Scientific London

London is a fantastic city in which to study Science and there are many institutions that offer great exhibitions, events and talks – many free to the general public.

We actively encourage you to expand your science education by visiting some of these fascinating sites.

 

Scientific Institutions

Royal Institution of Great Britain

The RI (http://www.rigb.org) is an organisation devoted to scientific education and research. The RI has a substantial public science programme and science for schools programme, holding over one hundred events per year on a wide variety of topics. The Friday Evening Discourses are monthly lectures given by eminent scientists, each limited to exactly one hour, a tradition started by Faraday. These lectures are open to all members of the Royal Institution and their guests.

The RI is also home to the Faraday Museum.

 

Royal Society

The Royal Society (http://royalsociety.org/) is a Fellowship of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Society today acts as a scientific advisor to the British government, receiving a parliamentary grant-in-aid. The Society acts as the UK’s Academy of Sciences, and funds research fellowships and scientific start-up companies.

The Society hosts public lectures and talks by leading scientists, scholars, writers and broadcasters. These include prize lectures, Café Scientifique discussions, lectures on the history of science and joint events with scientific and literary festivals.

 

Events

Science London

Science London (http://science-london.com/) organise free science-related talks and events in Central London twice a month. Science London is run by the British Science Association and aims to foster greater public engagement with science through talks.

London Science Festival

Details about the next London Science Festival can be found at the following site: http://www.londonsciencefestival.com.

 

Museums in London

Science Museum

The Science Museum (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/) is world renowned for its historic collections, awe-inspiring galleries and inspirational exhibitions. The Science Museum holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including such famous items as Stephenson’s Rocket, Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, a reconstruction of Francis Crick and James Watson’s model of DNA, some of the earliest remaining steam engines, a working example of Charles Babbage’s Difference engine (and the latter, preserved half brain), the first prototype of the 10,000-year Clock of the Long Now, and documentation of the first typewriter. It also contains hundreds of interactive exhibits. A recent addition is the IMAX 3D Cinema showing science and nature documentaries, most of them in 3-D, and the Wellcome Wing which focuses on digital technology. Admission is free.

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/) is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 70 million items within five main collections: Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology. The museum is a world-renowned centre of research, specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Darwin. The Natural History Museum Library contains extensive books, journals, manuscripts, and artwork collections linked to the work and research of the scientific departments.

The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons, and ornate architecture — sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature — both exemplified by the large Diplodocus cast which dominates the vaulted central hall. Admission is free.

Royal Observatory, Greenwich

The Royal Observatory (http://www.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory/) played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian. It is situated on a hill in Greenwich Park, overlooking the River Thames.

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens (http://www.kew.org/) comprises 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. Kew Gardens is the world’s largest collection of living plants. The living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants.

Brunel Museum

The Brunel Museum (http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk/) is directly above the Thames Tunnel. This is Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s first project, aged nineteen years, and working with his father Sir Marc Brunel and it is the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world.

The Museum organises many public events.

Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection (http://www.wellcomecollection.org/) is a free destination for the incurably curious. Explore what it means to be human through a unique mix of galleries, events and meeting, reading and eating places.

Upstairs Medicine Now and Medicine Man present exhibits spanning six centuries, from the bizarre to the beautiful, the ancient to the modern, including a Peruvian mummified male, Darwin’s walking stick, a gastrointestinal camera the size of a baked bean and a robot used in the human genome project. Admission Free.

The Anaesthesia Museum
The Anaesthesia Museum (http://www.medicalmuseums.org/Anaesthesia-Heritage-Centre/) is a medical museum with a collection containg over 2000 objects relating to the story of anaesthesia. The collections date from 1774 to the present day and provide a detailed insight into the history of medicine relating to anaesthesia and anaesthetic equipment as well as pain relief and resuscitation.

British Dental Association Museum
The British Dental Association Museum (http://www.bda.org/museum/) aims to selectively develop, preserve and interpret collections relating to the social history, practice and professional development of dentistry in the UK. It is maintained as a national resource for the dental profession, dental industry, researchers and members of the public with an interest in the development and future of dentistry.

Florence Nightingale Museum
Florence Nightingale became a living legend as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’. When she died in 1910, aged 90, she was famous around the world. But who was the real Florence Nightingale?

The Florence Nightingale Museum (http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/) follows her story and uncovers a woman of many talents, as well as flaws. Find out about her achievements and the reasons we remember her today.

Travel through three pavilions which take you on a journey through the life and times of Florence Nightingale. From her Victorian childhood to the Crimean War and onto her years as an ardent campaigner.

Hunterian Museum – The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Housed in a grand building occupied by the Royal College of Surgeons, the Hunterian Museum (http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums) displays the collection of pioneering surgeon John Hunter (1728-93). There are plenty of pickled creatures in jars here, alongside facinating deformed skeletons. More contemporary exhibits explore contemporary and future surgery – not for the squeamish!

Kirkaldy Testing Museum
Working equipment and exhibition about the machinery David Kirkaldy designed to experiment and test the strength of materials to uniform standards. The entrance is in Price’s Street. Open First Sunday of each month.

The Faraday Museum at the Royal Institution
This grand building just off Piccadilly has been home to 14 Nobel prizewinners, and housed the laboratories of some of the world’s greatest scientific minds. The small but entertaining exhibition explores the illustrious history of the RI, and uses animations and comedy to explain some of the groundbreaking concepts and equipment on show. (http://www.rigb.org)

Old Operating Theatre, Museum and Herb Garret
The Old Operating Theatre (http://www.thegarret.org.uk/) in London is the only 19th Century operating theatre in England. Come and explore the history of surgery and herbal medicine in this beautifully restored museum.

The operating theatre is located in the top of an old church. Visitors can watch demonstrations of surgical techniques from the past and explore the herb garret, where herbs were dried and stored for the hospital’s apothecary.

Why is Science important?

In this article Deep Lidder, Director of London Science Tutors, discusses why he believes that the study of Science is important to society.

 

As you may gather from the leading title of this post, I do believe that Science is very important. I am passionate about my subject, and believe deeply that we should actively encourage its study – especially amongst school students.

Science is the study of Nature. Fuelled by our insatiable curiosity, it is the quest for a deeper understanding of the world around us. Why things are. How things are. What things are.

The most important reason that I can think of for the importance of Science is its ability to increase our confidence as human beings and reduce our fear of the unknown. Whereas in the past humans have relied wholly on the fickle nature of fate and chance, Science has allowed us to understand how aspects of Nature work and to use that to our advantage. The advancement of scientific understanding is an incredible human achievement and allow us to live confidently in our environment; that should we fall ill, there are medicines that can help us; that should we enter into danger, we have methods to call for help; that should we build a structure, it will stand.

Obviously Science doesn’t solve all of the problems we have, and it can be used for the bad as well the good; take for example the issues of industrial pollution or chemical warfare. However, I believe that it is through the study and developments of Science that we will make great advancements to solve some of the more pressing problems we are currently facing such as climate change, food security, and energy management.

The scientific method of hypothesis, experimentation and evaluation is a rigorous and successful framework for investigating the world around us. It is the most powerful method we have for investigating and answering the big questions we have about the world. Science is (ideally) open-source – experiments can be verified, replicated; observations repeated and confirmed – increasing our confidence in the validity of our knowledge.

Many believe that funding for pure scientific research, such as at CERN or space exploration, is wasteful when we have pressing human problems on Earth. However, I would argue that any study that furthers the realms of human understanding is a highly worthy endeavour. There is often no clear view of the implications of research. The internet was born out of a network at CERN to share the results of scientific research. Nobody could have foreseen the huge impact of its subsequent development.

Given what I have said above, I believe that high quality Science education is absolutely crucial and anything less is robbing our students of an opportunity they deserve. Good teaching of this discipline inspires and enthuses students. It allows an appreciation for the nature of knowledge and enquiry; about what can be known as well as the power of the human mind to imagine, develop and further human understanding. It is incredibly liberating for us as humans to realise that they are not limited by fate or circumstance; that steps can be taken to steer developments and the course of humanity.

A further point I will add is that the study of Nature is incredibly academically satisfying. Nature is awe-inspiring in its beauty and paradoxical complexity and simplicity. What could be a worthier subject of study?

I am by no means detracting from the study of other disciplines – I am also a great advocate of the Arts in understanding and sharing human experience. However, I feel from my conversations with current students that many are done a great disservice in terms of poor Science teaching.

I believe that many of the problems that we currently face – and we are currently faced with many challenges – will be solved only through the hard work and research of scientists.

And it is for the above reasons that I believe the study of Science is vitally important to society.

Finding a Tutor in London

The following article was originally written for “Tutor Pages”.

 

In this article Deep Lidder, Director of London Science Tutors, discusses the qualities to look for when choosing a Physics or Chemistry tutor for your child.

Many parents I have spoken with have expressed the difficulties they have experienced in trying to find a tutor to support their child’s Chemistry, Biology, Maths or Physics education. Having spent so much time, money and effort at getting to this level, parents understandably want to ensure that their child performs to the best of their abilities to ensure that they secure the required grades to go on to study their desired subject at University.

Both subjects require a thorough understanding and comfort with fundamental laws and scientific concepts. Learning and teaching these subjects is difficult and requires time, effort and experience. All tutors have different teaching styles, approaches and techniques. It is therefore well worth taking the time to ensure that the tutor you choose is a good fit for your child. I would highly encourage you to have a trial teaching session before committing to a tutor.

Prepare some questions for the tutor prior to the initial session to ensure that they are able to fully address your concerns and meet your objectives and targets. You may want to ask about their familiarity with the syllabus, as well as their previous tutoring experience.

It is important to communicate your expectations and requirements of tutoring, as everybody has their individual reasons. Some students are looking for a complement and alternative perspective to their classroom learning. Others require some additional support in areas, especially if they do not respond well to their teacher’s classroom teaching style. Other students are looking to be stretched beyond the confines of the syllabus. Identifying a clear reason why you are choosing a tutor will allow you to select somebody who understands and can meet your needs. It will also allow you to more effectively track progress towards your tutoring objectives.

I believe that it is the tutors job to develop an appropriate and workable strategy of manageable and realistic targets to cover the content effectively. I always work with my students and their parents to develop a detailed tutoring plan based on their requirements and objectives. This allows for material to be adequately covered prior to exams, as well as complementing content covered at school. Closer to the exams, a revision schedule of review and past exam questions is developed to ensure confidence with material and technique before going into an exam.

A good tutor will be able to cover more material effectively and in an understandable way suited to the student. They will ensure an active line of communication and feedback with both the parents and the student.

There are a multitude of benefits of a strong scientific education. Tutoring is a highly valuable experience for a student, allowing for a deeper level of understanding for the subject to be developed. Physics, Biology, Maths and Chemistry are all incredibly satisfying subjects to study and immensely enjoyable. Good teaching improves self-confidence and ensures that your child goes into the exam feeling as comfortable as possible, setting them up for the best chance of future success.

 

Deep Lidder is Director of London Science Tutors, providers of teaching and tutoring in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths.

Welcome to LST’s Science Blog

Welcome to the LST Science Blog! Here our science writers will post short articles on topics that are interesting and relevant to students studying science from GCSE up to undergraduate. Some of the posts will be written by our tutors, some by experts in education and science. We hope to bring you plenty of tips on exam and revision techniques as well as prepare short guides into topics such as University applications, interviews and career choices.

We hope you will enjoy our articles.

LST Team

AQA GCSE Biology Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

Past papers for AQA GCSE Biology are now available online here at London Science Tutors Student Resources. Past Paper practice should form a core part of your exam preparation and revision.

Discuss the best approach to using these past papers with your tutor. For most of our students, we suggest doing the past papers between tutoring sessions. We can then use the teaching time to discuss any issues you had with the paper as well as to clarify unclear concepts. We have found this to be a very effective approach for preparing for the exam – especially if there is a tight time constraint.

We recommend you sit a number of past papers under examination conditions prior to your actual exam. This will allow you to identify areas of your exam technique which may require further focus; for example pacing the questions, use of calculator functions, providing clear working for solutions etc. For certain syllabuses there are not many past papers, in which case we are happy to help by identifying appropriate questions from other examinations which would provide practice.

Approach to Past Papers
We suggest you sit the past papers under exam conditions in order for the practice to be most effective. This means ideally sitting the paper in a quiet room free from distractions – having only your calculator and data sheet to hand. Consider setting an alarm to indicate the allocated time.

Understandably you may have some difficulty completing the paper in the required time when starting your revision, however you will undoubtedly improve and get faster with practice. Should you run out of time, indicate how far you reached on the paper so that you have a measure of your exam speed to discuss with your tutor.

The practice will allow you to become comfortable with the style of question that comes up in the exam, as well as the best approach to tackling a question. This is particularly useful for synoptic questions requiring knowledge from different parts of the syllabus.

Although exam boards provide mark schemes, these should in no way be taken as “model answers”, but simply as providing a minimal indication of where marks are to be awarded.

If you have any further questions regarding the best use of past papers and exam technique, please talk with your tutor, or contact us directly.

Mark Schemes
You can request the Mark Schemes for a question paper from your tutor. Please note that the Mark Schemes are NOT a set of model answers, but rather discuss the allocation of marks in the question paper. Many questions can be answered using multiple approaches – which you can discuss with your tutor during your session.

Should you have any questions about the past papers, feel free to discuss with your tutor or alternatively contact us directly.

AQA GCSE Chemistry Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

  • By London Science Tutors
  • 3 February, 2013
  • Comments Off on AQA GCSE Chemistry Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

Past papers for AQA GCSE Chemistry are now available online here at London Science Tutors Student Resources. Past Paper practice should form a core part of your exam preparation and revision.

Discuss the best approach to using these past papers with your tutor. For most of our students, we suggest doing the past papers between tutoring sessions. We can then use the teaching time to discuss any issues you had with the paper as well as to clarify unclear concepts. We have found this to be a very effective approach for preparing for the exam – especially if there is a tight time constraint.

We recommend you sit a number of past papers under examination conditions prior to your actual exam. This will allow you to identify areas of your exam technique which may require further focus; for example pacing the questions, use of calculator functions, providing clear working for solutions etc. For certain syllabuses there are not many past papers, in which case we are happy to help by identifying appropriate questions from other examinations which would provide practice.

Approach to Past Papers
We suggest you sit the past papers under exam conditions in order for the practice to be most effective. This means ideally sitting the paper in a quiet room free from distractions – having only your calculator and data sheet to hand. Consider setting an alarm to indicate the allocated time.

Understandably you may have some difficulty completing the paper in the required time when starting your revision, however you will undoubtedly improve and get faster with practice. Should you run out of time, indicate how far you reached on the paper so that you have a measure of your exam speed to discuss with your tutor.

The practice will allow you to become comfortable with the style of question that comes up in the exam, as well as the best approach to tackling a question. This is particularly useful for synoptic questions requiring knowledge from different parts of the syllabus.

Although exam boards provide mark schemes, these should in no way be taken as “model answers”, but simply as providing a minimal indication of where marks are to be awarded.

If you have any further questions regarding the best use of past papers and exam technique, please talk with your tutor, or contact us directly.

Mark Schemes
You can request the Mark Schemes for a question paper from your tutor. Please note that the Mark Schemes are NOT a set of model answers, but rather discuss the allocation of marks in the question paper. Many questions can be answered using multiple approaches – which you can discuss with your tutor during your session.

Should you have any questions about the past papers, feel free to discuss with your tutor or alternatively contact us directly.

AQA GCSE Physics Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

Past papers for AQA GCSE Physics are now available online here at London Science Tutors Student Resources. Past Paper practice should form a core part of your exam preparation and revision.

Discuss the best approach to using these past papers with your tutor. For most of our students, we suggest doing the past papers between tutoring sessions. We can then use the teaching time to discuss any issues you had with the paper as well as to clarify unclear concepts. We have found this to be a very effective approach for preparing for the exam – especially if there is a tight time constraint.

We recommend you sit a number of past papers under examination conditions prior to your actual exam. This will allow you to identify areas of your exam technique which may require further focus; for example pacing the questions, use of calculator functions, providing clear working for solutions etc. For certain syllabuses there are not many past papers, in which case we are happy to help by identifying appropriate questions from other examinations which would provide practice.

Approach to Past Papers
We suggest you sit the past papers under exam conditions in order for the practice to be most effective. This means ideally sitting the paper in a quiet room free from distractions – having only your calculator and data sheet to hand. Consider setting an alarm to indicate the allocated time.

Understandably you may have some difficulty completing the paper in the required time when starting your revision, however you will undoubtedly improve and get faster with practice. Should you run out of time, indicate how far you reached on the paper so that you have a measure of your exam speed to discuss with your tutor.

The practice will allow you to become comfortable with the style of question that comes up in the exam, as well as the best approach to tackling a question. This is particularly useful for synoptic questions requiring knowledge from different parts of the syllabus.

Although exam boards provide mark schemes, these should in no way be taken as “model answers”, but simply as providing a minimal indication of where marks are to be awarded.

If you have any further questions regarding the best use of past papers and exam technique, please talk with your tutor, or contact us directly.

Mark Schemes
You can request the Mark Schemes for a question paper from your tutor. Please note that the Mark Schemes are NOT a set of model answers, but rather discuss the allocation of marks in the question paper. Many questions can be answered using multiple approaches – which you can discuss with your tutor during your session.

Should you have any questions about the past papers, feel free to discuss with your tutor or alternatively contact us directly.

AQA GCSE Maths Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

Past papers for AQA GCSE Maths are now available online here at London Science Tutors Student Resources. Past Paper practice should form a core part of your exam preparation and revision.

Discuss the best approach to using these past papers with your tutor. For most of our students, we suggest doing the past papers between tutoring sessions. We can then use the teaching time to discuss any issues you had with the paper as well as to clarify unclear concepts. We have found this to be a very effective approach for preparing for the exam – especially if there is a tight time constraint.

We recommend you sit a number of past papers under examination conditions prior to your actual exam. This will allow you to identify areas of your exam technique which may require further focus; for example pacing the questions, use of calculator functions, providing clear working for solutions etc. For certain syllabuses there are not many past papers, in which case we are happy to help by identifying appropriate questions from other examinations which would provide practice.

Approach to Past Papers
We suggest you sit the past papers under exam conditions in order for the practice to be most effective. This means ideally sitting the paper in a quiet room free from distractions – having only your calculator and data sheet to hand. Consider setting an alarm to indicate the allocated time.

Understandably you may have some difficulty completing the paper in the required time when starting your revision, however you will undoubtedly improve and get faster with practice. Should you run out of time, indicate how far you reached on the paper so that you have a measure of your exam speed to discuss with your tutor.

The practice will allow you to become comfortable with the style of question that comes up in the exam, as well as the best approach to tackling a question. This is particularly useful for synoptic questions requiring knowledge from different parts of the syllabus.

Although exam boards provide mark schemes, these should in no way be taken as “model answers”, but simply as providing a minimal indication of where marks are to be awarded.

If you have any further questions regarding the best use of past papers and exam technique, please talk with your tutor, or contact us directly.

Mark Schemes
You can request the Mark Schemes for a question paper from your tutor. Please note that the Mark Schemes are NOT a set of model answers, but rather discuss the allocation of marks in the question paper. Many questions can be answered using multiple approaches – which you can discuss with your tutor during your session.

Should you have any questions about the past papers, feel free to discuss with your tutor or alternatively contact us directly.

AQA GCSE Science Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

Past papers for AQA GCSE Science are now available online here at London Science Tutors Student Resources. Past Paper practice should form a core part of your exam preparation and revision.

Discuss the best approach to using these past papers with your tutor. For most of our students, we suggest doing the past papers between tutoring sessions. We can then use the teaching time to discuss any issues you had with the paper as well as to clarify unclear concepts. We have found this to be a very effective approach for preparing for the exam – especially if there is a tight time constraint.

We recommend you sit a number of past papers under examination conditions prior to your actual exam. This will allow you to identify areas of your exam technique which may require further focus; for example pacing the questions, use of calculator functions, providing clear working for solutions etc. For certain syllabuses there are not many past papers, in which case we are happy to help by identifying appropriate questions from other examinations which would provide practice.

Approach to Past Papers
We suggest you sit the past papers under exam conditions in order for the practice to be most effective. This means ideally sitting the paper in a quiet room free from distractions – having only your calculator and data sheet to hand. Consider setting an alarm to indicate the allocated time.

Understandably you may have some difficulty completing the paper in the required time when starting your revision, however you will undoubtedly improve and get faster with practice. Should you run out of time, indicate how far you reached on the paper so that you have a measure of your exam speed to discuss with your tutor.

The practice will allow you to become comfortable with the style of question that comes up in the exam, as well as the best approach to tackling a question. This is particularly useful for synoptic questions requiring knowledge from different parts of the syllabus.

Although exam boards provide mark schemes, these should in no way be taken as “model answers”, but simply as providing a minimal indication of where marks are to be awarded.

If you have any further questions regarding the best use of past papers and exam technique, please talk with your tutor, or contact us directly.

Mark Schemes
You can request the Mark Schemes for a question paper from your tutor. Please note that the Mark Schemes are NOT a set of model answers, but rather discuss the allocation of marks in the question paper. Many questions can be answered using multiple approaches – which you can discuss with your tutor during your session.

Should you have any questions about the past papers, feel free to discuss with your tutor or alternatively contact us directly.

OCR GCSE Biology Past Papers and Syllabus Now Available Online

Past papers for OCR GCSE Biology are now available online here at London Science Tutors Student Resources. Past Paper practice should form a core part of your exam preparation and revision.

Discuss the best approach to using these past papers with your tutor. For most of our students, we suggest doing the past papers between tutoring sessions. We can then use the teaching time to discuss any issues you had with the paper as well as to clarify unclear concepts. We have found this to be a very effective approach for preparing for the exam – especially if there is a tight time constraint.

We recommend you sit a number of past papers under examination conditions prior to your actual exam. This will allow you to identify areas of your exam technique which may require further focus; for example pacing the questions, use of calculator functions, providing clear working for solutions etc. For certain syllabuses there are not many past papers, in which case we are happy to help by identifying appropriate questions from other examinations which would provide practice.

Approach to Past Papers
We suggest you sit the past papers under exam conditions in order for the practice to be most effective. This means ideally sitting the paper in a quiet room free from distractions – having only your calculator and data sheet to hand. Consider setting an alarm to indicate the allocated time.

Understandably you may have some difficulty completing the paper in the required time when starting your revision, however you will undoubtedly improve and get faster with practice. Should you run out of time, indicate how far you reached on the paper so that you have a measure of your exam speed to discuss with your tutor.

The practice will allow you to become comfortable with the style of question that comes up in the exam, as well as the best approach to tackling a question. This is particularly useful for synoptic questions requiring knowledge from different parts of the syllabus.

Although exam boards provide mark schemes, these should in no way be taken as “model answers”, but simply as providing a minimal indication of where marks are to be awarded.

If you have any further questions regarding the best use of past papers and exam technique, please talk with your tutor, or contact us directly.

Mark Schemes
You can request the Mark Schemes for a question paper from your tutor. Please note that the Mark Schemes are NOT a set of model answers, but rather discuss the allocation of marks in the question paper. Many questions can be answered using multiple approaches – which you can discuss with your tutor during your session.

Should you have any questions about the past papers, feel free to discuss with your tutor or alternatively contact us directly.