Virus Factory in Schools

Welcome to the home of Virus Factory in Schools!

Below, you’ll find resources to help with your delivery of the standalone workshop, 3-workshop series, and maths extension workshop, including links to download electronic and printable materials, our “Ask a Scientist” video playlists, and details of how to book into our Franklin researcher Q&A webinars. 

Overview

The three workshops are based around viruses and microbiology and use citizen science as a way to show your pupils that they are capable of making meaningful contributions to real research science and of going on to become research scientists. The workshops are designed using the science capital teaching approach.  

The overall structure of the workshop series is background science, citizen science, computing science and Q&A. The standalone workshop is a condensed version which covers less computing science and has less time spent on the participatory citizen science. It has no time built in for meeting a researcher and we suggest a follow up session to allow your pupils to do so.  

The background science uses your pupils’ knowledge of living things as its starting point and from there introduces cells, DNA and viruses while reinforcing skills such as observation, collaboration, communication and use of ICT as key scientific skills.  

The additional maths workshop uses the concepts and results of the main workshop/workshops as a way to practice statistics in a real-life context, helping students to understand how maths allows scientists to move from making observations of images to answering big questions.  

Links to Resources

Full course materials, including an educator guide, are available for download on Zenodo here. The Virus Factory citizen science project page can be found here, and zoo-notes can be found here.  

Register for a Teacher Resource Pack

Additionally, we have a number of physical resource packs to distribute to interested teachers. We will prioritise teachers who are interested in delivering the workshops in the current (24-25) or next (25-26) academic years, and those who are willing to provide feedback so we can improve this pack in the future!

Please note there is no requirement to have the physical resource packs in order to deliver the Virus Factory in Schools workshops or participate in our Q&A webinars. Online materials, including “print and play” files, can be found on Zenodo.

Sign-up to register for one of these packs for free Sign-up for a resource paqck

Franklin Researcher Q&A Webinars

Information regarding upcoming Franklin researcher Q&As, including details of how to register and submit questions will be released soon.

In-Person Q&As and Activities at Harwell Campus

We will be running a limited number of in-person Q&A and activity sessions in the 25-26 academic year. To register your interest in participating in one of these sessions, sign up to receive a teacher pack using the link above. We will reach out directly with teachers who plan to deliver the workshop series to invite them to sign up for these in-person sessions.

"Ask a Scientist" Video Playlists

The playlist contains 8 videos lasting between 2 and 5 minutes, taken from a series of interviews with researchers working at the Franklin and Diamond Light Source, recorded in February 2023. This forms an offline alternative to live Q&A options such as local STEM ambassadors, “I’m a Scientist” events, and the Franklin Q&A webinars. The playlist is hosted on the Science Scribbler YouTube, and the Franklin Vimeo.

External Resources

Contact Details

For questions, please contact the Science Scribbler team via email.

The Zooniverse in Schools team can also be reached by email here.   

You can also contact the team through the Talk Forums on the Zooniverse project page. 

Collaborating Institutes & Organisations

  • Diamond Light Source 
  • University of Oxford 
  • Zooniverse
  • UKRI-STFC – Professor Roger Ecclestone

Funded by

Wellcome Trust – Biomedical Resources Grant (212980/Z/18/Z)

STFC – Nucleus Award (ST/W001845/1)

STFC – Spark Award (ST/Y005813/1)  

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Science with schools & public groupsVirus Factory in Schools