Stephen Tomkins - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Stephen Tomkins

New Scientist, Jun 1, 2009

Journal of Biological Education, Jun 1, 2000

Journal of Biological Education, 2000

Brine shrimps are salt water Crustacea that are cheaply, easily, and rapidly reared in schools. I... more Brine shrimps are salt water Crustacea that are cheaply, easily, and rapidly reared in schools. In several studies they have proved to be attractive to pupils and valuable for teaching ecology and animal behaviour. Using simple and inexpensive apparatus such as plastic bottles, pipettes, sieves, and magnifiers pupils may investigate their feeding, growth, and development, observe reproductive behaviour and, by means of planned investigations, learn important lessons in animal ecology. Brine shrimps have a demonstrated usefulness for teaching and learning at every level of education — from primary, through secondary science, to undergraduate biology project work. In school, brine shrimps present fewer ethical problems than those posed by the keeping of many other laboratory animals, yet at the same time give opportunity for ethical discussion. The extensive utilitarian use of brine shrimps in research and fisheries may provide a technical and commercial link to classroom science.

... following for their assistance, encouragement, patience, criticism or good counsel: Myles Axt... more ... following for their assistance, encouragement, patience, criticism or good counsel: Myles Axton, Peter Bilton, Kay E. Davies, Clare Davison, Harriet Elson, Katie Joyce, Spencer Hagard, Mike Hobart, Edward Holden, Katherine Pate, Ninette Premdas, Lucy Purkis, Tony Seddon ...

The School science review, 1994

1. The discovery of evolution 2. Primates: our contemporary cousins 3. Mechanisms for change 4. T... more 1. The discovery of evolution 2. Primates: our contemporary cousins 3. Mechanisms for change 4. The record of the rocks 5. Our living record 6. Thinking about evolution 7. The apes that stood up 8. The australopithecines: the man-apes of Africa 9. Homo habilis: the making of humankind 10. Homo erectus: tools, hunting and fire 11. Homo sapiens: the Neanderthals and the African Eve 12. The Neolithic revolution: the end of prehistory.

One of a series of books which aim to provide accounts of specific aspects of social biology, thi... more One of a series of books which aim to provide accounts of specific aspects of social biology, this book is based on the genetics sections of the A-level Social Biology syllabus. As well as providing information on genetics, the ethics of genetic engineering and its side issues are considered.

Primary school pupils in the UK today may be less familiar with natural objects, less exposed to ... more Primary school pupils in the UK today may be less familiar with natural objects, less exposed to formal natural history teaching and have less time given to school-based observation and discussion of natural objects. This study of children’s responses to a ‘Nature Table’ of displayed natural objects was designed to assess pupils’ knowledge of those objects, the sources of their knowledge and the phenomenological nature of those children’s interest in items which they selected to talk about or to photograph. Children in the study were drawn from the first year of formal schooling (age 5-6) and the fifth year of formal schooling (age 9-10). Responses have been recorded and analysed using a simple systemic network. Results show that pupils are attracted most towards items with: an animate or novel nature or appearance, or for which they have some prior familiarity. Items are also attractive if they have aesthetic attributes, which display some responsiveness to the child or engage with the child’s previous experience, or elicit affective feeling. The present study reveals a greater home-based, rather than school-based, source for much of this experience and suggests how the criteria for teachers selecting natural objects for learning in school might be improved.

School Science Review, 1994

Journal of Biological Education, 2007

Darwin-Inspired Learning, 2015

Children have an astonishing ability to relate to, talk about, identify and then name organisms i... more Children have an astonishing ability to relate to, talk about, identify and then name organisms in a mental framework shared with their peers; some even become naturalists and bioscientists as well. In this chapter we outline some of the ideas, supported by research evidence, which contribute to this ontogeny of just one aspect of science capability.

Categorising and labelling is a basic human instinct (Brunner et al.) but a challenge for the new... more Categorising and labelling is a basic human instinct (Brunner et al.) but a challenge for the new learner, a child. First, they have to recognise animate and inanimate items in their world and then the main variety of them – particularly plants and animals. Learners quickly recognise items in their environment and in the diverse images of everyday artifacts. Identifying as a process, in the social context of teaching and learning, requires naming. Specimens with a nominal identity are then categorised through the recognising of shared salient features. Initially, children allocate what has been observed to a category, which is usually a super-ordinate one, and then gradually learn to distinguish between category members and so add further perceptions – for example, that stages in a life cycle of the same organism are not different kinds of organism at all. The role of another person (teacher/parent) can be critical in helping the learner to acquire an understanding of the categoric attributes of the variety of living things which they see. With examples from data collected in recent research we trace the emergence of the skills of observing, naming and categorising, including its reinforcement in just physical collecting, to illustrate this learning process so fundamental to bioscience. Charles Darwin, through his own observation of species, created a whole new science. With reference to Darwin’s childhood, his own natural history training and subsequent work with his own children, we briefly trace this ontology of learning that should pertain today in developing all children’s construction of knowledge of the living world.

Immunology Today, 1984

If you know Asterix the Gaul, the strip cartoon hero of epic children's fiction, you will imm... more If you know Asterix the Gaul, the strip cartoon hero of epic children's fiction, you will immediately he at ease with 'Protix ' (a simple protein molecule), the hero and narrator of this epic Journey Through Molecular Biology. The author, Jo~l de Rosnay, has made a brave and exciting attempt to put across the basics of molecular biology to an audience unschooled in the biochemical revolution of the past twenty years. To a large extent he succeeds in livening up the classical DNA-RNA-prote in central dogma in a form attractive to both the uninitiated and the sadly switched-off. He does this by means of some delightfully childish illustrations, by Puig Rosado, and a racy strip cartoon patter from the hero, with a more straightforward text to back it up. This text is simple, clear and not unnecessarily colloquial though it does thicken as the book progresses. Like Asterix, who is given his great strength by a secret potion, Protix (an animated green globular character with a grin) clearly has great strength in getting the message across. The author 's inebriation with the new wine of molecular biology is clear; he is enthusiastic that all the heavy biochemistry should come alive easily in the reader 's imagination. As one who has taught such pre-University biochemistry as is needed by students to have some inkling of what the revolution holds for us all, I found the book enthralling. An excellent introduction deals with the conceptual barriers of size and scale. Protix points out that were you magnified a million times and then laid your height of 1 700 km, from Athens to Paris, he would be, on that scale, barely a centimetre long, whilst a liver cell would be the size of a bus. This is followed by the essentials of protein construction and the inheren t infinite variability thereof. A simple analogy here is with the construction of a model railway line, the different track length units and different curved units being equivalent to amino acids, building up to make the precise (protein) conformations of the desired railway track. DNA structure and behaviour is simple and freshly covered. Some delightful cartoon replication enzyme characters appear, to scale, on an unzipping DNA molecule, uncoiling and linking the new strands in a figurative manner that one would not dare to put in a normal student text. Transcription was rather weakly explained, both as a word and as a process, and no reasons are given for the introduction of 'cheaper ' uracil and ribose at this juncture in the story. The diagrams for ' translation' are accurately scaled and reflect the good design of the accompanying 'biokit ' . The 'DNA Story' ends with a potted history of discovery, from Mendel (1860) to I takura and Leroy Hood (1981), but sadly Miescher (who discovered the wretched stuff) gets left out. The second half, of this joyously brief work, explains the mechanism of the 'biokit ' itself, a neat and ingenious collection of printed cardboard assembly bits (mRNA, tRNA, amino acids, ribosomes, etc.) that perform the coded synthesis as it has been cartooned. They are packaged, unassembled but punched out, in an envelope inside the back cover. Educationally and conceptually this has good reinforcement value. The genetic code itself is on a dial wheel with three little windows for the base triplet codon, or tRNA anti-codon, appropriate to each desired amino acid. In practice, I found my imagination of ribosomal working better than the fumblings of my fingers, but to the uninitiated or unimaginative the 'bioklt ' model will help. It took me ten minutes with the full model to transcribe the code for the brain peptide endorphin and translate it on the cardboard ribosome into the five interlocking amino acids of the molecule. (Here one needs adhesive tape in the role ofpeptidyl transferase.) It is nice to know that my brain cells can make the real thing in less than half a second! 367

Journal of Biological Education, 1990

Journal of Biological Education, 2012

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

International Journal of Science Education, 2001

ABSTRACT As part of a study of the effect of an extended period of observation on pupils'... more ABSTRACT As part of a study of the effect of an extended period of observation on pupils' interpretation and hypothesis-making, pupils from four English comprehensive secondary schools were studied while undertaking science investigations. Four groups of 12-year-old pupils observed a bottle ecosystem of brine shrimps without any prior instruction. Pupils kept their own diary, drawing and writing down their observations and thoughts. Analysis of tape-recorded observations and written diaries was carried out assigning statements to categories that were established after repeated reading of the transcripts and texts. Pupil observations were based largely on structural and behavioural features. Pupils spontaneously raised questions and answered them from their experience with the animals. Personal constructs and hypotheses emerged. The results indicate that pupils not only notice, from their own undirected observations, salient anatomical and behavioural features but that sustained observations may provide a base for clearer hypothesis making when formal teaching and investigations begin.