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Teaching STEM in the Secondary School: Helping teachers meet the challenge
by Frank Banks David BarlexThe skills, knowledge and understanding of the subjects involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are vital for all young people in an increasingly science- and technology-driven society. This book looks at the purpose and pedagogy of STEM teaching and explores the ways in which STEM subjects can interact in the curriculum to enhance student understanding, achievement and motivation. By reaching outside their own classroom, teachers can collaborate across subjects to enrich learning and help students relate school science, technology and maths to the wider world. Packed with ideas and practical details for teachers of STEM subjects, this book: considers what the STEM subjects contribute separately to the curriculum and how they relate to each other in the wider education of secondary school students describes and evaluates different curriculum models for STEM suggests ways in which a critical approach to the pedagogy of the classroom, laboratory and workshop can support STEM for all students addresses the practicalities of introducing, organising and sustaining STEM-related activities in the secondary school looks to ways schools can manage and sustain STEM approaches in the long-term. This timely new text is essential reading for trainee and practising teachers who wish to make the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics an interesting, motivating and exciting experience for their students.
Early Professional Development for Teachers
by Frank Banks Ann Shelton MayesEarly Professional Development has recently been recognized throughout the UK as a key area for improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools. All teachers need support to move from novice to expert. Set out here is a range of articles to help them achieve that goal. Included are practical strategies for investigating classrooms, ideas about teaching and learning, and key debates concerning professional development, all selected with the aim of moving classroom practice forward. This book offers teachers the opportunity to explore the latest debates on professional development as well as providing practical tips for use in the classroom, and is a rich resource for those teachers committed to developing their teaching for the benefit of their pupils.
Early Professional Development for Teachers
by Frank Banks Ann Shelton MayesEarly Professional Development has recently been recognized throughout the UK as a key area for improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools. All teachers need support to move from novice to expert. Set out here is a range of articles to help them achieve that goal. Included are practical strategies for investigating classrooms, ideas about teaching and learning, and key debates concerning professional development, all selected with the aim of moving classroom practice forward. This book offers teachers the opportunity to explore the latest debates on professional development as well as providing practical tips for use in the classroom, and is a rich resource for those teachers committed to developing their teaching for the benefit of their pupils.
Banksy: The Autobiography
by Gordon BanksFor 10 years Gordon Banks was not only England's Number One, but was acknowledged to be the best keeper in the world - perhaps the best there's ever been. Banksy is more than just a football story: it's the story of a man who represents all that was admirable about the game in a golden era. This is the story of a genuine English hero. Of triumph and tragedy and a stirring, insiders account of the England team's finest years.
Aberdeenshire Folk Tales (Folk Tales Ser.)
by Grace Banks Sheena BlackhallThe folklore of the North East provides a rich tapestry for the tales within; from Celtic and Pictish origins meet witches, selkies, smugglers, fairies, monsters, despicable rogues, riddles and heroes. Tragic events, spellbinding characters, humour, romance and clever minds are bound together by two well-established storytellers living and working in the city and shire of Aberdeen. Some of the tales in this collection are based on historical fact while others are embedded in myth and legend. All the stories are set against the backdrop of this lovely and varied landscape. Sheena and Grace have both been inspired in their storytelling and singing by the traveller, raconteur and balladeer, Stanley Robertson.
Mathematical and Experimental Modeling of Physical and Biological Processes (Textbooks In Mathematics Ser.)
by H. T. BanksThrough several case study problems from industrial and scientific research laboratory applications, Mathematical and Experimental Modeling of Physical and Biological Processes provides students with a fundamental understanding of how mathematics is applied to problems in science and engineering. For each case study problem, the authors discuss why
Modeling and Inverse Problems in the Presence of Uncertainty
by H. T. Banks Shuhua Hu W. Clayton ThompsonModeling and Inverse Problems in the Presence of Uncertainty collects recent research-including the authors' own substantial projects-on uncertainty propagation and quantification. It covers two sources of uncertainty: where uncertainty is present primarily due to measurement errors and where uncertainty is present due to the modeling formulation i
Modeling and Control in the Biomedical Sciences (Lecture Notes in Biomathematics #6)
by H.T. BanksThese notes are based on (i) a series of lectures that I gave at the 14th Biennial Seminar of the Canadian Mathematical Congress held at the University of Western Ontario August 12-24, 1973 and (li) some of my lectures in a modeling course that I have cotaught in the Division of Bio-Medical Sciences at Brown during the past several years. An earlier version of these notes appeared in the Center for Dynamical Systems Lectures Notes series (CDS LN 73-1, November 1973). I have in this revised and extended version of those earlier notes incorporated a number of changes based both on classroom experience and on my research efforts with several colleagues during the intervening period. The narrow viewpoint of the present notes (use of optimization and control theory in biomedical problems) reflects more the scope of the CMC lectures given in August, 1973 than the scope of my own interests. Indeed, my real interests have included the modeling process itself as well as the contributions made by investiga tors who employ the techniques and ideas of control theory, systems analysis, dif ferential equations, and stochastic processes. Some of these contributions have quite naturally involved application of optimal control theory. But in my opinion many of the interesting efforts being made in modeling in the biomedical sciences encompass much more than the use of control theory.
Estimation Techniques for Distributed Parameter Systems (Systems & Control: Foundations & Applications)
by H.T. Banks K. KunischThe research detailed in this monograph was originally motivated by our interest in control problems involving partial and delay differential equations. Our attempts to apply control theory techniques to such prob lems in several areas of science convinced us that in the need for better and more detailed models of distributed/ continuum processes in biology and mechanics lay a rich, interesting, and challenging class of fundamen tal questions. These questions, which involve science and mathematics, are typical of those arising in inverse or parameter estimation problems. Our efforts on inverse problems for distributed parameter systems, which are infinite dimensional in the most common realizations, began about seven years ago at a time when rapid advances in computing capabilities and availability held promise for significant progress in the development of a practically useful as well as theoretically sound methodology for such problems. Much of the research reported in our presentation was not begun when we outlined the plans for this monograph some years ago. By publishing this monograph now, when only a part of the originally intended topics are covered (see Chapter VII in this respect), we hope to stimulate the research and interest of others in an area of scientific en deavor which has exceeded even our optimistic expectations with respect to excitement, opportunity, and stimulation. The computer revolution alluded to above and the development of new codes allow one to solve rather routinely certain estimation problems that would have been out of the question ten years ago.
The Bridge
by Iain BanksThe man who wakes up in the extraordinary world of a bridge has amnesia, and his doctor doesn't seem to want to cure him.Does it matter?Exploring the bridge occupies most of his days. But at night there are his dreams... Dreams in which desperate men drive sealed carriages across barren mountains to a bizarre rendezvous; an illiterate barbarian storms an enchanted tower under a stream of verbal abuse; and broken men walk forever over bridges without end, taunted by visions of a doomed sexuality.Lying in bed unconscious after an accident wouldn't be much fun, you'd think. Oh yes? It depends who and what you've left behind.Which is the stranger reality, day or night? Frequently hilarious and consistently disturbing, THE BRIDGE is a novel of outrageous contrasts, constructed chaos and elegant absurdities.Why customers are loving The Bridge:"Banks' Wasp Factory is frequently called 'One of the 20th century's 100 greatest novels'. It pales in comparison to The Bridge!" - Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars"Mindblowing! This is the first Iain Banks novel I have read and needless to say I'll be back for more." - Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars
The Business
by Iain BanksKate Telman is a senior executive officer in The Business, a powerful and massively discreet transglobal organisation. Financially transparent, internally democratic and disavowing conventional familial inheritance, the character of The Business seems, even to Kate, to be vague to the point of invisibility. It possesses, allegedly, a book of Leonardo cartoons, several sets of Crown Jewels and wants to buy its own State in order to acquire a seat at the United Nations.Kate's job is to keep abreast of current technological developments and her global reach encompasses Silicon Valley, a ranch in Nebraska, the firm's secretive Swiss headquarters, and a remote Himalayan principality. In the course of her journey Kate must peel away layers of emotional insulation and the assumptions of a lifetime. She must learn to keep her world at arm's length. To take control, she has to do The Business.
Canal Dreams
by Iain BanksHisako Onoda, world famous cellist, refuses to fly. And so she travels to Europe as a passenger on a tanker bound through the Panama Canal. But Panama is a country whose politics are as volatile as the local freedom fighters. When Hisako's ship is captured, it is not long before the atmosphere is as flammable as an oxy-acetylene torch, and the tension as sharp as the spike on her cello...CANAL DREAMS is a novel of deceptive simplicity and dark, original power: stark psychological insights mesh with vividly realised scenarios in an ominous projection of global realpolitik. The result is yet another major landmark in the quite remarkable career of an outstanding modern novelist.
Complicity: 'A very good thriller' (Glasgow Herald)
by Iain BanksThe twenty-fifth anniversary edition of a modern classic: 'ingenious, daring and brilliant' - GuardianCOMPLICITYn. 1. the fact of being an accomplice, esp. in a criminal actA few spliffs, a spot of mild S&M, phone through the copy for tomorrow's front page, catch up with the latest from your mystery source - could be big, could be very big - in fact, just a regular day at the office for free-wheeling, substance-abusing Cameron Colley, a fully paid-up Gonzo hack on an Edinburgh newspaper.The source is pretty thin, but Cameron senses a scoop and checks out a series of bizarre deaths from a few years ago - only to find that the police are checking out a series of bizarre deaths that are happening right now. And Cameron just might know more about it than he'd care to admit ...Involvement; connection; liability - Complicity is a stunting exploration of the morality of greed, corruption and violence, venturing fearlessly into the darker recesses of human purpose.
The Crow Road: 'One of the best opening lines of any novel' (Guardian)
by Iain Banks'His masterpiece' Jay Rayner'One of the best opening lines of any novel... a warm, witty and ultimately very poignant book' GuardianAn outstanding contemporary novel, about which readers say:'Banks' masterpiece''Iain Banks at his best''Read this immediately''A story full of wonderful characters''It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.'Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances...
Dead Air (Isis Cassettes Ser.)
by Iain BanksIain Banks' daring new novel opens in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be knocked down in a few days. Ken Nott is a devoutly contrarian vaguely left wing radio shock-jock living in London. After a wedding breakfast people start dropping fruits from a balcony on to a deserted carpark ten storeys below, then they start dropping other things; an old TV that doesn't work, a blown loudspeaker, beanbags, other unwanted furniture...Then they get carried away and start dropping things that are still working, while wrecking the rest of the apartment. But mobile phones start ringing and they're told to turn on a TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Centre...At ease with the volatility of modernity, Iain Banks is also our most accomplished literary writer of narrative-driven adventure stories that never ignore the injustices and moral conundrums of the real world. His new novel, displays his trademark dark wit, buoyancy and momentum.
Espedair Street
by Iain BanksDaniel Weir used to be a famous - not to say infamous - rock star. Maybe still is. At thirty-one he has been both a brilliant failure and a dull success. He's made a lot of mistakes that have paid off and a lot of smart moves he'll regret forever (however long that turns out to be). Daniel Weir has gone from rags to riches and back, and managed to hold onto them both, though not much else. His friends all seem to be dead, fed up with him or just disgusted - and who can blame them? And now Daniel Weir is all alone. As he contemplates his life, Daniel realises he only has two problems: the past and the future. He knows how bad the past has been. But the future - well, the future is something else.
The Quarry
by Iain BanksKit doesn't know who his mother is. What he does know, however, is that his father, Guy, is dying of cancer. Feeling his death is imminent, Guy gathers around him his oldest friends - or at least the friends with the most to lose by his death. Paul - the rising star in the Labour party who dreads the day a tape they all made at university might come to light; Alison and Robbie, corporate bunnies whose relationship is daily more fractious; Pris and Haze, once an item, now estranged, and finally Hol - friend, mentor, former lover and the only one who seemed to care. But what will happen to Kit when Guy is gone? And why isn't Kit's mother in the picture? As the friends reunite for Guy's last days, old jealousies, affairs and lies come to light as Kit watches on.
Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram
by Iain BanksA fascinating journey through Scotland's famous distilleries with legendary author Iain Banks No true Scotsman can resist the allure of the nation's whisky distilleries. In an absorbing voyage as interesting to non-drinkers as to true whisky connoisseurs, sci-fi and literary author Iain Banks explores the rich heritage of Scottish whisky, from the largest and most famous distilleries to the smallest, most obscure operations.Whisky is more than a drink: it's a culture, a binder that joins together people, places and products far across Scotland's rugged terrain. Switching from cars to ferries to bicycles, Banks crisscrosses his homeland, weaving an engrossing narrative from the strange people, fascinating traditions, and downright bizarre places he encounters on his journey down Scotland's great golden road.
A Song Of Stone: A Novel (Cult Listening Ser.)
by Iain BanksThe war is ending, perhaps ended. For the castle and its occupants the troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam a lawless land where each farm and house supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees, anonymous in their raggedness, seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. However, the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas and the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire, deceit and death. Iain Banks' masterly novel reveals his unique ability to combine gripping narrative with a relentlessly voyaging imagination. The narrative technique and sheer brio of A SONG OF STONE reveal a great novelist at the height of his powers.
The Steep Approach To Garbadale
by Iain BanksDark family secrets and a long-lost love affair lie at the heart of Iain Banks's fabulous new novel. The Wopuld family built its fortune on a board game called Empire! - now a hugely successful computer game. So successful, the American Spraint Corp wants to buy the firm out. Young renegade Alban, who has been evading the family clutches for years, is run to ground and persuded to attend the forthcoming family gathering - part birthday party, part Extraordinary General Meeting - convened by Win, Wopuld matriarch and most powerful member of the board, at Garbadale, the family's highland castle. Being drawn back into the bosom of the clan brings a disconcerting confrontation with Alban's past. What drove his mother to take her own life? And is he ready to see Sophie, his beautiful cousin and teenage love? Grandmother Win's revelations wll radically alter Alban's perspective for ever.
Stonemouth: A Novel
by Iain BanksStewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth. After five years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of patriarch Joe Murston, and even though the last time Stu saw the Murstons he was running for his life, staying away might be even more dangerous than turning up.An estuary town north of Aberdeen, Stonemouth, with it's five mile beach, can be beautiful on a sunny day. On a bleak one it can seem to offer little more than seafog, gangsters, cheap drugs and a suspension bridge irresistible to suicides. And although there's supposed to be a temporary truce between Stewart and the town's biggest crime family, it's soon clear that only Stewart is taking this promise of peace seriously. Before long Stu steps back into the minefield of his past to confront his guilt and all that it has lost him, uncovering ever darker stories. Soon his homecoming takes a more lethal turn than even he had anticipated.Tough, funny, fast-paced and touching, Stonemouth cracks open adolescence, love, brotherhood and vengeance in a rite of passage novel like no other.
Transition (Culture Ser.)
by Iain BanksA world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organisation with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?On the Concern's books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher. And then there's the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward. As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable universe is set on a dizzying course.
Walking On Glass
by Iain BanksHer eyes were black, wide as though with some sustained surprise, the skin from their outer corners to her small ears taut. Her lips were pale, and nearly too full for her small mouth, like something bled but bruised. He had never seen anyone or anything quite so beautiful in his life.'Graham Park is in love. But Sara Fitch is an enigma to him, a creature of almost perverse mystery. Steven Grout is paranoid - and with justice. He knows that They are out to get him. They are. Quiss, insecure in his fabulous if ramshackle castle, is forced to play interminable impossible games. The solution to the oldest of all paradoxical riddles will release him. But he must find an answer before he knows the question.Park, Grout, Quiss - no trio could be further apart. But their separate courses are set for collision.
The Wasp Factory: The stunning and controversial literary debut novel
by Iain BanksNamed 'one of the top 100 novels of the century' by the Independent, The Wasp Factory is a bizarre, imaginative, disturbing and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath Frank is no ordinary sixteen-year-old. He lives with his father outside a remote Scottish village. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes of Eric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground for his brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.Iain Banks' celebrated first novel is a 'gothic horror story of quite exceptional quality...macabre, bizarre and...quite impossible to put down' (Financial Times) Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least.'Brilliant...irresistible...compelling' -New York Times'One of the most brilliant first novels I have come across' -Telegraph