January 2013: Linnean Learning at the 2013 ASE Conference

Earlier this year the Education team of Hazel Leeper and Leonie Berwick spent four days at the Association for Science Education conference at the University of Reading, chatting to teachers, explaining the work of the Linnean Society and promoting our new educational resources.Several hundred teachers, technicians and students visited ‘The Biology Stand’ (a joint stand shared with the Society of Biology, Physiological Society and Biochemical Society, to name a few) and stopped to watch a demonstration of our new practical activity ‘Battle of the Beaks’, with many visitors keen to have a go themselves! Our giveaway packs went down a storm, with the practical guidelines proving to be very popular among both primary and secondary school teachers.

Our bespoke folder packs housed worksheets, practical activities and posters, with many teachers commenting on the thoughtfulness of the materials with several of the curriculum-based activities being simple things that they would not have thought to do themselves, like the beak adaptation activity, or our sugar sprinkle ecology sheet! One teacher who had previously used some of our resources actually sought us out to say how much she enjoyed using them. Many teachers signed up to receive updates about new resources from the Society as they are developed.
Hazel Leeper and Leonie Berwick