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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

6/7 winners have been decided in the @rsb.org.uk Biology Week Spelling Bee 2025. Four year groups went to tiebreaks! The highest score was 54 in two minutes, phenomenal! #Biolobee @chatbiology.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

This week we have the tiebreakers for the Biology Week Spelling Bee sponsored by @rsb.org.uk There have been loads of phenomenal scores from across the UK! It’s definitely the high mean score since the competition started! #Biolobee @chatbiology.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Testing Transcendia for starch. Worked nicely @saps-news.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Currently over 150 schools are signed up to the @royalsocbio.bsky.social sponsored #SpellingBee to celebrate #BiologyWeek2025 Any secondary schools in the UK, IoM or CI can take part and win prizes app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/dundee/bio... #SciTeachUK #ChatBiology #Science #Biolobee

A spider really enjoying the Biology Week Spelling Bee

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

#SciTeachUK Registration is open for this year’s @royalsocbio.bsky.social Biology Week Spelling Bee! It’s free for any teachers of students aged 11-18 years old to enter, there are prizes! app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/dundee/bio... please share widely!

app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk

Biology Week Spelling Bee 2025

Online surveys is a powerful, easy to use tool for creating online surveys. Run by Jisc, online surveys is used by over 300 different organisations in the UK...

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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 03/07/2025

You can also explore the Young Researcher Zone, where schools and colleges will be showcasing their exciting Royal Society-funded #PartnershipGrants projects, from daffodil diversity to the whiffs of worms! See more here: royalsociety.org/science-even... #SummerScience

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Malcolm Macaulay @malcolmacaulay.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

One of the coolest exhibits at the @royalsociety.org Summer Science Event! LEGO model of @nanoporetech.com sequencing! Well done @jmhale.bsky.social #partnershipgrants

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

@mothiduk.bsky.social could you help confirm some IDs, 5 in total

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Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 18/03/2025

Absolutely delighted by this impartial review of my book published in the journal, School Science Review (open access): www.ase.org.uk/system/files... #EduSky #UKEd #SciTeachUK #iTeachBio

In the 20+ years that I have been teaching biology I have come across many texts that purport to transform classroom practice and improve student outcomes. However, rarely have I been so convinced by the power of a new theoretical underpinning for a pedagogical technique such as the one presented here. Moore-Anderson provides detailed discussions of systems theory, cybernetics and variation theory and their relevance to the biology classroom. Alongside the explanations, he provides concrete examples grounded in the classroom and over 40
diagrams that can be used to teach key topics.

The book starts with explanations of the underpinning theories he has applied to his teaching. This can, at times, be heavy going, and although the ‘key ideas’ are highlighted it can feel like there is a lot of information to absorb. However, as the book continues the scaffolding becomes clear and the reader can see how these ideas build towards coherent classroom strategies. It may be tempting to skip the theory at the beginning of the book and jump to using the diagrams in lessons; however, to be most effective it is important to understand the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ behind these.

Although this book is specifically about teaching biology, there are ideas that are relevant to teaching all science disciplines and it may have benefited from a collation of the ‘key ideas’ and ‘assumptions’ presented as they apply to teaching and learning of all sciences or all classroom settings.

Overall, Moore-Anderson presents a well-reasoned and compelling argument for the application of cybernetics and variation theory to the classroom. This is not an easy read, but, in my opinion, it is a thought-provoking read and a book that biology teachers should invest time in, to consider the theories, key ideas and diagrams, and how they could apply these in their own classroom.

Helen Darlington Faculty Progress Leader for Science at South Wirral High School

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Can everyone in the world please complete this survey about genome-editing crops forms.office.com/e/b7RJQ726w6 for the amazing @ljcompton.bsky.social and her undergrad @chatbiology.bsky.social @saps-news.bsky.social @associationscied.bsky.social please share #SciTeachUK #Science

forms.office.com

Microsoft Forms

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

@sarahdenisonmei.bsky.social feedback I never thought I’d have to write

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Our Arctic-Alpine research group is now looking ahead to some public engagement, reliving this one from 2022.

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

@cleapss.bsky.social is there a definitive first aid provision for schools eg a ratio of first aiders to classes/students?

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Origami Organelles @origamiorganelles.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Action Potentials is a game was created by biology teacher @jmhale.bsky.social! Players race down a sensory neurone, gathering Na+ as they go! First to release the neurotransmitter wins! Click here to learn more: bit.ly/3d7Nfzl #iteachbio #biologyteacher #actionpotential #nervoussystem

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

@asrose.bsky.social I gave Molstar another shoutout on Wednesday

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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Glad to share our curiosity-driven article with I. Žliobaitė and V. Sinkkonen on the possibility, and the population density of Idricotheres in Helsinki area. in "Dance of the Cave Bear: Honoring the Scientific Legacy of Björn Kurtén" www.sekj.org/PDF/anz61-fr... 🧪 #Paleobio ⚒️ #Geology #EvoBio

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

@chrisgraham.bsky.social finally met Ro in person. Hopefully she had a fun day and you have fun this evening

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Guess what I taught last week @dewhurst-ben.bsky.social I’m quite proud of the crystals

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Once again feeling immensely proud of a former student. Daisy will be on University Challenge tomorrow evening! Fingers crossed. #SciTeachUK @chatbiology.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 27/10/2024

Year 9 biology fun beyond the required practical #SciTeachUK @helenharden.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

As part of our Royal Society Partnership Grant we’ve been trying to develop methods for measuring ecophysiological changes in Saxifrages. Last week we got stomatal density dialled down but leaf thickness indexes were a step too far. Until next week #SciTeachUK @chatbiology.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

It wasn’t raining last thing on a Friday and it was fieldwork time with Y9s @helenharden.bsky.social #SciTeachUk @chatbiology.bsky.social

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Jon M Hale @jmhale.bsky.social · 12/10/2024

The results are in for the 2nd RSB Biology Week National Spelling Bee: Y7 Amina Bolton School Girls Division Y8 Laasya North Cestrian Y9 Naina Red House School Y10 Ria & Y11 Saksham Herschel Grammar Y12 Micah New-Bridge Integrated College Y13 Amelina Bishop's Hatfield Girls School Well done!

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