great Britain to participate in two exciting new initiatives: our brand new schools competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge, and Make the Future London, our four day festival of ideas and innovation.

It’s the possibility of a great idea that inspires every engineer and scientist to keep on investigating, keep on researching and keep on pushing new boundaries. And that’s exactly the opportunity we want to give to secondary school students through our education programmes – to inspire them to become the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.

References 1. EngineeringUK 2016: The state of engineering. Available at www.engineeringuk. com/Research/Engineering-UK-Report-2016/ [Accessed 10 February 2016].

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

our passion

3

The Bright Ideas Challenge

How will cities be powered to be vibrant, healthy and clean places in 2050?

Enter Shell’s new competition for the chance to win up to £5,000 for your school…

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

F

ast forward to 2050. The world is going to be a very different place. It’ll be home to over 9 billion of us – about 2 billion more than today. And around 7 billion of us will live in the world’s cities.

This urbanisation will have a huge impact on how we live, work and play. Cities can be crowded, energy-hungry, congested places. But with careful planning, they can be vibrant, healthy and clean places to live, providing innovative and dynamic spaces for ideas, communities and economies to flourish.

Shell’s new schools competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge, invites secondary school students across Great Britain aged 11 to 14 to join the conversation. Their task? To devise innovative solutions to the energy challenges faced by cities of the future.

Drawing on Shell’s Scenarios work, the Challenge presents students with facts around the energy and resourcing needs of future cities. It challenges them to consider ways to increase supply of clean and affordable energy, or reduce demand for energy by making cities more efficient.

Eleven regional winners will receive £1,500 to super-size STEM teaching at their school, a tablet computer for every team member and funded trips to Make the Future London. Three of these schools will go through to the national final where one will be crowned champion, receiving a total of £5,000 for their school. With these prizes on offer, there’s every reason for schools to think big!

The Challenge has been developed to support cross-curricular learning, drawing on topics and skills from various STEM subjects, alongside geography, English, D&T and computing, depending on how you choose to approach it.

At Creative Teaching & Learning, we’re impressed by how comprehensive and flexible the supporting resources are. There’s an introductory video to help you set the scene, four practical engineering warm-up exercises to get creative sparks flying, along with a Teacher Toolkit and Student Workbook.

Students can enter in teams of up to five, and schools can enter as many teams as they like, although each student can only be on one team. All teams have to submit a ‘Bright Ideas Report’, which outlines the problem they’re solving, their solution and an overview of the skills they used to get to their ‘bright idea’.

Teams can also bring their idea to life with photographs, technical drawings, prototypes and up to three minutes of video. So the sky really is the limit when it comes to creativity!

Rise to the challenge – visit shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge today for the Terms and Conditions and to download the resources. Remember! The deadline to enter is 5pm on 29 April 2016.

4

Layla Conway, Senior Communities and Business Manager and Competition Judge, London Legacy Development Corporation What makes a winning ‘bright idea’? That is the £5,000 question. The judging criteria are set out in the Terms and Conditions (see shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge), but I can give you an insight into what I’ll personally be looking for.

For me, winning teams should show:

■■Awareness – No innovation is ever introduced in a

■■Relevance – An ingenious idea is one thing, but it

vacuum. I’ll be excited by entries that demonstrate the team has a wider understanding of the context and issues they’re dealing with and the people their idea may impact.

■■Resources – Teams that go the extra mile in bringing their concept to life, whether through prototypes, videos, photography or detailed drawings, will have the best chance at winning.

will need to address an issue and justify the need for the solution. A great way to demonstrate this would be through thorough research.

■■ Connection – How is the bright idea supported by the STEM skills your students have accumulated at school?

I can’t wait to see the entries! It’s going to be a privilege to sit on a panel that will consider the ideas of hundreds of secondary school students, all driven to play a positive role in making the future.

■■Creativity – Students should approach a problem in

a genuinely different, fresh way.

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Get the inside track

Future gazing Martin Haigh, Senior Energy Advisor and Competition Judge, Shell The future holds a fascination for us all. It’s in our DNA to be intrigued about how we’ll live in ten, 20 or 50 years’ time – to try to improve on how we live today and to imagine

what future life could look like. It’s that natural curiosity that this competition will tap into and I can’t wait to see how secondary school students tackle these big problems.

Gareth Thistleton, Education Programme Manager, Shell At Shell, we’re passionate about helping schools enhance students’ STEM learning, and we’re also huge believers in rewarding innovative thinking.

That’s why we’re investing in substantial prizes for The Bright Ideas Challenge.

Eleven schools will be named as regional winners and will receive:

Three of these teams will then go through to the national final, to win a further:

■■£1,500 to super-size STEM

teaching ■■Student prizes ■■Funded trips to Make the Future

London

■■£3,500 – 1st place ■■£2,500 – 2nd place ■■£1,500 – 3rd place

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

Prizes with super-sizing power

5

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Our energy

future O ver the next few decades, our world faces one of its greatest ever challenges: how to generate more energy to create and sustain a good quality of life for an ever-increasing population, while producing less CO2. This challenge can only be met through innovative collaboration and ingenuity.

Shell’s Make the Future campaign is about doing just that.

It’s about bringing to life the smartest energy ideas and involving as many bright minds – including young minds – in thinking creatively about our future.

Below are a few thought-provoking statistics that demonstrate the future energy challenge, which you can use to spark debate among students before they take on the Challenge.

Our population is growing ■■In 1993, the global population was 5.5 billion

– today it is over 7 billion.

■■By 2050, the global population is predicted

to be approximately 9 billion!

The way we live is changing ■■The world’s urban population is growing at a

rate of one million people a week.

■■By 2050, there could be 9 billion people

on the planet, and around three-quarters of us will live in cities – putting ever increasing pressure on food, water and energy resources.

■■The quality of life, livelihoods, local economies and communities within those cities will largely depend on convenient, reliable and affordable energy to prosper and grow.

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

Our need for energy is growing The needs of our ■■Producing food, enabling a better quality of planet are changing

6

life, powering communications and fuelling transport all require energy. Those needs are only going to increase.

■■Around one in five people around the globe currently have no access to electricity.

■■Global energy demand is likely to double by 2050, compared to demand in 2000.

■■The world will need to bring CO2 emissions

to a net zero state within this century to manage future climate risk.

■■Renewable energy sources like solar and wind could provide up to 60 per cent of energy globally by 2060.

References All statistics on this page can be found in: Shell New Lens Scenarios: A shift in perspective for a world in transition www.shell.com/content/dam/royaldutchshell/documents/corporate/scenarios-newdoc.pdf [Accessed 10 February 2016].

six cities… which we might live – in order to predict our world’s future energy needs, pressures and challenges.

They’ve identified six types of city. Sharing the archetypes below with students will help them consider the type of city they might want to help with their bright idea. It could be their own or one on the other side of the world!

■■Urban powerhouse – Hong Kong, Singapore, New York These cities are extremely rare. They enjoy influential positions as major commercial hubs in their regions. What defines them is that they are both densely populated and wealthy – an unusual combination.

■■Sprawling metropolis – London, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles These huge cities occupy a vast land mass and can mainly be found in developed countries. Their citizens tend to enjoy relatively high incomes.

■■Crowded city – Manila, Lagos, Lima These are the most heavily populated cities in the world and feature densely packed, low-quality housing, as well as extensive slums. Although the lifestyles of those living in these cities are underprivileged compared to those living in developed countries, these cities have the potential to be the urban powerhouses of the future.

■■Prosperous community – Valencia, Dubai, Amsterdam These cities, like sprawling metropolises, are inhabited by people with high incomes who live and work in plenty of space. However, the populations and land masses of these cities are considerably smaller.

■■Developing mega-hub – Beijing, Nairobi, Buenos Aires These rapidly growing, densely populated cities have the potential to be the urban powerhouses of the future. However, because of their ultra-rapid growth – often the result of aggressive industrialisation – these cities can face huge challenges.

■■Developing urban centre – Marrakech, Nanchang, Panama City These less populated, relatively spread out urban centres are the most numerous type of city in the world. Many of these cities are on the brink of rapid development and urbanisation, but these trends come with concurrent challenges.

To further the debate on the pros and cons of each type of city, take Shell’s ‘Which city?’ quiz at futurecities.shell.com/future-cities-quiz, and find out which of the world’s cities best suits your personality.

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

T

he Bright Ideas Challenge asks students to think about a city in 2050 – but, of course, no two cities are the same! The lives people live and the energy needs they’ll have, both now and in the future, vary hugely.

That’s where Shell’s Scenario team comes in handy.

They scope out plausible future scenarios – ways in

The Bright Ideas Challenge

A tale of

7

The Bright Ideas Challenge

The building blocks for

our future cities T

hrough its Future Cities work, Shell has identified five building blocks it believes are essential to building prosperous future cities which use the resources at their disposal in the most effective way.

Can your students find examples of these building blocks in the research they’re undertaking?

■■Flexible, long-term planning Ideas don’t have to deliver immediate success. Long-term decision making that supports a clear long-term vision is often the most effective at bringing about positive change. London’s congestion zone has the long-term goal of cutting emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

■■Investing in the future Incentivising long-term investment in future infrastructure is key. Berlin has agreed with its business community that 75 per cent of all new buildings have to include solar thermal strategies in their design.

8

■■Turning plans into reality Plans have to be practical and translate into reality. Copenhagen’s pledge to be ‘climate neutral’ by 2025 has seen the widespread introduction of city cycle schemes, electric vehicles and green rooftops.

■■Building trust Issues need to be carefully communicated with real transparency to be bought into by the wider populace. Helsinki is a city which pioneers data transparency on everything from population through to transport and education.

■■Finance and collaboration All sections of society need to work together collaboratively to address urban challenges effectively. Society needs to be encouraged to favour shared infrastructure, and governments need to incentivise positive behaviour change.

challenge Those who want to take part in The Bright Ideas Challenge should watch the Challenge video – and then download the Teacher Toolkit and Student Workbook. All of these are available at shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge, where you’ll also find the Terms and Conditions.

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Rise to the

Spark creativity with practical ice-breakers!

To get students working together on a practical problem before they take on the Challenge, you can use one of four curriculum-linked activities. They’ve been written to introduce teams to the engineering design process and make great team building activities.

Select from: ■■Transport ■■Water

■■Food ■■Housing

The Housing ice-breaker is featured in part below. Download the full resource pack from shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge.

Example ice-breaker activity: Housing Brief Imagine you’re in the future; it’s 2050. You’re living in a busy, highly populated city. As space is in high demand, people are looking for different places to live. You’ve been challenged to design and build a model of a platform that could support a house or tower. The tricky bit is that the platform is being built on a flood plain, so it will need to support the building above water.

Materials available ■■A4 sheets of recycled paper or newspaper ■■Plastic bag ■■Two metres of sticky tape ■■Scissors ■■String ■■Paper, pens and pencils ■■Tray of water and masses (for testing)

Tip: There is a limited amount of sticky tape; it is probably best to use it as an adhesive rather than for weight bearing or a waterproof coating.

Download the full activity pack from shell.co.uk/brightideaschallenge for further instructions, curriculum links, and hints and tips.

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

Design instructions ■■You have 25 minutes to design and build your living platform.

■■You will then need to submit your model for testing.

■■Your model should stand up in the water for five minutes, and the living platform created should remain nice and dry.

■■Your model should withstand weights being placed on it (as it would need to support a building).

■■Only the materials listed can be used in your design.

9

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Take a trip to the

I

future today!

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

magine being able to take your students to the future. Think how much that would fire up their imaginations, how much debate it could generate, how inspired they would be to think about the role they could play in shaping that future. Well that opportunity exists in 2016, and it’s free and open to all schools!

Make the Future London, Shell’s four-day festival of ideas and innovation, is taking place at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 30 June to 3 July 2016. They’re opening the doors to students in years 6 to 9 on Thursday 30 June and Friday 1 July.

The event will:

10

■■Showcase bright ideas from around the world – with live science shows, hands-on activities and engaging careers experiences to help bring science, technology, engineering and maths to life.

■■Host the Shell Eco-marathon – for the first time in the competition’s 30-year history, it is taking place in London. Students will be able to watch thousands of young engineers from across Europe take part in Shell’s energy efficiency challenge, competing in ultra-efficient, self-designed cars of the future. The winners are the teams that go the furthest on the least amount of fuel.

■■Provide the stage as we announce the national winners of The Bright Ideas Challenge – with one school set to receive £5,000 to super-size their STEM teaching, the stakes are high!

Any school is welcome to attend. Teachers can register their interest at shell.co.uk/ mtfschools.

Shell Ecomarathon fact file ââThe origins of the competition date back to 1939 when Shell employees in the US made a friendly wager on who could travel the furthest on a gallon of fuel! ââThe competition requires real dedication – student teams take around a full year to prepare and hone their designs. ââIt’s a truly global event – over 400 teams from over 50 countries compete in three annual competitions spanning three continents! ââTo compete successfully at the first ever Shell Eco-marathon Europe in London, teams must complete eight laps of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park track in less than 43 minutes. ââMinimising vehicle weight and friction are both key to success. The typical weight of prototype cars – minus their drivers – is under 45kg. An average small family car in Europe weighs between 1,000 and 1,400kg! ââThe current efficiency record stands at 3,771km – the equivalent of travelling from London to Rome and back on a single litre of fuel!

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Interested in STEM and creative teaching? Become a member of the Creative Teaching & Learning Service today Release your pupils’ potential with:

RR RR

RR

RR

The most exciting innovations in science, technology, engineering and maths teaching Advice on teaching the new, more rigorous National Curriculum, including the new curriculum for computing The latest developments in creative teaching and technology, including project-based learning, flipped learning, 3D printing and more Strategies to develop young people’s thinking skills, from time-honoured approaches to fresh, original ideas developed by teachers on the ground A growing library of cross-curricular project plans – with a new project every issue!

Subscribe today and every teacher in your school will receive 12 months’ access to the entire Creative Teaching & Learning library – that’s over 3,000 best practice articles and more than 20 cross-curricular project plans on topics such as conservation, democracy, the human body, the Victorians, World War II and more.

Subscribe online now!

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

RR

11

Was the reintroduction of wolves a good thing for Yellowstone National Park? Ed Walsh brings secondary science to life with a real-world dilemma for pupils to explore and solve together.

Blending maths and English across the curriculum The UK trails far behind other developed countries in terms of literacy and numeracy. Where are we going wrong? Lisa Jane Ashes says it’s time to break down the barriers between subject areas at secondary and get all teachers developing these key skills.

Project inspire Your plane has crashed on a desert island. How do you survive?

How does the community begin to evolve? Join pupils in their struggle for survival as part of one school’s thrilling project-based learning scheme.

Exploring history through drama Find out how, through dramatic conventions and visual resources, this teacher transported his pupils back to the times of the Romans and the Celts to develop historical understanding and enthusiasm.

Teaching & Learning

Volume 5.3

Volume 5.2

Problem-based learning in science

Creative Creative Teaching & Learning

The Bright Ideas Challenge

Recently in Creative Teaching & Learning

Inspiring the next generation of engineers What exciting possibilities await your pupils in science, technology, engineering and maths?

Making thinking visible in the primary classroom Simple yet effective strategies to promote high-level thinking in young children How to plan for projectbased learning A step-by-step guide to preparing a project from first steps to final reflections

www.teachingtimes.com/zone/creative-teaching.htm

Powerful everyday learning experiences? There’s an app for that Thirty pupils, thirty iPads... can it ever work? For Chris Waterworth, it has – and with amazing results. Here he describes the many valuable learning experiences in maths, literacy and more, made possible only by his school’s one-to-one iPad scheme.

Unleash your inner Einstein!

From Einstein to Edison, take a lesson from some of science’s most creative thinkers with this selection of strategies to promote thinking skills through STEM.

Coming up in 2016 ■■ Maths and literacy across the curriculum How every teacher can become a maths and English teacher. Plus, we explore some of the most exciting international innovations in core and foundation subject areas.

■■ Projects for the new curriculum Cover the breadth and difficulties of the new National Curriculum with exciting projects on water, materials, the Vikings, the Romans, the Battle of Hastings, and more!

■■ Linking learning to real life with project-based learning Don’t miss our brand new series of PBL project plans! Each project explores exciting real-world challenges such as staying healthy, planning a party and protecting the planet.

■■ Creating a vibrant curriculum for computing Strategies for teaching the content of the new computing curriculum, with emphasis on that daunting new requirement: coding ■■ Electrifying approaches to science Spice up your STEM teaching with ambitious whole-school initiatives or simple, creative activities for the classroom – we explore both!

Writers you won’t want to miss!

Special Issue n Creative Teaching & Learning

■■ ■■ ■■ ■■

Guy Claxton explores simple steps to creating independent and adventurous learners.

David Leat fights back against ‘objective-led teaching’ and explores ways to let children take the lead in driving learning forward.

Debra Kidd inspires reluctant readers with a creative cross-curricular project on ‘the tiger who came to tea’.

James Nottingham explains the Pit, his revolutionary strategy to stimulate deep thinking and resilience.

And that’s not all! Improve your practice with information and advice from: Michael Barber Robert E Slavin Kieran Egan

Robert Fisher Karin Murris Hywel Roberts

Chris Watkins Peter Worley David Pratt

... And many, many more!

12

Subscribe online now!