Science Writing ideas

Are you stuck on your Science Writing entry? Here are some great places to start or some resources to add to your current project! Click on the links below.

Bioluminescence

• Have you been hunting for ghost mushrooms?

• How Moana tricked Tamatoa with science...
• Understanding the natural wonder of bioluminescence
• Bioluminescence in Jervis Bay
• Bioluminescent beauties: Australian creatures that glow

Endangered Species Recovery

Ideas:

• Rewilding animals
• Endangered animals on Kangaroo Island after bushfires
• Plants in suburbs - is it good to simply scatter flowering seeds in the aim of increasing biodiversity? What are the impacts and considerations?

References:

• Rewilding Australia
• With fewer animals to spread their seeds, plants could have trouble adapting to climate change
• Why Endangered Species Matter
• Struggling to conserve seed biodiversity: the gaps and wisdom in current research
• Invasive Species: What You Can Do

Life Without the Lightbulb

• Are you considering the invention of the lightbulb, electricity or artificial light?

Should Animals be Used for Research?

Idea: Be an animal in a lab and then be a human in need of insulin - research how insulin is made - are animals involved in the production of insulin? If not now, were they? What if it never happened, would we have insulin for people with Diabetes?

References: 

• The History of a Wonderful Thing We Call Insulin
• The ethics of animal research. Talking Point on the use of animals in scientific research
• Why Animal Research?
• Why Do Scientists Use Animals in Research?

Developing a Green Future

Ideas: 

• Does being ‘green’ mean you have to be vegan?
• What animals can we grow to prevent carbon dioxide and methane entering the atmosphere, and still produce animals for eating?
• What happens when we remove an old gum tree from the environment

How are the Technical Properties of Glass Changing the World?

• International Year of Glass – research at IPAS on glass science, technology and art

First Nation Science

• Look up Deadly Science and Corey Tutt OAM. Find his books and read up on Young Dark Emu by Uncle Bruce Pascoe

Air Quality

Idea: In April 1970, Apollo 13 carried three astronauts to the Moon. The mission was aborted (cancelled!) because there was a problem with the air quality filter machines. The astronauts had to invent a way to create breathable air or else they would die- what did they do? What would you do?

Resources: 

• Air Quality | EPA
• Air aware: air quality lessons for teachers and experiments for curious kids
• What's hiding in the air?
• 8 Student Experiments to Measure Air Quality

Have you considered if being able to see the ‘stuff’ in air would change others perception about the quality of air we breathe and the massive job we give our nose hairs and back of the throat in protecting us?

The photos below are some examples of what was filtered out of air, viewed through a light microscope.