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Get on track this British Science Week with new resources from Network Rail

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STEM Learning


British Science Week 2019 is all about journeys. So, what better time to officially launch a brand new set of resources developed by STEM Learning and Network Rail?

Themed around Network Rail and the UK rail system, students of all ages will be able to investigate and explore issues applying their science, design and technology and physics knowledge.

Primary school pupils will have a chance to tackle that continuing problem of leaves on the line in a fun and interactive way. Mixing household items such as honey, hair gel and talcum powder, they are challenged to come up with a ‘magic formula’ to keep the trains moving - learning about friction, viscosity and conductivity along the way.

To support this, 50 Network Rail STEM Ambassadors received training at the National STEM Learning Centre in York to deliver these sessions alongside teachers in classrooms up and down the country. This army of volunteers is growing still with more being trained by Network Rail to ensure the legacy continues.

One STEM Ambassador, John, has already had a chance to take it on the road and said he was “thrilled to see that the kids were certainly exposed to some science that they would not normally see so really engaged well with the activity”.

Secondary students have not been forgotten with a range of online resources and questions to challenge and inspire them from designing a pantograph to comparing braking distances for two trains.

All these resources bring STEM subjects to life, transporting them from the classroom and applying them to the real world of work and the possibility of future careers students may not have considered.

Download the resources


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