Amber develops NanoWow course for primary school teachers

The course, which runs from 7– 11 July, is Department of Education-accredited and will take place in Amber in association with the School of Education, Trinity.

It is created to help primary school teachers to teach nano and materials science to fifth and sixth class students and will focus on a number of key areas including nature of science and science teaching pedagogy; developing creative science investigation in the primary classroom; and enquiry-based approaches to science teaching in primary classrooms.

Participants on the course will be introduced to the world of nano and materials science through a range of engaging formats including practical workshops, site visits, Q&A sessions and lectures from leading researchers and science communicators. There will also be visits to Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory, the Materials Ireland research centre and Science Gallery’s Make Shop.

“Amber is focused on engaging with teachers to help them deliver the Stem message to students,” said Mary Colclough, communications, outreach and public affairs manager at Amber.

“To date we have created Nano in My Life for use in transition year and for primary teachers, we’ve distributed the NanoWow resource pack. This new NanoWow primary teachers’ course allows us to build on our work to date, to really engage teachers with nano and materials science and to help them encourage students to think like scientists.

“NanoWow aims to demonstrate to students how science influences everything we do and is an exciting sector to be involved in. It helps teachers to deliver that message in a fun, interactive and entertaining way. We’ve had a great response to this course, and we hope to deliver it more regularly into the future.”