UPD8

Managed to download the teacher notes but not the activity sheet.

Reviewer: Nicola Clewes

Fantastic activity that will be of interest to pupils.

Reviewer: Chantal Maun

I couldn't download the activity sheets, so didn't use it in the end after spending hours trying.

Reviewer: Cate Sadler-Barker

I taught this to a group of y10 students in a special school. I used it as it stood and with TA support most of the children were able to sort most of the statements.
It served as a useful introduction to our work on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Reviewer: Helen Norris

i used this activity as a revision exercise for AQA P1b with middle ability Year 10. They loved it. encouraged a lot of discussion and thinking!

Reviewer: Dianne Ward

Some struggled with having so much to read, but it generally was appealing to the students. Provoked some great discussions.

Reviewer: n baker

I used this activity with a low ability year 10 GCSE group. The scenarios on the cards were very useful in getting students to think about not only whether the information was for or against mobile phone use, but also if the info was valid or reliable. This is something they often get wrong when they write up their Science In the News Tasks.

Reviewer: Niamh O' Neill

I found this an excellent activity for teaching AQA 'how Science works' and assessing value of scientific evidence. Kept entire class on task and talking about science

Reviewer: Catherine Aspinall

Good resource outlining the pro's and con's of mobile phones. Used with year 10, 21century science to form start of case study. pupils liked it and could utilise their findings.

Reviewer: Daniel Beniston

Worked well as a short activity to introduce the issues for a single science Y10 set. They came up with some interesting ideas (as well as yes and no, some students felt she could wait until she was older to have the mobile), and it was a good way to review benefit and risk for 21st Century Core Science.

Reviewer: Joanna Barnsley

I used this with a weak group of single science pupils doing entry level for the digital age unit and it worked well.

Reviewer: Pauline Fenton

Engaged year 9 students who are normally not interested in participating. Worked well also with motivated and able year 9s, and with middle-ability year 10s.

Reviewer: John Miller

I tried this with my year 10's and the pupils found it engaging. As i walked around the room the different groups were discussing the different points as to whether or not the girl should have a phone. In the end everyone decided she wasnt going to get the phone for different reasons. Its a good discussion topic.

Reviewer: Imelda Mc Kenna

Have just used this with low scientific ability year 10 as part of the newAQA science course (Physics 1b). They were quite engaged in this task and I extended it to the production of an information leaflet for parents. Initially they found it quite hard to focus on scientific reasons, being more interested in the social and personal security aspects, but most moved on to showing some scientific awareness by the end of the lesson. I also provided them with the first 2 pages of the BBC site which gives some pros and cons.

Reviewer: Catherine Robson

Tried it with mixed ability year 7 group. Went very well, kids were able to understand the points well and sort them out into for/against pretty quickly. Didn't spend too long debating points, but did get them to do a "continuum" afterwards to review their position on wether phones are OK or not for young children.

Good activity.

Reviewer: S EG

We used this activity for year 10 students aged 14 to 15., many of whom have found science difficult and, in some cases, irrelevant. They found the activity interesting and engaged with the concepts. The instructions were clear and the teachers found it easy to use. We laminated the cards and used the activity as part of a unit on minerals and their uses in everyday life. The activity gave the students and opportunity to engage with wider scientific issues and their use in informed decision making

Reviewer: Jill Brown

My top set year nine class found this activity very engaging, and it encouraged them to talk to one another about the scientific uncertainties and to discuss the facts.

Most groups came to the view that Emily should not be given a mobile for her birthday. They recognised that some arguments on the evidence cards were more persuasive than others, which led to interesting group disucssions about the nature of scientific evidence and what constitutes 'proof'.

Following the activity we used the link to the bbc.co.uk website to get more information - I gave students a printout of the information (which could perhaps benefit from being edited for year nine as it is six pages long) and they had to find further evidence to back up their point of view. If they came across evidence that contradicted their point of view, I asked them to think of a counter argument that they could use in a debate which I have planned for a subsequent lesson.

Reviewer: Mark Gale