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A couple of links and short lesson ideas based on recent news stories to use in lessons on fertility treatments.
Hamster Power
Credit: Mylius at wikimedia
The story
Did you know: The hamster species P.roborovskii have been said to run the equivalent of four human marathons per night?
This interesting but apparently useless fact came to my attention via Guardian blogger Grrl Scientist. The blog post went on to explain the ways that all this kinetic energy could be harnessed to power electrical devices and I thought that it might be a fun way of teaching about energy transfer.
Counting the animals
Credit: Shopping Diva at Flickr
The story
Today sees the start of London zoo’s annual stock-take where the numbers of each species are counted. This task maybe a quick job for the keepers of the big cats or large reptiles but spare a thought for the invertebrate keepers, counting every butterfly could keep them occupied for up to 4 weeks.
Mega-crabs
This spooky video shows the giant red crab which have invaded Antarctic waters due to increased water temperatures: an example of how changes in non-living factors can alter the distribution of organisms. This invasive species has the potential to destroy the delicately balanced food webs in this ecosystem.
Snakes Alive!
The story
Remember, remember the 5th of November…
But does anyone remember the indoor fireworks that were so popular when I was growing up? More
Baby scientists
The story
I received an interesting letter in the post last week inviting my two year old daughter to take part in an international research study.
Feeling rather proud that scientists have realised her potential so early, I read on wondering what research they would exactly need her to carry out. More
Birthday blogging
Apologies in advance for the rather self-indulgent post but…
…Snapshot Science is now a year old! I am actually rather proud of the fact that I have managed to keep on blogging for a whole year. Since the birth of Snapshot Science I have posted 78 times and uploaded 41 teaching resources (see the menu at the top of the page to view them). More
World Health Day
The story
Today is World Health Day and the theme this year is antimicrobial resistance.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is introducing a six-point policy package to combat the spread of antimicrobial resistance in order to slow down not only its effect on the health of people today but to safeguard the effectiveness of antibiotics in the future. More
Easter eggs-periments
Image: Joy Stovall @wikipedia commons
Time for another seasonal post. It’s nearly Easter so you may wish to have a go at some egg-based science experiments this week.
Teaching ideas
For an interesting spin on a lesson on chemical reactions you could try making a ‘naked egg’, that is an egg without its shell. More