Newsletter November 2021
In this edition of the newsletter we bring you a pair of recorded lectures featuring contemporary plant science research with curriculum links, a chance to win a £25 John Lewis voucher for completing our annual Associate Survey, an opportunity to see us at ASE 2022 as well as details of an apprenticeship careers fair and a news story on crop disease.
SAPS Associate Survey - prize draw!
The SAPS Associate survey is crucial in helping us ensure that we are doing the right thing for the SAPS Associates – you! This year we would particularly value your support in furthering our plans to refresh the SAPS website.
The survey itself should take no more than 10-15 minutes to complete. We know you’re busy so we’ve got an added incentive: by completing the survey you can be entered into a prize draw to win one of three £25 John Lewis vouchers.
The survey will be open until midnight on Wednesday 15th December 2021. Complete the survey now.
SAPS at The Association for Science Education Annual Conference 2022 at Sheffield Hallam University, 6-8th January 2022
The ASE Annual Conference is a fantastic opportunity for you to explore our resources and find out what we have been working on.
Our drop-in sessions, Biology Practicals that Work, give you a chance to try your hand or see demonstrations of some of our most popular resources and to grill the team about using plants in the lab. Amongst others, bubbling pondweed, algal balls, red pepper osmosis and plant disease resources will all be featured in the lab. Come along to see any that you haven’t tried before, to remind yourself or just to have a play. We will be providing the first 50 people who come along to our drop-in session each day with a free UV torch and SAPS lanyard!
Biology Practicals that Work drop-in:
- Thursday 6th January, 11-11:55am, 2:15-3:10pm, 3:30-4:25pm & 4:45-5:40pm (EMB 3201 STEM lab)
- Friday 7th January, 1-1:55pm, 2:15-3:10pm & 3:30-4:25pm (EMB 3201 STEM lab)
- Saturday 8th January, 9:30-10:25am, 11-11:55am & 1-1:55pm (EMB 3201 STEM lab)
You can find the full listings for our sessions on Sched. We are excited to also be offering two additional sessions.
SAPS CPD sessions:
SAPS Biology through plants – inspiration for you and your students
How can using plant examples across biology support and enhance your students’ learning? Focussing on addressing misconceptions, providing inspirational contexts and making connections, we’ll show how taking plants beyond the traditional “plant topics” can help inspire your students about the whole of biology.
- Thursday 6th January, 1-1:55pm (EMB 3201 STEM lab)
SAPS Photosynthesis: A survival guide
Covering the teaching of photosynthesis across different key stages and angles of approach, we explore how to teach photosynthesis in a way that inspires students rather than turns them off. Make photosynthesis more enjoyable for you and your students!
- Friday 7th January, 11am-1:55pm (EMB 3201 STEM lab)
If you’re not able to make it to the conference this year then keep an eye out for our SAPS Ambassador events. These events, run by experienced teachers and technicians trained in presenting SAPS resources, are an opportunity to learn more about SAPS resources and spread the word amongst colleagues. If you would like to organise an Ambassador-run event in your area or become an Ambassador yourself, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Recorded lectures: An opportunity for students to develop their debating skills and to consider how the regulation of gene expression can improve long-term plant immunity
We are delighted to be able to share with you recordings of two lectures initially recorded at the Gatsby Plant Science Summer School 2021 for undergraduate students. The lectures provide an insight into contemporary plant science research and, with the support of the attending teachers, we have highlighted some links to the curriculum.
Although palm oil cultivation provides income and livelihoods for millions of people, its expansion has come at the expense of tropical rainforests, leading to widespread declines in biodiversity. ‘Good crop, bad crop? Increasing sustainability of Oil Palm’ by Dr Ed Turner explores the positive and negative sides of palm oil, before sharing some of the ways that oil palm can be grown more sustainably.
The lecture raises a number of themes and topic areas that could be applied to the curriculum and teaching including: an opportunity for students to engage in debates and develop their critical thinking and debating skills; to learn about populations and ecosystems with the view to carrying out comparisons locally; and with regard to food-chains – how sustainability initiatives affect them within systems that have been altered by humans in different ways.
The recording is 30 minutes long and can be viewed here.
Image: Aerial view of palm oil trees. Credit: Nazarizal Mohammad on Unsplash.
In ‘Signalling mechanisms for long-term plant immunity’, Professor Steven Spoel demonstrates how dynamic regulation of gene expression is vital for all organisms and enables them to respond to an ever-changing environment. Steven discusses how plant cells utilise signalling to fine-tune immune responses and how this may be harnessed to revolutionise plant protection strategies.
Plant disease is an obvious link to the curriculum, allowing exploration of different pathways in which plants are affected by disease and pests. There is also an opportunity to consider career pathways. Steven has had a varied career that has enabled him to work in institutions across the globe.
The 25-minute recording can be viewed here.
Wheat rust is one of the most economically significant crop fungal diseases in the world and a major threat to food security. Rust diseases travel long distances by dispersal of windborne spores and can rapidly develop when weather conditions are right. An early warning system developed by the Department of Plant Science, University of Cambridge in collaboration with the Met Office and others could prove vital. The system was a topic of discussion at this year’s United Nations COP26 conference in Glasgow earlier this month where the conference focused on the effects of climate change, including its impact on the resilience of the global food system.
As they form new strains of fungus, rusts can attack even previously resistant varieties, increasing the risk of severe crop loss. Warning systems that helps farmers take action to protect their crops are vital.
In a truly global effort, researchers at the University of Cambridge with the Met Office, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), have established an effective early warning system that provides a daily, near-real time, weeklong forecast of the spread of stem rust (Puccinia graminis), stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis) and leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) in Ethiopia. The early warning system relies on modelling that involves a combination of meteorological and epidemiological models with inputs from in-country surveillance coordinated by CIMMYT. The UK Met Office provides seven-day weather forecasts for the target countries to drive the models, giving farmers a three-week window to apply fungicides to prevent rust epidemics. The models are also being used pre-season to help make decisions about which varieties to plant. The introduction of the early warning system in Ethiopia has had a positive impact and has recently been extended to include Kenya, Nepal and Bangladesh.
This is a promising example of how technology can be used to improve outcomes in the search for global food security. You might find one of our latest resources interesting which supports the teaching about the ways in which plant genetics can be manipulated through selective breeding and generic engineering to improve crop characteristics. The plant in focus here is also wheat. View the resource here.
A recording of the COP26 event is now available to watch on the UK Met Office’s YouTube channel here. To read the article in full, click here.
Image: Evidence of wheat rust. Credit: University of Cambridge.
Apprenticeships: Earn while you Learn
STEM Learning is inviting teachers and young people to attend their virtual apprenticeships careers fair over 6 – 10 December 2021. The fair is aimed at 14–19-year-olds and will showcase up to 30 national employers who are currently offering apprenticeships across a wide range of sectors. For more information and to register interest click here.
Our email address has changed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you have any suggestions for how we can better support you or if you have questions relating to any of our resources, please do get in touch. Although you can reach us on our old address up until December, save our new one in your directory now. We love hearing from you so please do get in touch.
Wishing you a restful and enjoyable festive season!
The SAPS Team
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