Moss Safari: three conference events & Delivery of a high-quality science curriculum without compromising wellbeing
Dr Andy Chandler-Grevatt, University of Brighton, Founder of Moss Safari
Moss Safari is a microscopic adventure through the water collected in moss. We explore a slide in search of the microscopic Big Five, projected on the big screen. Each organism we find has a curriculum-linked story about life in moss, the global ecosystem, and its relationship with us.
At the Conference, I presented Moss Safari to three audiences. First, at the Royal Society of Biology’s Biology Education Research Group session, I highlighted microscopes as a gateway to STEM careers. I proposed a state-of-the-nation report on school microscope quality and experiences, aiming to support more curriculum-based microscope work.
Next, at Technician Day, I demonstrated three techniques to maximize the chance of spotting the Big Five. Using moss from Nottingham’s cold campus and some from home, we observed rotifers and nematodes under the microscope.
Finally, in the Moss Safari Live session for British Science Week, I focused on the theme Change and Adapt. I shared stories of how moss and its organisms respond to environmental change. While searching for rotifers and tardigrades (sadly, no tardigrades found!), I discussed how rotifers break microplastics into harmful nanoplastics and how tardigrades are adapting to city life in urban sludge. Despite these challenges, there is hope—rotifers recover when plastics are removed, and tardigrade biodiversity rebounds with reduced traffic.
A review of the conference, the PowerPoints and British Science Week resources are freely available at www.mosssafari.com.
Delivery of a high-quality science curriculum without compromising wellbeing
This session was attended by a variety of educators from ECTs to Heads of Departments, representatives from science associations to other publishers. This led to a lively discussion over the use of textbooks in the school laboratory.
The session started with a summary of recent surveys on teacher well-being and more specifically science teacher well being and needs. Then, we discussed the case of workload and the effective use of published resources to reduce this. Amongst science teachers there remains a stigma of using textbooks routinely in their lessons and we explored why that might be. We recognised that most textbooks these days are high quality. I was able to give examples of how we developed Oxford Smart Activate by drawing on input from curriculum and education experts and from Pioneer Schools that trialled the materials and books before these were published.
Although I was making a case for using textbooks and their associated resources to improve teacher well-being, the discussion turned to when textbooks are particularly useful. For example, to support new and non-specialist science teachers. We then tried to unpick the stigma of using textbooks as the backbone of the lesson plan. We came to realise that although there is a balance to be struck, the textbooks should not be just used for cover but offer quality curriculum content to enhance and support teaching and learning. Perhaps it’s time to dust off those textbooks in the corner of that prep room and use them more routinely in our planning and teaching. Maybe allowing this will help reduce workload as well as allow teachers to deliver a high-quality curriculum.
