Why do I need to login to access activities?

Logging in helps us to see the popularity of different activities and parts of the website, and together with feedback helps us improve our service. Simply enter your email address and password to login.

I'm intrigued by the name upd8; what are its origins?

upd8 stands for update, in youth text messaging language. upd8 aims to provide up short and easy to use classroom activities based on up to the minute science in the news and popular culture - keeping you and your pupils up to date...

I'm new to upd8 - can you tell me why teachers use upd8?

Feedback from teachers indicates that their pupils find the topicality of upd8 activities - especially those based on popular culture - motivating. And they get pupils talking about science, helping to develop important discussion and argumentation skills about the nature of science. Teachers find the activities inspiring, easy to use and helpful to keep up to date with breaking science.

Which pupils are upd8 activities designed for?

The activities are designed to complement the curriculum at KS2, particularly for pupils in years 3 to 6. Pilot activities have been used successfully by teachers working with pupils across the ability and ‘interest in science' range.
We have recently also started to introduce KS1 activities.

I'm a busy teacher - how can I use upd8 activities with minimal effort?

Once you have signed up with upd8, you'll receive regular email alerts - usually once a week during term time - giving you brief details of new activities and links to download them directly from the Primary upd8 website.

Brief teachers' notes, providing links to the curriculum, learning objectives, background information and details on how to run the activity, accompany each activity.

The colourful activity sheets are best displayed through a data projector - particularly the first sheet as a stimulus; and the pupil worksheets can then be printed off and photocopied. Some activities are specifically designed to work through an interactive whiteboard.

Its not always so easy to fit upd8 activities into what I'm teaching at any particular time - how can I find the activities I'm interested in again when I am ready to use them?

You can easily find activities through ‘Finder'. They are categorised by Topics, 5-7 and 7-11 curriculum area, Science Enquiry, Tricky Concepts and Hot Topics. The newest activities and most popular ones, as rated by teachers, are clearly marked.

What is the copyright position with upd8?

Copyright rests jointly with the Association for Science Education (ASE) and the Centre for Science Education, Sheffield Hallam University (CSE). Teachers and others who have signed up may download and use UPD8 materials freely within their school, but any other usage, or any other organisation wishing to use the materials, should consult with the joint 'owners' of the material (ASE and CSE), through janehanrott@ase.org.uk

I like upd8 but have some ideas for improvements - how can I share them?

We are always looking for feedback so we can improve the service. You can email Tony Sherborne or Marianne Cutler through the Contact page or review any upd8 activities through the website. We particularly like to see how teachers use activities in different ways.

I'm interested in creating some of my own upd8 style activities - is there any help at hand?

We're delighted that some teachers want to have a go and are running our upd8 Live! course with this in mind through the Science Learning Centres. For further details please see the upd8 Live! section of the website.

Help! I have logged into upd8 and have tried to download an activity but when I try I have been asked to login again.

In order for upd8 to remember that you have logged in it must store a key on your computer to identify you. If your privacy settings in your web browser are set to high then upd8 can not store the key and will not remember that you have already logged in. To correct the problem in Internet Explorer select Internet Options from the tools menu, select the Privacy tab and then move the slider down to medium. Please note that UPD8 does not store any personal data on your computer.

Love the new site but the text is hard to read, is then any chance of making it bigger?

The upd8 website has been designed to conform to the latest website accessibility standards. One of the benefits of this is that it is possible to increase the size of the text within the site without disrupting how the site functions. To increase the text size in internet explorer go to the view menu and select a text size from the text size sub-menu.

How do I make my subscription payment to Primary upd8?

In your personal School Admin area there is a link under Billing History so you can download a pre-printed invoice and send with payment to ASE within 30 days of subscribing to Primary upd8. The address details are on the invoice.

I see some upd8 activities are marked up as Tricky Concepts. What does this mean?

Primary teachers have told us that there are several topics within science which they find difficult to teach - often because the concepts are difficult to understand. They also feel that their pupils find these topics rather dull and boring. We have tried to create activities which make these topics easier to understand whilst being fun to work with as they are set within contexts which appeal to young children.

These activities can be found under Tricky Concepts http://www.primaryupd8.org.uk/activity-finder.php?pid=4 under the headings of Electricity, Rocks and Soils, Light and Sound, Forces, Material Properties, plus Solids, Liquids and Gases.

I have not received my activation email. How do I login?

Activation emails are used to verify email addresses. You should receive your first activation email shortly after you signup. If there is a delay check that the email has not been placed in you spam, bulk or junk folders. If you are still having problems try logging into Primary upd8 and you will be given the option to resend the activation email.

You should receive your second, final activation email once your account is approved by Primary upd8, during term time and normal working hours.

Why do I have problems downloading activities using Internet Explorer?

First check that you're logged on. Then, are you using Windows 98? Some users have reported problems. You might try using a different browser instead, such as Firefox: www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

If you're using Windows 2000 or Windows XP and you still can't download, please email us describing your problem, on the 'contact' page

Why is my upd8 Newsletter is coming through as plain text, being marked as spam, or going missing?

In keeping with the rich format of the upd8 site, the newsletter makes use of HTML formatting and graphics. Because of this, some email filters will erroneously mark it as spam, and either strip out the graphical content, or not deliver the message at all.

In order to receive the upd8 Newsletter, you should ask your Internet Service Provider, system administrator or IT department to add upd8.org.uk to your email "white-list", which should guarantee it is delivered correctly.

Why does Primary upd8 cost?

We aim to make the service commercially sustainable, so we can support primary teachers with the highest quality resources, and a continual stream of fresh ideas to make science engaging.

We have been unable to secure the necessary funding to make Primary upd8 a free service.

I see some activities are marked up as Hot Topics. What does this mean?

Primary teachers, and their pupils, have told us that pupils are always interested in Film/TV, Health, Animals and Space so we try to create regular activities to fit these areas of interest which are based around the latest science in the news.

You can find the Hot Topics activities here by clicking here http://www.primaryupd8.org.uk/activity-finder.php?pid=5