Hydrogen Lessons for Key stage 3 science online   

Interactive, curriculum-linked lessons on hydrogen suitable for KS3 science are now available online. The website is part of the London Schools Hydrogen Challenge, which is open to students aged 11-14 in London schools, and has been developed by the London Hydrogen Partnership and BMW. Launched in September, the programme aims to promote the importance of developing a hydrogen economy and to encourage students to think about cleaner energy and how it will help reduce the capital's (and other cities') impact on climate change.  

The three lessons cover how we get hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, and the combustion of hydrogen. Designed to be used in the classroom, on interactive whiteboards or individual PCs, the lessons incorporate suggestions for class discussion. They are supported by two follow-up activities, which can be used as tasks for independent learning or group work, or set as homework. Also available to teachers is a support pack containing teacher guidelines, curriculum links and student information sheets on hydrogen, renewable energy, non-renewable energy and sustainable development. 

From January 2008 students in London schools will be able to put their knowledge of hydrogen to the test by completing a series of online tasks on the challenge website. By completing the tasks students will be entered into a draw for a place at the challenge grand final to be held in June 2008 at London's City Hall. At the event a finalist from each London borough will have the opportunity to do some hands-on experiments, build and race hydrogen-powered remote controlled cars, and win prizes of up to £1000 for their school. 

New look SEP website 

The Science Enhancement Programme (SEP) has relaunched its website (www.sep.org) to provide teachers with improved online access to its teaching resources developed for subjects across the science curriculum from KS3, through KS4, to post-16.  

Redesigned to make resources easy to find and use, the new site offers visitors general information about SEP and its activities, while members of SEP's free Teacher Associates scheme can access online teaching and professional development resources in the Associates-only area of the site. Classroom resources include CDs and publications as well as animations and video for use in lessons to support and enhance new schemes of work. Through the website teachers can also find details of low-cost apparatus. 

C:TNG resources for chemistry outreach events online  

A series of guides to delivering seven chemistry-themed outreach events for schools and colleges are available to download from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) website. Developed and tested as part of the Chemistry: the next generation (C:TNG) strand of the RSC-led Chemistry for our future (CFOF)  initiative, the activities are suitable for 14-18-year olds.  

Each resource provides background information and instructions on planning an event (eg  materials needed, special facilities required, target age groups etc). Student worksheets are also provided.  

The seven activities are:  

• Murder in the lab  - solving a crime using forensic chemistry; 
• Renewable energy - from sunlight to electricity- making Grätzel solar cells (see also Educ. Chem., 2007, 44(5), 147); 
• Photolithography  - printing circuit boards using a method similar to that used to make computer chips; 
• Make your own electrochromic polymer  - making and testing a polyaniline film; 
• Aspirin, the wonder medicine  - synthesis and analysis of aspirin; 
• Organic molecules day - nitrating an aromatic compound and analysing the product using IR, NMR and MS; 
• Chemistry masterclass - isolating the physiologically active organic compound in a medicine and determining its structure. 

The resources are freely available as pdf files to download from the RSC website.

Science communication award winners

An article on the greenest way to travel from Liverpool to London and a poem about biofuels were selected from over 230 entries as the winners of this year's Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Bill Bryson Prizes for science communication. Entries to the competition had to address the Chemistry Week theme of travel.  

The primary school prize went to Nadia Moores, a year 4 student in the Prep School of Liverpool College, for her magazine contribution Planes, train and automobiles. In her article Nadia compares the journey time, cost and CO₂ emissions associated with travelling from Liverpool to London by train, plane and car to determine which mode of transport is the quickest, cheapest and greenest. 

Rachel Farnsworth, a year 10 student at Dayncourt Specialist Sports College in Radcliffe-on-Trent, won the secondary school/college category for her children's poem about biofuels When the world was sad, published in the last issue of InfoChem. Each of the winners receives £100 and £500 for their schools to spend on science resources. Students and teachers from each winning school will receive their awards at a presentation ceremony at the House of Commons to launch Chemistry Week.