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Helen's Element is an online, interactive graphic novel that strikes the balance between telling an exciting story and teaching scientific content. It aims to inspire a more diverse range of people to become scientists.  

Our brains love stories and most of us remember them more easily than we remember seemingly unconnected facts. So Helen’s Element provides stories that teach scientific content, based on the AQA GCSE biology syllabus.

Episodes can be used in lessons, as homework, as revision aids or to prime students for "flipped classroom" style lessons.


Readers move the interactive story forward by making scientifically correct choices, helping to engage them further with the science.

Finding hidden hyperlinks along the way leads them to deeper scientific content.

Helen is an outstanding scientist who visits strange worlds where the inhabitants are in trouble. She uses science to save the day!  

Episodes of Helen’s Element are set within a greater mystery that unfolds as the series progresses, drawing readers in further and keeping them engaged with the content. Step by step, Helen’s fantastic universe is revealed. 

Dr. Edward Bracey writes and illustrates the series.

 

His day job is as a sensory neuroscientist - exploring how the brain interprets stimuli like sound, light and smell to make sense of the environment, creating our version of reality.

 

He also loves public engagement and will talk about brains at you given any opportunity!
 

*Good stories, full of novelty and adventure engage the attention and stimulate emotions. Improved attention and emotional engagement are critical for acquiring knowledge and forming strong memories. (see Miendlarzewska 2015 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26657967).

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