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reflection of develpoment in my thinking

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Reflection on the Development of my Thinking

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Reflection on the Development of my Thinking

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Explanation of Utility of Classes/Students Resources

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Explanation of Utility of Classes/Students Resources

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Explanation of Utility of Resources for Classes

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Explanation of Utility of Teacher Resources

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Explanation of Utility of Teacher Resources

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Explanation of Utility of Resources for Teacher

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Explanation of Use of Chosen Peer Reviewed Papers

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Explanation of Links to Other Learning Outcomes

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Science Collaborative Planning Documentfor johns assignment

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Being Creative (BC)
Being Numerate (BN)
Being Literate (BL)
Working With Others (WWO)
Managing Information and Thinking (MI&T)
Communicating (C)

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Explanation of Links to Junior Cycle Key Skills

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This workshop examines how to support students to develop critical thinking skills through on-line research.

Gráinne Dennison is a post-primary teacher on secondment to the PDST, since 2011, from Desmond College, Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick. She has taught Home Economics, Religion, CSPE and SPHE and ensured inclusive teaching and learning through the provision of learning support. As an advisor with the PDST, Gráinne supports schools in focusing on the improvement of teaching and learning across the curriculum, through literacy, school self-evaluation, DEIS and JCSP programme supports.

Denise O'Flanagan is on secondment from Firhouse Community College, Tallaght where she taught Maths, English and Drama and co-ordinated the JCSP. She has had a long-term interest in student access to curriculum supported by whole-school approaches to literacy and numeracy development and Assessment for Learning. Denise is currently engaged in an M. Sc. in Digital Education. As an advisor with the PDST, Denise supports schools in numeracy and literacy planning, implementing cross-curricular initiatives in literacy, numeracy and across the arts and to integrate digital literacy skills into teaching and learning.

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PDST LITERACY CONFERENCE 2015 - UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO LEARNING

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This workshop examines how to support students to develop critical thinking skills through on-line research. Gráinne Dennison is a post-primary teacher on secondment to the PDST, since 2011, from Desmond College, Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick. She has taught Home Economics, Religion, CSPE and SPHE and ensured inclusive teaching and learning through the provision of learning support.

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NCCA Home " " " "

One of the aims of this specification is to help students to develop their scientific literacy. The PISA 2015 Draft Science Framework includes the following definition for scientific literacy:

Scientific literacy is the ability to engage with science-related issues, and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen.

A scientifically-literate person is described as someone who is willing to engage in reasoned discourse about science and technology. This requires them to be able to explain phenomena scientifically, evaluate and design scientific inquiry, and interpret data and evidence scientifically.

Explain phenomena scientifically

Students will recall and apply appropriate scientific knowledge to identify, use and generate explanatory models.

Understand scientific inquiry

Students will distinguish questions that are possible to investigate scientifically; propose a way of exploring a given question scientifically; pose testable hypotheses and evaluate and compare strategies for investigating hypotheses.

Interpret scientific evidence

Students will engage critically in a balanced review of scientific texts. Through this they will learn to identify the assumptions, evidence and reasoning in science-related texts, and distinguish between arguments which are based on scientific evidence and theory, and those which are not.

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NCCA Home " " " " One of the aims of this specification is to help students to develop their scientific literacy. The PISA 2015 Draft Science Framework includes the following definition for scientific literacy: Scientific literacy is the ability to engage with science-related issues, and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen.

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To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend that you upgrade to a newer version or other web browser.
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What you need...

To register for a Scoilnet Account you will need to have a Teaching Council number and a roll number for your school in Ireland.

If you already have a Scoilnet Account then you can sign in here.

The benefits...

A Scoilnet account will allow you to upload your resources or weblinks to Scoilnet as well as enabling you to share and add resources to a favourites listing. Users who have a Scoilnet Account will also be able to fully access Scoilnet Maps and Census@School from home.

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To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend that you upgrade to a newer version or other web browser. Upgrade your browser now To register for a Scoilnet Account you will need to have a Teaching Council number and a roll number for your school in Ireland.

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NCCA Home " " " "

This specification allows teachers to employ a variety of teaching strategies depending on the targeted learning outcomes, the needs of their students, and their personal preferences.

The importance of the processes of science as well as knowledge and understanding of concepts are reflected throughout the learning outcomes, which describe the understanding, skills and values that students should be able to demonstrate at the end of junior cycle. It is envisaged that opportunities for student-led inquiry, with appropriate levels of scaffolding, will be provided within each year. In this way students may pursue the outcomes of the Nature of science strand through the content and skills identified in the contextual strands. It is recognised that the skills, knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts as set out in the learning outcomes take time to develop and often need to be carefully revisited and reinforced. Any one activity would seldom require students to develop the full range of skills.

Scientific inquiry

The inquiry-based design emphasises the practical experience of science for each student. It supports the use of a wide range of teaching, learning, and assessment approaches that support different levels of inquiry. Most students will need frequent practice to develop their understanding of scientific processes to use evidence to support explanations and to develop their inquiry skills to a point where they can conduct their own investigations from start to finish. Providing opportunities for students to develop a range of inquiry skills will be necessary to progress along the continuum of inquiry. The levels on the continuum are often categorised as limited inquiry, structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry.

Figure 3: Continuum of inquiry

The first two levels are lower-level inquiries but they can be used to develop students' inquiry skills so that they can engage in scientific inquiry which has less teacher guidance and more student self-direction. Students often engage with these two levels of inquiry before more open forms of inquiry are used; however, this practice merely reflects a common order of adopting inquiry approaches, and extending the range of approaches available to teaching classes; it does not suggest a progression or improvement along the way. Opportunities to apply inquiry skills in increasingly complex learning situations can be included when students have developed confidence and capacity in inquiry processes.

Contemporary issues in science

Increasingly, arguments between scientists are discourses that extend into the public domain. This specification enables teachers to provide opportunities for students to investigate contemporary scientific issues, supporting students to make connections between science, other subjects and everyday experiences. Students will engage with contemporary issues in science that affect everyday life. They will learn, interpret and analyse data-a skill that has a value far beyond science wherever data are used as evidence to support argument. In presenting evidence and findings, they will engage in objectively justifying and discussing conclusions.

Science also develops by people pursuing their individual interests and this specification affords a reasonable degree of flexibility for teachers and students to make their own choices and pursue their interests. For example, aspects from the different contextual strands may be woven together and large pieces of the specification may be organised around themes or 'big ideas' that focus on areas of personal, local, national, and/or global interest. This specification offers many possible routes for an integrated science approach; the most obvious are provided by the crosscutting elements, Energy and Sustainability.

Inquiry and assessment

As well as varied teaching approaches, varied assessment approaches can be designed to support learning and provide information that can be used as feedback, so that teaching and learning activities can be modified to meet individual needs. Through engaging tasks, asking higher-order questions, and giving feedback that promotes student autonomy, assessment can support learning as well as summarising achievement.

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NCCA Home " " " " This specification allows teachers to employ a variety of teaching strategies depending on the targeted learning outcomes, the needs of their students, and their personal preferences.

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SI units are extremely important in the study of science. Without them, a number is just a number without any meaning. The Système international d'unités (SI system) is a standard that simplifies international scientific communication. This system comprises seven base quantities and 16 prefixes that designate amounts.

SI Units and Prefixes

These reference tables show the different bases and prefixes used to designate metric units with the SI system.

These base SI units can be combined with any of the prefixes to create units that are most appropriate for what is being measured. For example, you wouldn't measure the distance from LA to New York in meters, the base unit. Instead, you would use kilometers or even megameters. The different base units can also be combined to form what are called derived units. For example, speed can be measured in meters per second, or in kilometers per nanosecond. The combinations are endless.

Scientific Notation

Also note that the SI system uses a lot of scientific notation. This makes it easier to write the numbers without many zeros or decimal places. For instance, if we were to write all the digits, 1 micrometer would be equal to 0.000001 meters. Clearly, it can be challenging to keep track of all those zeros, so scientists like to simplify things as much as possible. If you are a bit rusty with your scientific notation skills, be sure to brush up on them before you try the practice problems below.As a light refresher, remember that the power on the ten refers to the number of decimal places that the decimal point has to move. If the power is positive, move to the right, adding zeros to the number. If the power is negative, move to the left, adding decimal places.

Converting SI Units

Converting between the different SI system prefixes is an essential science skill that requires practice. Memorizing the different prefixes and their meanings makes it a lot easier to do these conversions, so try to memorize as many as you can. Of course, you can always refer back to the tables above.

Conversion Example

Here is an example of a one-step conversion between the SI system prefixes. Let's try converting 955 kilograms to megagrams. We will need two pieces of information from the table above. Kilogram refers to 10 3 grams, while megagram refers to 10 6 grams. Using these two pieces of information, we can set up a dimensional analysis conversion.

955\text {kg}\times \dfrac { { 10 }^{ 3 } }{ 1\text{ kg} } \times \dfrac { 1\text{ Mg} }{ { 10 }^{ 6 } } =0.995\text{ Mg}

Another way to approach these problems is to ask, "How many kilograms fit inside 1 megagram?" To answer this, look at the meaning of the two units: 1 kilogram is 10 3 grams, while 1 megagram is 10 6 grams. If we divide megagrams by kilograms, we see that there are 1000 kilograms in 1 megagram. So, we can set up a different factor to solve the conversion:

955\text{ kg}\times \dfrac { 1\text{ Mg} }{ 1000\text{ kg} } =0.995\text{ Mg}

Both methods result in the same answer, but the second method is more straightforward and yields an easier calculation. Use whichever method you are most comfortable with, but try to use the second method for at least a few of the problems.

To check your work, look at the prefix conversion table. As we move up the table, our numbers should be smaller, and as we move down the table, our numbers should be larger. Take the previous problem as an example. The prefix "mega" is above "kilo", so the number associated with mega, 0.955, was smaller than the number associated with kilo, 955. Larger prefix units always correlate with smaller actual numbers.

SI Units Practice Problems

Try completing these basic SI system conversions. Once you have attempted every problem, view the detailed solutions below. Good luck!

1. 1000 meters to decimeters

2. 0.206 kilopascals to pascals

3. 180 milliliters to liters

4. 0.796 grams to nanograms

5. 1.65 gigaliters to megaliters

6. 96.4 microliters to liters

7. 2.29 milliseconds to nanoseconds

8. 185 femtometers to millimeters

9. 9.8 megagrams to centigrams

10. 17.3 centimeters to kilometers

1. 1000 meters to decimeters

First, we must know how many meters are in 1 decimeter.

\dfrac { \text{decimeter} }{ \text{meter} } =\dfrac { { 10 }^{ -1 } }{ 1 } =\text{0.1 \text{ meters per decimeter}}

1000 \text{ meters}\times \dfrac { 1\text{ decimeter} }{ 0.1\text{ meters} } =10000\text{ decimeters}={ 10 }^{ 4 }\text{ decimeters}

2. 0.206 kilopascals to pascals

Looking at the conversion table, we can see that there are 10 3 pascals (base unit) in one kilopascal.

0.206 \text{ kilopascals}\times \dfrac { 1000\text{ pascals} }{ 1\text{ kilopascal} } =206\text{ pascals}

3. 180 milliliters to liters

Milli refers to 10⁻³ so there are 1000 milliliters in one liter.

180 \text{ mL}\times \dfrac { 1\text{ liter} }{ 1000\text{ mL} } =0.18\text{ liter}

4. 0.796 grams to nanograms

Nanograms refer to 10-9 grams, so there are 100,000,000 nanograms in one gram.

0.796\text{ gram}\times \dfrac { 1\text{ gram} }{ { 10 }^{ -9 }\text{ nanograms} } =796000000\text{ nanograms}={ 7.96\times 10 }^{ -8 }\text{ nanograms}

This problem brings up a particularly interesting property of SI unit conversions. As we look at the table of conversions, notice that all the conversion factors are in scientific notation. That is, they are in the form 10 x. So, yet another way to solve these problems is to just consider how many places the decimal point has to move over to successfully complete the conversion. 7.98 x 10⁻⁸ is the same as 0.796 x 10⁻⁹, just with an adjustment to comply with standard scientific notation. Also notice that nanograms refers to 10⁻⁹. So, for the following problems, the solution will be given using this shortcut method.

5. 1.65 gigaliters to megaliters

"Giga" refers to 10 ⁹ while "mega" refers to 10 ⁶, so the difference between these values is 10 ³. Remember, the exponent must be positive, because as we convert downwards on the conversion table, the numbers must get larger.

1.65\text{ gigaliters}={ 1.65\times 10 }^{ 3 }\text{ megaliters}=1650\text{ megaliters}

6. 96.4 microliters to liters

"Micro" refers to 10⁻⁶, and liters are the base unit. We need the number to get smaller because we are moving up the table, so we can keep the negative exponent.

96.4\text{ microliters}={ 96.4\times 10 }^{ -6 }\text{ liters}={ 9.64\times 10 }^{ -5 }\text{ liters}

7. 2.29 milliseconds to nanoseconds

"Milli" refers to 10⁻³, while "nano" refers to 10⁻⁹. The difference between these is 10 ⁶, and since we are going down the table, the exponent should be positive.

2.29\text{ milliseconds}={ 2.29\times 10 }^{ 6 }\text{ nanoseconds}

8. 185 femtometers to millimeters

Femto is equivalent to 10⁻¹⁵, and milli, as noted in the problem above, is equivalent to 10⁻³. Thus, since we are going up the table, the difference here is 10⁻¹².

185\text{ femtometers}={ 185\times 10 }^{ -12 }\text{ millimeters}={ 1.85\times 10 }^{ -10 }\text{ millimeters}

9. 9.8 megagrams to centigrams

"Mega" refers to 10 ⁶ and "centi" refers to 10⁻². Therefore, the difference is 10 ⁸, which is positive since we are going down the table.

9.8\text{ megagrams}={ 9.8\times 10 }^{ 8 }\text{ centigrams}

10. 17.3 centimeters to kilometers

"Centi" refers to 10⁻² and "kilo" refers to 10 ³. Therefore, the difference is 10⁻⁵, negative because we are moving up the conversion table.

17.3\text{ centimeters}={ 17.3\times 10 }^{ -5 }\text{ kilometers}={ 1.73\times 10 }^{ -4 }\text{ kilometers}

If you got at least half of those, you are doing a great job! With a bit more practice and you will be converting SI units with ease.

Conclusion

By this point, you will have hopefully learned how to quickly and easily convert between the various SI units. If not, remember that practice makes perfect. Keep trying, and soon it will seem simple. Remember two key points: It is beneficial to memorize the table of prefixes, and the best way to approach the problems is to ask, "How many of the first unit are in one of the second unit?" You can use that information to set up a dimensional analysis problem that will get you to your answer quickly.

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The Ultimate Guide to SI Units and Unit Conversions | Albert.io

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A comprehensive guide to SI units, prefixes, and one-step conversions, including guided basic SI system conversions practice problems.

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NSAI's Medical Devices Team, Dublin

NSAI's Medical Devices Team, Galway
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has been approved for designation to the new Medical Device Regulations (MDR). This hugely significant achievement makes NSAI only the 11th notified body in the world to be designated to the new medical device regulation.
In May 2017 two new EU Regulations, Regulation (EU) 745/2017 on medical devices and Regulation (EU) 746/2017 on in-vitro diagnostics, entered into force. Both regulations significantly increased the requirements to be met by notified bodies under the new Regulations.

The EU's Medical Device Regulation strengthens the safety and testing requirements for device manufacturers. It affects existing devices, which need to be re-certified, and new devices coming to the market.

The Medical Devices team at NSAI spent over two and a half years working towards attaining the designation, which will enable the organisation to ensure continued access to the European medical devices market for certified clients.

This new MDR was published on 5 May 2017 and manufacturers will need to start complying with it as and from the 26 May 2020 in order to continue to place medical devices on the market within the European Economic Area.

To date, only ten notified bodies in the world have been awarded designation to the MDR. NSAI now begins the new decade as the 11th notified body to be designated.

NSAI Head of Medical Devices, Dr Caroline Dore Geraghty says achieving designation to the MDR is a proud moment for both her and her team.

"The impact of NSAI Medical Devices being designated to the regulation means that Ireland has an indigenous notified body to assess and certify medical device quality management systems and medical device products for placement on the European market. The current medical device and active implantable directives cease on the 26th May 2020, so it was imperative for NSAI to get designated to the regulation which succeeds the directives."

NSAI Chief Executive Geraldine Larkin says achieving this special status is a red-letter day for the organisation.

"This designation helps us to continue to grow NSAI's position on the national and international stage as a leading provider of certification services. NSAI hopes to expand our Irish footprint by helping Irish SME's, while also supporting a globally established industry."

NSAI is the only Irish notified body in the medical technology space. This represents a massive opportunity for the organisation, as Ireland is widely recognised as a centre for excellence and a hub for medical technology companies. 9 of the world's top 10 medical technology companies have a base in Ireland and 60 percent of the 450 MedTech companies based here are indigenous. The sector employs more than 38 thousand people nationwide with annual exports of 12.6 billion euro.

The scope of the designation mirrors the current designation under the directive, so continuity of service can be guaranteed to existing clients, while new clients can apply for certification under the regulation.

Contact
NSAI's PR Account Manager, Deirdre Farrelly: 086 8690774 Email: deirdre.farrelly@nsai.ie

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NSAI achieves designation to Medical Device Regulation

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NSAI's Medical Devices Team, Dublin NSAI's Medical Devices Team, Galway The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has been approved for designation to the new Medical Device Regulations (MDR). This hugely significant achievement makes NSAI only the 11th notified body in the world to be designated to the new medical device regulation.

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A short video on how to use and read a vernier caliper. If you have further questions, please ask us on our forum at http://demos.smu.ca/index.php/forum/index

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Even when things go according to plan, applied science is rarely cheap and always complicated-and when things go badly, the smallest mistake can end up costing millions or billions of dollars, and even, sometimes, human lives. Here are six reminders of why it's always good to double-check your work, especially when dealing with spaceflight.
(Note: Numbers are not adjusted for inflation.)
The Crash of NASA's Genesis Probe

The mistake: A pair of parts was installed backwards.

Estimated cost: Over $260 million

What happened: Genesis was a NASA probe meant to bring back space material from beyond Earth's moon. But its September 2004 landing, three years after takeoff, didn't go all that smoothly. The probe, carrying samples of solar wind to return to Earth for analysis, crashed in Utah; the resulting tumble to Earth contaminated many of the probe's precious samples, though some were recovered. A NASA report released in 2009 said that Lockheed Martin workers had inverted the position of the probe's accelerometers; the craft never knew it was decelerating into the Earth's atmosphere, and therefore never deployed its parachute.
Image credit: Wikipedia CC/Bricktop
The Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger

The mistake: An "O-ring" gasket failed in unexpectedly cold weather.

Estimated cost: $5.5 billion
Image credit: Getty/Lawrence Lawry
What happened: On January 28, 1986, NASA and the world watched in horror as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, just 73 seconds into its flight. The entire crew-Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik-perished. The problem, NASA eventually discovered, lay in Challenger's O-rings, components in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters that can normally withstand tens of thousands of pounds per square inch of pressure. However, these O-rings weren't designed to operate at low temperatures, and the morning of the Challenger launch was unusually cold. The O-ring seal failed at launch, was quickly resealed by aluminum oxides coming from the rocket, and was torn apart seconds later by strong winds, resulting in the explosion.

The Y2K Fiasco

The mistake: Twentieth century programmers allotted just two digits to register years, failing to anticipate the turn of the century.
Image credit: NASA
Estimated cost: $308 billion

What happened: Also known as the Millenium Bug, the Y2K problem was the result of early computer programmers deciding to use two-digit years for data instead of four digits-making data systems unable to distinguish the year 1900 from 2000. As the year '00' approached, press reports hyped up the prospect of worldwide doom, forecasting ravaged computer systems around the world. Most companies were able to fix the problem before the deadline, except for a few places like the U.S. Naval Observatory, where the clock temporarily displayed the incorrect date. But these preventative fixes, across all the world's computer systems, was costly: In November 1999, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the total cost of remediation in the U.S. was around $100 billion; by 2006, that number had risen another $34 billion. Worldwide, the cost is believed to be around $308 billion.

The Mars Climate Orbiter Is Lost
The galaxy M100, snapped by Hubble before (left) and after (right) its first servicing. Image credit: NASA
The mistake: Some engineers used feet; others used meters.

Estimated cost: $125 million

What happened: The Mars Climate Orbiter was a satellite meant to collect data on Mars for two Earth years (about one Martian year) and act as a relay station for data from the Mars Polar Lander. Launched in December 1998, the Orbiter was set to arrive at the Red Planet later the next year. But on September 23, 1999, NASA announced the orbiter was lost. An investigation revealed the loss was due to confusion in mathematical units: While one team working on the spacecraft had used standard U.S. measurements, like feet, the other team had used the metric system. "The problem here was not the error, it was the failure of NASA's systems engineering, and the checks and balances in our processes, to detect the error. That's why we lost the spacecraft," Dr. Edward Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science said in a statement at the time.

Hubble's Vision Issue

The mistake: The Hubble telescope's main mirror was ground down just 2 microns (one-fiftieth the thickness of a human hair) too far, resulting in blurry vision.

Estimated cost: $1.5 billion for a trip to space to repair it (estimated cost of one Space Shuttle launch)

What happened: Soon after the Hubble Space Telescope settled into orbit in 1990, scientists were distressed to find that the images it was sending back were of much lower quality than expected. Turns out the telescope's primary mirror had been ground down just a little too far-towards its edge, the mirror was too flat by just 2 microns-causing light reflecting off the edge of Hubble's mirror to focus at a different point from light bouncing off closer to the center. In 1993, a repair crew took a shuttle flight up to install what basically amounted to eyeglasses for Hubble's unfocused gaze: two mirrors specially designed to correct the aberration caused by the flaw, as well as other correction devices for other components.

Ariane 5 Rocket Self-Destructs
Featured image credit: NASA
The mistake: An old piece of software code couldn't store an unexpectedly large integer, triggering a self-destruct.

Estimated cost: $370-500 million

What happened: The European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket was designed to vault Europe to the head of space exploration and industry, though its guidance system was running some of the same computer code as its older and slower sibling, Ariane 4. At 36.7 seconds into the launch, the guidance computer routinely attempted to convert the sideways velocity of the rocket from a 64-bit "floating point" format to 16-bit "signed integer" format. But in this case-with Ariane 5's faster rocket-the velocity conversion generated a number that was too big to be represented by a 16-bit signed integer (which can only store values up to 32,767.) The nozzles of two solid rocket boosters and an engine suddenly swung out of position, nearly detaching the boosters from the body of the rocket, triggering a self-destruct mechanism; the rocket disintegrated 39 seconds into its maiden flight, destroying several extremely expensive satellites.

Ordinarily, "when a program converts data from one form to another, the conversions are protected by extra lines of code that watch for errors and recover gracefully," science historian James Gleick wrote in the New York Times. "Indeed, many of the data conversions in the guidance system's programming included such protection. But in this case, the programmers had decided that this particular velocity figure would never be large enough to cause trouble. After all, it never had been before. Unluckily, Ariane 5 was a faster rocket than Ariane 4."

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Six Tiny Scientific Mistakes That Created Huge Disasters | World Science Festival

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Even when things go according to plan, applied science is rarely cheap and always complicated-and when things go badly, the smallest mistake can end up costing millions or billions of dollars, and even, sometimes, human lives. Here are six reminders of why it's always good to double-check your work, especially when dealing with spaceflight.

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The discovery by the French state-owned railway company SNCF that 2,000 new trains are too wide for many station platforms is embarrassing, but far from the first time a small mis-measurement or miscalculation has had serious repercussions.

The French fiasco has been blamed by SNCF on the national rail operator RFF. But sometimes there is no-one else to share responsibility. Here are 10 examples where a little error has proved very expensive, or even fatal.

1. The Mars Climate Orbiter

Designed to orbit Mars as the first interplanetary weather satellite, the Mars Orbiter was lost in 1999 because the Nasa team used metric units while a contractor used imperial. The $125m probe came too close to Mars as it tried to manoeuvre into orbit, and is thought to have been destroyed by the planet's atmosphere. An investigation said the "root cause" of the loss was the "failed translation of English units into metric units" in a piece of ground software.

2. The Vasa warship

In 1628, crowds in Sweden watched in horror as a new warship, Vasa, sank less than a mile into her maiden voyage, with the death of 30 people on board. Armed with 64 bronze cannons, it was considered by some to be the most powerful warship in the world. Experts who have studied it since it was raised in 1961 say it is asymmetrical, being thicker on the port side than the starboard side. One reason for this could be that the workmen were using different systems of measurement. Archaeologists have found four rulers used by the workmen who built the ship. Two were calibrated in Swedish feet, which had 12 inches, while the other two measured Amsterdam feet, which had 11 inches.

3. The "Gimli Glider"

In 1983, an Air Canada flight ran out of fuel above Gimli, Manitoba. Canada had switched to the metric system in 1970, and the plane is reported to have been Air Canada's first aircraft to use metric measurements. The plane's on-board fuel gauge was not working, so the crew used measuring "dripsticks" to check how much fuel the plane took on during refuelling. Things went wrong when they converted this measurement of volume into one of weight. They got the number right, but the unit wrong - mistaking pounds of fuel for kilograms. As a result the plane was carrying about half as much fuel as they thought. Luckily, the pilot was able to land the plane safely on the Gimli runway, giving the plane the nickname "Gimli Glider".

4. The Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble telescope is famous for its beautiful space images, and is considered a great success for Nasa. However, it got off to a very rocky start. The first images sent back by the telescope were fuzzy because the telescope's main mirror was too flat. It wasn't out by much - only 2.2 microns, or about 1/50th the thickness of a human hair - but this was enough to put the project in jeopardy. One theory is that a speck of paint on a device used to test the mirror resulted in distorted measurements. Luckily, scientists managed to fix the problem in 1993, using an instrument called the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (Costar). This cancelled out the error in the main mirror, by matching it in reverse.

5. Big Ben

The Big Ben bell at the Houses of Parliament in London cracked during testing in 1857 and was melted down to be recast. But the new bell, winched into position over three days in 1859, also quickly cracked. Disputes raged over who was at fault - there was even a libel case. One theory is that the massive hammer, at 6.5 hundredweight, was too heavy - at least for the particular alloy the bell was made from (seven parts tin to 22 of copper). The foundries which cast the bells had always argued this material was too brittle. The second bell was not replaced (it is still cracked), just rotated by an eighth of a turn. The hammer, however, was replaced by a lighter one.

6. Stonehenge model

In the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, the members of a fictional rock group order a model of a Stonehenge megalith for their stage show - but the note written on a napkin mistakenly asks for a model 18 inches tall, instead of 18 feet. Curiously, and probably coincidentally, the British rock band Black Sabbath had experienced the opposite problem during its Born Again tour in 1983. Its replica of Stonehenge was so big, it got in the way of the band, and very few of the "stones" would fit on the stage. One version of the story says there was a mix-up between metres and feet.

7. The Laufenburg bridge

What is sea level? It varies from one place to another, and different countries use different benchmarks. "For example, Britain has measured height in relation to mean sea levels in Cornwall, while France measures height in relation to sea levels in Marseille," says Dr Philip Woodworth, of the National Oceanography Centre Liverpool. Germany, for its part, measures height in relation to the North Sea, while Switzerland, like France, opts for the Mediterranean Sea. This caused a problem in Laufenburg, a town that straddles Germany and Switzerland. As two halves of a new bridge grew closer to one another in 2003, it became clear that, instead of being at the same height "above sea level", one side was 54cm higher than the other. Builders knew that there was a 27cm difference between the two versions of sea level - but somehow it was doubled, rather than cancelled out. The German side reportedly had to be lowered before the bridge could be completed.

8. Scott's diet

The polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott made a fatal miscalculation about the amount of food his men would need on their 1910-1912 expedition to the South Pole. They were given rations of 4,500 calories per day, which is now known to be insufficient when hauling sledges, and especially at higher altitudes. According to Dr Mike Stroud, a polar veteran and expert in nutrition, the explorers were getting some 3,000 calories per day less than their bodies needed, and would have lost about 25kg of body weight before they reached their destination and started the return journey. Scott and his companions on the trek to the pole are now assumed to have died of starvation.

9. The Sochi biathlon track

The day before the opening of the Sochi Winter Olympics, it was discovered that the biathlon track - which should be a loop of 2.5km (1.6 miles) - was 40m (130ft) short. Competitors in 7.5km events would have covered less than 7.4km, while those in 12.5km events would have done 12.3km. Some hasty repair work ensured the track was the right length for the first event three days later. Lengthening a biathlon track is clearly easier than lengthening a swimming pool. It's often been reported that 50m swimming pools at Crystal Palace in London and Leeds were made a few centimetres too short - sometimes, it's said, because the designers forgot about the thickness of the tiles. These stories, however, appear to be urban myths. A similar report about Portsmouth's Olympic pool in 2011 also turned out to be incorrect.

10. The Millennium Bridge

To mark the new millennium, London got a new footbridge in June 2000, linking the newly opened Tate Modern art gallery, on the south bank of the Thames, with the north bank near St Paul's cathedral. But people noticed that the 350m-long structure wobbled alarmingly as they walked across. One of the difficulties of designing a footbridge is the "synchronised footfall" effect - as the bridge begins to bounce or sway people adjust their footsteps to the rhythm of the bridge's movements, inadvertently magnifying them. In this case, the designers took account of the up-and-down synchronised footfall, but not the side-to-side effect. The following year, work began to install dampers, like car shock absorbers, to reduce the rocking. It was reopened in February 2002.
Reporting by Helier Cheung and Stephen Mulvey Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

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The discovery by the French state-owned railway company SNCF that 2,000 new trains are too wide for many station platforms is embarrassing, but far from the first time a small mis-measurement or miscalculation has had serious repercussions. The French fiasco has been blamed by SNCF on the national rail operator RFF.

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The Framework for Junior Cycle, provides the basis for post-primary schools to plan quality, inclusive and relevant education programmes with improved learning experiences for all students, including those with special educational needs.

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The Wibbly Wobbly Millennium Bridge in London

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Possible Resources for teacher - Measurement

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Possible Resources for teacher - Measurement

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Strand One: The Nature of Science
1. appreciate how scientists work and how scientific ideas are modified over time
3. design, plan and conduct investigations, explain how reliability, accuracy, precision, fairness, safety ethics and the selection of suitable equipment have been considered
4. produce and select data (quantitively/qualitatively), critically analyse data to identify patterns and relationships, identify anomalous observations, draw and justify conclusions
10. appreciate the role of science in society; and the personal, social and global importance; and how society influences global research
Strand Four: Physical world
1. select and use appropriate measuring instruments

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Strand four: Physical world ELEMENT: Building blocks Students should be able to:
2. identify and measure/calculate length, mass, time, temperature, area, volume, density, speed, acceleration, force, potential difference, current, resistance, electrical power.

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NSAI - NSAI | National Standards Authority of Ireland

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NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland) is Ireland's official standards body. We are the national certification authority for CE Marking and provide a certification service to enable business demonstrate that Irish goods and services conform to applicable standards

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Unit of Learning - Making Accurate Measurements.

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World's Roundest Object! Redefining The Kilogram

YouTube. 12 mins. Brilliant, but a bit advance for first years.

5 Star

Defining the metre and the second

Interesting but terribly monotonous narration. YouTube. 4 mins

3 Star

OP 1 Perform simple calculations based on speed, velocity, and acceleration

Revison Crossword on Units

Ten Minute video on Time, Distance and Speed

Very nice, and it's Irish!

4 Star

Skydiving from the edge of space

5 star

Graphs
A wonderful and fun series of exercises to help understand motion graphs

From theuniverseandmore.com

5 Star

Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration Graphs

Start the car and watch as the graphs progress

3 Star

Engineer Guy shows how a phone accelerometer works, knows what's up and sideways

5 star

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World's Roundest Object! Redefining The Kilogram YouTube. 12 mins. Brilliant, but a bit advance for first years. 5 Star Defining the metre and the second Interesting but terribly monotonous narration. YouTube. 4 mins 3 Star OP 1 Perform simple calculations based on speed, velocity, and acceleration Revison Crossword on Units Ten Minute video on Time, Distance and Speed Very nice, and it's Irish!