Futures 2012

 

Year 8 Students are just starting to embark on their Nuffield STEM Futures Project.

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

They can shoose from 8 different research topics, ranging from re-designing household projects, or clothes, how we can use alternate energy sources.

They will need to think about local, regional, national, and global issues and impact.

 

Their class boxes are being stored in the MRC and are collected at the beginning of each of their lessons.

 

To support this teaching and learning I have created a display with books from around the MRC, and have included QR codes.

 

These QR codes link either to a sample of the websites and videos available via Oliver or to two of my podcasts – one explaining Dewey and the MRC layout, and the other demonstrates how to use the Subject Index.

 

 

Early days so far but it has already been handled.

I do encourage students to touch and borrow these resources.

Year 7 Information Literacy Programme: Mind Maps & Keywords

So how do you pick a good keyword? and how are Dewey Numbers organised anyway?

 

Setting the scene with year 7…

 

Okay so your teacher goes and sets you ANOTHER homework challenge.

Find out about…, When did…., Who was… etc,

 

 So where do you start?

 

By picking a good Keyword to unlock the question.

 

You can then use this word to look in the Subject Index, Oliver Database, or even on the Internet.

To do this I gave my year 7 student a series of questions from which they had to to pick the keywords. The biggest challenege for some of them was not to write the actual answer!

 

So for example for the question…

 

 

 

 

“Name the colours of the spectrum” we discussed what results or information we would find if we picked “Colours” as our keyword rather than “Spectrum”.

 

 

They went onto organise their keywords and ideas into a mind map and used the Subject Indexes to find the shelf numbers.

 

It was great to see the penny drop with some of them when Dewey Shelf Numbers showed the relationship between Keywords.

Eg. Sport= 790, and all other individual sports shelf numbers start with… guess what the number 79 something.

 

 

 

  

 

Year 7 Information Literacy Programme: Christmas Fun

In the last IL session all 12 classes of Year 7 students learnt how to use the Subject Index, to look up keywords and find the corresponding Dewey Shelf Number.

 

During the last two weeks of term and in the build up to the Christmas Holidays I designed a Christmas ‘fun’ activity that allowed them to practice using these Subject Indexes.

 

I gave each student a Christmas picture (star, pudding, reindeer, etc) and they had to find the correct shelf number (star = 523, pudding = food = 641, reindeer = animal = 599, etc) then colour in their picture, cut it out and stick to their class Christmas Tree.

 

 

These trees are then hung up in the MRC and make great decorations. 

 

Each year this display reminds older students of how they can use the Subject Indexes. 

 

 

A prize is awarded to the class with the most correct Dewey numbers, best decorated tree and team work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Subject Index is available in an editable format from Carel Press it is called the “Find it Index”