Feed the World

John Flintham, JIC and Paul Dark, Earlham High School

Problem: how could I tie in a flexible learning unit with industrial applications, meet the needs of Sc1 investigations and get some funding for it as well?

It seemed quite difficult until I heard about two things simultaneously; the first was the TSN that could put me in touch with scientists working on real projects; the second was the Toyota Science and Technology Fund that supports the sort of work that I was trying to do. After bidding for the project funds from Toyota and, through the TSN, being put in touch with Dr. John Flintham from the John Innes Centre, the work began. ‘Feed the Earth’ – a research project for a class of Year 11 students that focuses on the salt tolerance of different varieties of wheat–began to take shape.The now nearly-completed project was designed to ensure that the criteria for Sc1 was met.

The successful bid for funding has even allowed us to offer some prize money for successful students. The project ran for seven weeks and included a visit to the John Innes Centre to see the sort of work that goes on there, then a seminar led by John Flintham outlining the scope of the project. The students sorted themselves into groups and were given five tasks to complete. Each task was part of the overall project and they had grading criteria for each task. The students had a fixed budget to work to and had safety inspections, ‘fines’ for poor experimental practice and ‘costs’ for any consultancy information they wanted. We set aside one period a week for the practical work and three other periods to complete the written and research work.

John visited the pupils working on the project and gave help where needed. In a short time results will be collected, analysed and by the beginning of next term the projects will be assessed by John, myself and the UEI (Understanding Education and Industry) teacher from Earlham. Whether they have hit all the goals I set for the project remains to be seen but the main one of motivation has certainly scored high, with most of the pupils showing real enthusiasm for the work.