Every Parent Matters

Teaching four-year-old children to write is nonsense says literacy consultant Sue Palmer. “As useful as teaching a dog to walk on its hind legs.” So why has the National Curriculum in the UK adopted new assessments to measure handwriting skills in the first year at school?

Concerned opinion asks why the government introduced a scheme which is immediately openly criticised by a leading expert. How does this happen?  Surely Palmer is the one of the key people to assist or review the development of a new school policy in literacy before it is launched.

Setting targets that are too easy seems pointless; too hard and those not in contention become demoralised. Sue Palmer believes the long-term effect of the new policy would do more harm than good. The scheme, part of a four billion pound investment into early learning scheduled over the next two years, is therefore questionable.

It is an unfortunate start. The scheme has the right motivation but perhaps lacks the accountability which may have ensured it was thoroughly tested before launch. If government departments could be measured on results the efficacy of many schemes would be more closely reviewed.  The problem starts at the top. Ministerial appointments are inevitably transitory. The tenure of the secretary for education historically has lasted around 18 months. But the measure of the effectiveness of educational policy takes a generation of children to measure its impact. Historically it was always a predecessors’ idea – unless it worked.  But is Sue Palmer right this time?

In an age of computerised communication; e-mails, texts, technology with built in spell check and predictive text, the need to write anything may seem to be superfluous. Cheques are virtually obsolete, even the signature on credit card slips has been replaced by a pin number. Mind you we do get to sign the back of the credit card every two years, and a passport application every ten years. But do you find you have to practice your signature before signing the secure strip that makes it unreadable anyway. Hardly a burdensome task, so do we need to write anything?

Shopping lists could shortly be replaced with bar code scans, or even the fridge could order online for you. Purchases are made more and more on line requiring typing skills and the deft control of the mouse. Even the mouse could be replaced by a touch screen.

Obviously handwriting skills intermesh with spelling. This leads us to another quandary. Teaching children to spell and write words as they sound involves the definition of “phonic.” Where the P and H of phonic of course being pronounced as an  “f.”  But no worry, as the device the kids will ultimately use to communicate will be a cell phone, with camera, spell check and predictive text – assuming that text abbreviations don’t completely take over.

If a more complex message is required then one of the new mini laptops, or knee tops is ideal. These incredible devices incorporate all the functions of the PC in a case weighing 1kg and a screen of 7inches. Highly portable they could tuck into a small backpack – or even a hood. Not as daft as it sounds. I once met a Berber in Morocco who wore the long traditional cloak and used the hood as a vast pocket.

If handwriting and spelling skills are an essential form of communication they are under attack, but they have one great defence. They work when the powers gone, the battery’s flat, the pc has crashed and credit is exhausted. Yes, in this rapidly developing technical world we still need to learn how to read, write and spell!

Alistair Owens http://www.keen2learn.co.uk

Who would want to be Ed Balls the education secretary? Sorry, the Secretary of state for children, schools and families (DCSF). Maybe therein lays the answer. This hugely diverse role fails to mention education in the title, yet it is education that will set the future course for the UK, and it is in education where we are failing, badly.

The debate into statutory assessment tests (SAT) has become acrimonious. The secretary for the DCSF wishes to change the format and add to the list of already abandoned tests. The reaction at sharp end in teaching is unequivocal. One teachers union bearing the substantial title of The National Association of Schoolmasters and Women Teachers ( NASUWT) claims they will strike if the tests are abandoned, another The National Unions of Teachers will strike if they remain. Ed Balls states he is “caught in between a rock and hard place.” But also caught in the middle our children anxiously await sense and reason. It’s their future we are mucking about with.

The demands of society and the global economy are evolving dramatically during the schooling journey of any child. Apart from tweaks to the curriculum, the standard of learning achievement has failed to match the pace of change. The system has certainly failed to track consistently with developments in technology. Advances in nearly all avenues of modern achievement have been largely unmatched in the field of education. Our systems and procedures continue to fail children at primary level delivering an almost impossible catch-up challenge to secondary schools.

The current debate centres on the SAT’s. Ostensibly tracking the achievement of a child and a key measure of the effectiveness of the teaching resources, they unfortunately follow the twists and turns of many target driven corporate objectives, and fraught with an unhealthy degree of manipulation. Critically, teaching capacity has been focused on the “teach to test syndrome” where children are groomed to pass tests at the expense of a wider broader based education that would enthuse both children and teachers alike. The desire to inflate achievement has taken the fun out of learning. Maths games and English games to stimulate educational interest are abandoned in preference to test drilling exercises.

The current debate concerns the removal or rescheduling of key stage 2 SAT’s taken by 11 year old’s. In view of criticism of the testing versus teaching focus this seems a good move, but as ever the devil is in the detail. Unleashing a knock on problem of additional bureaucracy and work load has created the rift within the teaching fraternity. Testing at primary level is essential to identify potential performance at secondary, as without this secondary schools initially run blind with each years intake. The new scheme requires this to be completed when the child is ready rather than at set times. Teachers state this will cause a massive increase in workload and create even further disruption and depletion of the educational resources.

Thus some alternative measure of a child’s performance system is essential. Ironically the SAT key stage 2 replaced the 11+ which had the same function in 1987. Some improvement. Ed Balls says he does not want to rush into any decision. Perhaps this will give him the opportunity to listen to the guys steering the boat. Teachers have profound knowledge of what works and what does not in their own environment. Surely they should command the solution rather than costly bureaucrats whose theory appears to fail. In view of the cut backs in education wasting valuable resources in an in fight is not the way forward and would avoid the leviathan drawback of the National Health where managers now outnumber doctors.

Ed Balls has the unenviable task of sorting things out. Decisions taken now have an implication for generations to come. Daunting perhaps but he also has the opportunity to evolve an educational programme that could be the envy of the world. We are not alone; most English speaking countries have similar issues with schooling. Ed Balls could stand high as the first Minister to evolve a new educational policy that is fit for purpose for the next 20 years. We would all dearly thank him.

Educational games, toys and puzzles are being used to overcome one of the biggest drawbacks of teaching; how to quickly grab the attention of the class at the start of the lesson. Boys tend to take much longer to settle down and some children are notoriously late. Ten minutes of the class can be lost before teaching really gets going. But now there are options.

A daily dose of maths computer games can boost maths attainment according to a study carried out in Scottish schools.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) – the main organisation for the development of the curriculum – analysed the effect of a “brain training” game. It also found improvements in pupils’ concentration and behaviour.

Less able children were found to be more likely to improve than the highest attainers and almost all pupils had an increased perception of their own ability.

LTS worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and the University of Dundee to see if the pilot results were replicated on a wider scale. Researchers found that while all groups had improved their scores, the group using the maths game had improved by a further 50%. The time taken to complete the tests dropped by five minutes, from 18.5 minutes to 13.5 minutes. The improvement in the games group was double that of the control group.

The study also found reduced absence and lateness in some classes. Derek Robertson, LTS’s national adviser for emerging technologies and learning, said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context.

He said: “Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school. This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place.”

The educational games used in the trial were one of the growing numbers of computer games developed with education at the core. Modern technology harnessed to present a platform that is interesting and appealing to the young mind sets the challenge. A form of learning in disguise acceptable to a wide range of ability, age and both girls and boys is paying dividends in accelerating learning.

The games can be played in class and at home. They are having a marked effect in settling the class at the start of the lesson, and the number of late arrivals has noticeable reduced.

Technology in the form of a chemistry game or physics games generates  the practice activity essential to learning retention. Compared to conventional text and exercise book activity that can be one dimensional, computer games have the major advantage of capturing peer support. Children also learn from other children. How else do they pick up the detailed operation of a mobile phone? Certainly not from their parents or the school national curriculum. So the next time you see a child buried in a computer game on a PC, laptop or Nintendo take comfort this is a great way to help them learn.

Settling the class down can be eased with lesson starters; computer games that set a quiz based on the subject, or a combination of questions and clues to open the next level of the game. Some games even let the player design the next portion of the game.

The help of parents is fundamental in supporting the teacher to enhance the schooling of their children. Educational games are the easiest  entry point. Playing the same game or puzzle at home as in school is the most effective way to help. You do not to need to be proficient in the subject background and you never know how much you will enjoy the challenge.
Alistair Owens keen2learn

Educational games toys and puzzles are being used to overcome one of the biggest drawbacks of teaching; how to quickly grab the attention of the class at the start of the lesson. Boys tend to take much longer to settle down and some children are notoriously late. Ten minutes of the class can be lost before teaching really gets going. But now there are options.

A daily dose of maths computer games can boost maths attainment according to a study carried out in Scottish schools.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) – the main organisation for the development of the curriculum – analysed the effect of a “brain training” game. It also found improvements in pupils’ concentration and behaviour.

Less able children were found to be more likely to improve than the highest attainers and almost all pupils had an increased perception of their own ability.

LTS worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and the University of Dundee to see if the pilot results were replicated on a wider scale. Researchers found that while all groups had improved their scores, the group using the maths game had improved by a further 50%. The time taken to complete the tests dropped by five minutes, from 18.5 minutes to 13.5 minutes. The improvement in the games group was double that of the control group.

The study found reduced absence and lateness in some classes. Derek Robertson, LTS’s national adviser for emerging technologies and learning, said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context.

He said: “Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school. ”

“This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place.”

The educational games used in the trial were one of the growing numbers of computer games developed with education at the core. Modern technology; harnessed to present a platform that is interesting, appealing to the young mind, sets the challenge. A form of learning in disguise acceptable to a wide range of ability, age and both girls and boys is paying dividends in accelerating learning.

The games can be played in class and at home. They are having a marked effect in settling the class at the start of the lesson, and the number of late arrivals has noticeable reduced.

Technology in the form of a chemistry game or physics games generates  the practice activity essential to learning retention. Compared to conventional text and exercise book activity that can be one dimensional, computer games have the major advantage of capturing peer support. Children also learn from other children. How else do they pick up the detailed operation of a mobile phone? Certainly not from their parents or the school national curriculum. So the next time see a child buried in a computer game on a PC, laptop or Nintendo take comfort this is a great way to help them learn.

Settling the class down can be eased with lesson starters; computer games that set a quiz based on the subject, or a combination of questions and clues to open the next level of the game. Some games even let the player design the next portion of the game.

The help of parents, fundamental in supporting the teacher to enhance the schooling of their children, can take the form of educational games as the easiest  entry points. Playing the same game or puzzle at home as in school is the most effective way to help. You do not to need to be proficient in the subject background and you never know how much you will enjoy the challenge. The reward can be enjoyed by the child, teacher and you.

Alistair Owens keen2learn

Back to school! A fearsome thought for teachers, children and parents. The start of a new academic year, new class, new school, new teaching resources. Welcome back, the educational games have just started.

If you’ve been anywhere near the shops over the summer you couldn’t fail to notice the constant “back to school” promotions. They seem to start on the first day of the holiday ignoring the anguish of teachers, children and parents who dread the thought.  Surely holidays are fun and should not be confused with the slog of learning. Fun is relaxed, enjoyable and something you look forward to. School is, however, far from being fun epitomised by adverts relating to shoes, clothing and stationery!  But what if the schooling process could become filled with educational toys, games and fun?  Is this possible? Surely we should be beating ourselves up with textbooks.

We look forward to something we enjoy and tend to put off something we don’t. Most people enjoyed watching the Olympic Games where medal winners excelled through years of dedication. Hard work, hours of daily practice to improve performance proved the difference between Olympians and “also ran’s”. Above all they enjoy what they do.

Performance is dynamically measured, results seen immediately, giving elation with an improvement, and a challenge with a setback.  Determination is the key; Olympians enjoy the challenge to improve.  What about school and homework? Can school be enjoyable? Could a child’s performance at school be measured dynamically using modern facilities or has it to rely on textbooks, tests and end of term reports? The answer lies in the latest educational games where parents and siblings can join in. Modern homework can be set as a game replicating the work in progress in the classroom. Setting homework as maths games, English games or science games is “learning in disguise” providing an opportunity for the child to practice whilst enticing effective parental involvement.

The busy classroom of 30 leaves minimal time for the teacher to encourage practice in the classroom. Yet 75% of learning retention is achieved through practice. The International Olympic Committee can be compared with the national curriculum setting the competition ground rules and standards. Teachers are the team mangers but parents are the individual child’s coach. The one to one relationship giving guidance, encouragement and participation can reap huge rewards in performance improvement.

Recent research by the National Confederation of Parents Teacher Associations discovered a massive 80% of a child’s academic progress is influenced by what they do at home, and only 20% emanates from the school environment. Back with the Olympics analogy it may seem obvious that the coach has a huge influence on an individual’s performance.

Teachers and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, aware of this phenomenon, are urging parents to become more active in the schooling process. This is in no way dereliction of duty but highlights a fundamental shift in the training duties a parent or PTA can now effect. Historically, helping with homework has been difficult because the teaching resources were one dimensional. Text books induce reluctance in parents. Unwilling to interfere they are concerned they would use different teaching techniques, or may appear to struggle in the subject area in front of their children. But the modern educational games, toys and puzzles used in school by the teacher are now available for use at home.

In class these educational games take the form of board games, quizzes, puzzles, bingo, toys and software – and are ideal for home use. The short burst in a class of 30 can be extended to 30 minutes at home on a one to one in fun game. This parental involvement means that the child gets the extra time to practice.  Parents can assess progress dynamically rather than waiting for end of term reports, and children benefit from a coach at home to boost their performance back in school.

Alistair Owens Keen2learn

Over the past 15 years, we have raised the question, “Why do you use educational games?” to our clients and workshop participants. From their feedback we have constructed a list of the ten very best reasons for using learning games. We hope these 10 descriptions will remind and stimulate you to consider learning games as a training alternative; and, then to consider one of our fine, field-tested, fun-to-play, classroom proven products.

1: Games are Fun with a Purpose
Games create a cognitive engagement between the learner and the topic in a flowing, smiling environment. Games celebrate your topic and reward individual and group achievement. Games bring fun and energy into a buoyant learning zone, but with the focus on learning.

2: Games Provide Feedback to the Learner
Learners want and need feedback on their performance. Games give them immediate feedback on the quality of their input — their successes and their errors. With the appropriate corrective feedback, this can become an invaluable learning opportunity.

3: Games Provide Feedback to the Trainer
Games provide a practice field where learners interact with the topic, demonstrating their knowledge and ability to apply the information. By observing this real-time demonstration, the trainer can adjust the subsequent level of lecture, readings and interventions, accordingly.

4: Games are Experiential
Today’s learner needs to do and to try things on her own. Games provide an environment that transforms the passive student into an active part of the learning process where she can connect her own dots and experience her own ideas. Games also remind both player and teacher that energy in the classroom is a good thing.

5: Games Motivate Learners
Games engage players and then motivate them to interact with the topic. This interaction drives players to demonstrate their understanding of the topic in a friendly contest where successes are memorable moments of shared triumph and celebration and where mistakes mean only that the learner is being stretched to his or her own limits.

6: Games Improve Team Work
Games are real-time activities that bring players into teams, demonstrate the rules and roles of working together as a team, and underscore the value of team collaboration. Games give your learners a chance to know their peers as they share the same real-time experiences, allowing for strong networking and bonding.

7: Games Provide a Less Threatening Learning Environment
Because the game format is playful, the inherent challenge of the material, even new or difficult material, is less threatening. During game play seemingly difficult questions and scenarios are “just part of the game.” And, teachers can use the window following classroom responses to build a bridge between the topic and the learner.

8: Games Bring Real-World Relevance
Games allow you to present real-world information in the form of questions, scenarios, role-plays, and so forth. In this way, players learn not only the “what,” but the “why,” of the topic from a real-world perspective. Players also observe their own behaviour and that of others during game play. Post game debriefings give insights into those behaviours in thoughtful examples observed during game play.

9: Games Accelerate Learning
Games allow you to compress your topic and demonstrated learning into shorter periods of time, accelerating the speed of learning. The visual presentation, oral interactions, and active participation of game play appeals to all of the learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic), involves both the rational and experiential mind that helps players remember what they have learned.

10: Games Give You Choices for Your Classroom
Games allow you to add variety and flexibility to your teaching menus. Games allow you to do any or all of the following:

* Vary the level of learner involvement
* Vary the level of skill level and knowledge
* Customize to any size of audience, even one-on-one
* Vary the type and level of activity
* Vary the level of classroom control
* Introduce or review topics, or both
* Vary the mix of theoretical and practical information

Steve Sugar
www.thegamegroup.com

>Steve Sugar (MBA) is the President of The Game Group and the writer and teacher of learning activities and games. Steve is an Adjunct Professor of Management at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and has served on the faculties of The John Hopkins University, the New York Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland University College (UMUC).

There is an army of five million adults in the UK that can’t read or write properly and of critical concern is this alarming number is growing. Children continue to finish their primary or secondary education unable to read or write.
The new TV documentary highlights the dilemma. Accepting the inevitable slant TV puts on many programmes to add drama, last night’s docudrama featuring a group of nine mature and illiterate students was still shocking.

The reality of this staggering statistic is a body blow to the educational standards in the UK.  We still fail to provide the very basics of education to all our children.  The TV teacher chosen to lead the recovery demonstrated passion and commitment to the role. But worryingly he was at considerable odds with the teaching resources he was advised to use.  If the reading support, including worksheets and procedures developed by the hierarchy were regarded by the teacher as complex, arduous and missing the point what hope is there it will work.

The slightly over emotional teacher, previously a musician, admitted he had never taught anybody to read in his life. Initially he seemed a strange appointment but his direct approach proved the skill of a good teacher can outweigh a multitude of ring binders of arduous theory.  His novel approach using educational games supported his passion in the role that started to break through decades of frustration and neglect. Turning reading support into fun and providing one to one support has started to overcome the many reasons for the student’s illiteracy, epitomising what good teaching is all about. Once the inertia is overcome we can expect rapid progress.

Each of the nine students had been failed by the initial schooling process. They had suffered the law of averages, inevitably casting students operating at the bottom of the class into the inevitable realm of exclusion from the lesson.  The point emphasized by the illiterate plumber set word search puzzles at school and sent home at midday.

Teachers facing the constant pressure of attaining academic targets are bound to focus on the average and brighter student to boost the score. In place of spending vast sums of money on complex procedures maybe we need to listen more closely to the operational experience of teachers. Investing in a policy where no student should leave primary school whilst failing in literacy or numeracy would deal with the problem at source. This perhaps brutal approach should receive vital direct funding where it will help give all children the best chance to thrive academically in secondary school.  The “Every Child a Reader” literacy scheme introduced by the government has to be a prerequisite in any target judgement.

The sterling work completed by the reading support organisations such as the “Volunteer Reading Help” ( primary schools ) and “Reading Matters”(secondary schools)  provide 1:1 support to struggling readers in school. Both are registered charities and reliant on volunteers. Should government funding be extended to develop the services offered by these groups? A greater number of trained volunteers to help teachers in more schools and perhaps adult classes can only help – provided they do not loose their independence.

The TV program’s refreshing angle showed the element of fun through reading games overcame many of the issues faced by the students, and that illiteracy is not down to a single cause. The musical introduction to reading skills introduced enjoyment to the process that seemed adequately to displace the complex procedures. But learning to read through English games involves teaching phonics – the sound of words – ironically where the “ph” of phonics is of course pronounced as “f” which is where we came in!

The parent homework help dilemma; do you physically help or just make sure they do it? What sort of help is best for the children and the school? Why the worst option is to do nothing and how fun homework help through educational games can come the rescue.

To most children homework is a bore or chore and wastes valuable recreation time. To most parents homework help induces a degree of anxiety; can they, should they help and if so how? To teachers homework is a vital element of lesson practice that results in 75% retention in learning. Compared to the activity in class, where learning retention can hover around 50%, ( National Training Laboratory) homework has a critical role that is ironically predominately beyond a teachers control. Can it be true that one of the most significant elements of the education armoury lies largely outside of the school gates? This is comparable to a car with the turbocharger not working. The performance is limited, the car struggles to reach 70 miles per hour and the fuel consumption is much higher than it need to be.

Homework, perhaps better described as – school work at home, is the single biggest opportunity for parents to turbo charge their children’s education. Modern educational games present a breakthrough to enable parents support to be enlisted as an additional teaching resource. Research has shown that what parents do at home to support learning can account for 80% of a child’s academic success ( PTA magazine).

So how can parents and grandparents get more involved in effective homework help?

The prevailing view of homework is through text and exercise book tasks. Leaving many parents isolated and acting in an overseer role, many children gain support from their peers. Add, subtract, multiply, write a story, and read a chapter are simple tasks set by the teacher to induce the element of practice. Homework has to be set, collected and marked which amounts to a sizeable burden on a teachers’ time. It also gains more teaching time beyond the statutory minimum of 196 days a year. Expressed differently 53% of the year spent in school leaving 47% at home.

The best way to include parents is to make time spent with their children fun. Access to the maths games, English grammar and fun science projects used in school can make a real difference when also used at home. Greater interaction is possible than with conventional homework allowing parents to participate in “homework help” that avoid any conflict with manipulating homework. More importantly it avoids the parent having to be an expert in the subject area.

Educational games become “learning in disguise.” The subject areas, developed in games format introduce key elements of the subject as an interactive computer game, bingo, card or board game etc. The learning process is hidden in the fun; 30 minutes playing these games allows a child to practice maths, English, biology or history with the parent in the role of learning mentor. Witnessing a child’s performance dynamically rather than waiting for end of term or year school reports allows more timely adjustments. Ongoing guidance provided by the teacher avoids wasting precious time.

A survey of teachers in 2007 and a government report from the DCSF reveals unanimous support towards greater engagement of parents seen as crucial in the learning programme. With modern educational games toys and puzzles now available parents have the chance to rekindle their effective involvement and make a real difference to their child’s academic achievement.

The English language being an amalgam of many other languages is possibly the most adaptive in the world. With complex and changing content the tricks you can play with English has made it one of the best games in education. But although  the constantly changing  “rules” refreshes the fun it can trip the unwary and make examination success hazardous.

 Many parents, keen to provide active support in their child’s schooling are concerned this may be problematic; citing changes in teaching techniques that may leave them exposed or detract from their child’s progress. Clearly teaching techniques must evolve else we will fail to benefit from progress, but what if the subject matter, English,  is evolving  at such a rate that can see significant changes occurring during the schooling journey of a child.

English, as any language is the basic structure behind communication. Yet the world of communication is changing fast. The internet has seen exponential growth in speed, usage and range of access to information on a global basis. An historic search for information probably involved a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopaedia to check spelling, meaning, and synonym or to learn facts. Inevitably during the searching process other words, meanings, interpretations and facts would be revealed across the page which broadened our knowledge base. But has the internet changed the process? Spelling is less critical. even in a search using Google – the system  itself suggests “did you mean” corrections to spelling. The resultant search, being computer driven,  can be extraordinary rapid and  far more targeted, but are we missing the opportunity to absorb knowledge from a ramble through additional facts.  

The evolution of the English language has developed at a greater pace over the past ten years. The spread of English, fuelled by the internet, cinema, DVD and TV has established a global first language in communications. The arbitrators in education need to be equally dynamic. Spelling games and exams must be a nightmare for teachers and examiners as the content and rules change.  Any learning resource must first decide whether it is a programme or program. There is growing interest in a society formed to remove redundant letters in words. From their viewpoint the correct spelling of colour is color and ghost doesn’t’ t really need the “h” and could just as well be gost. This  could lead to some interesting debates with the purists who claim the origin of the word should identify how the word is spelt.

Handwriting has been largely replaced by a keyboard input inextricably linked to predictive text or spellcheck  where the initial comprehension of correct spelling has less impact. The ravages of abbreviation have taken their toll over the years but the English language has largely survived intact from several previous onslaughts. Years ago, communications relying on semaphore, Morse code and teletext, evolved abbreviations and codes to shorten the time to communicate without loosing the context. That’s a 10 – 4, O.K. or Roger of course. The current threat from texting abbreviations through the global usage  of a cell phones will an interesting test case on the Queen’s English.

They say education is a lifelong journey. Difficult to comprehend when you are at school slogging through lessons and exams but learning can be greater fun when turned into an educational game. Take a practical application and apply as many subjects that have been learned in the classroom.

This morning I took a shower, a frequent occurrence I hasten to add, but today I had one of those eureka moments – a tribute perhaps to that other rather more famous bather. Have you ever thought how much science is involved in the process of taking a shower?

To highlight the point I have used the following abbreviations as each topic appeared during my ablutions.

• Biology (B)
• Physics (P)
• Chemistry (C)
• Maths (M)
• Citizenship (City)
• Psychology (Psy)
• Geography (G)
• Geology (Geo)
• English Language (Eng)

The first question to loom up is why we take a shower? The experience is functional in removing body odours created by bacteria, (B) but also physiological as it induces endorphins that help wake you up and make you feel good (Psy) Removal of body odours also makes you a little less undesirable to others nearby ( City).

The water is fed from a header tank under gravity- thanks to Newton (P) – and as I’m a devout wuss, heated. Energy is consumed to heat the water by the conversion of electrical energy into heat P). This is measured in watts, the result of multiplying volts by amperes (M +P).

Responding to marketing persuasion I have been attracted to the delights of a power shower. The increased force (P) boosts the endorphins (B) but unfortunately uses 12 times the amount of water (Geo) than the gravity shower all of which has to be heated (P ) This is draining the natural resources, literally, of water and power causing environmental concerns (forgot to add the code for the environment – that’s an (E). The availability of water depends on geography (G) and the natural storage which locally are aquifers (Geo).

Being male I have a predilection to B.o.g.o.f offers ( buy one get one free) in supermarkets and anything in blue packaging (Psy) The resultant over purchase of needless stock (M) led to a ban by my wife (City)that means all shower products used have her stamp of approval and sensible supply level.

Today’s showering experience was a cornucopia of non blue ingredients. The shampoo promised a “Fruitful Infusion” to produce a “Dazzling Shine” (Eng) from the passion flower, patchouli and vetiver ingredients(B). The conditioner provided “Tangle free hair with uplifted volume” enhancing the dazzle effect by way of a “Citrus lift”(Eng) from tangerine, lemongrass and aloe vera (B) And the rest of the body below the head was in turn subjected to “Serious pampering”(Eng) from fennel (B) and sea mineral (C) based in a silky smooth shower gel (C).

The post shower application of talcum powder, contained talc mineral (C+Geo). The deodorant, promising to maintain a “desert – dry”(Eng) atmosphere under the arms (B +G) from aluminium zirconium trichlorohydrex (C). The aftershave contained alcohol ( C).

In the space of 5 minutes I had consumed 150 litres of water, 4 kilowatts of energy (P), half an alpine meadow of additives, and drained the lot away to the water treatment works where they will use bacteria (B) to break the ingredients free from the water, and off we go again.

Taking a simple shower will seem a lot busier from now on. My shower involved 34 applications of science and learning and a lot of fun to see just how many links with education can exist.

Alistair Owens operates an educational games web site www.keen2learn.co.uk and writes on educational matters for a wide range of publications.