Pupil Research Briefs – Physics Briefs
This Pupil Research Brief (PRB), designed by a team at the Centre for Science Education, supports the teaching and learning of physics at GCSE and Scottish Standard Grade levels. Each brief was targeted at a topic within the curriculum at the time. The study guide provides a structure to guide the students through the brief and includes…
5/5- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Activity sheet
Pupil Research Briefs – Astro-science Briefs
This Pupil Research Brief (PRB), designed by a team at the Centre for Science Education, supports the teaching and learning of astro-science at GCSE and Scottish Standard Grade levels. Each brief was targeted at a topic within the curriculum at the time. The study guide provides a structure to guide the students through the brief…
- 5/5
- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Activity sheet
Novel Materials and Smart Applications
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Novel materials have surprising properties which make them useful in many applications. The interesting and unusual behaviours of these new materials can generate excitement amongst students…
- 5/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Activity sheet
Communications: Transmitting and Receiving Signals
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). It is based on two specially developed resources produced by SEP: the Optical Signal Transmission Set and the Analogue/Digital Transmission Set. The first of these uses visible light to demonstrate…
Mixing Colours
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Visible light is the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with which we are most familiar. We are able to distinguish between different frequencies of light because of our perceptions of colour.…
Sensors
This multimedia package was developed by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme to support and extend the teaching of sensors to students aged 14-19. The development and use of sensors is a rapidly growing area. Students should already have some familiarity with sensors through their use in a classroom context in science, technology…
Beyond Fair Testing: Teaching Different Types of Scientific Enquiry
These resources were developed by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme and King’s College London in order to broaden the range of scientific enquiries for students aged 11-16. The materials provide teachers with examples of different enquiry types, e.g. classifying and identifying, developing systems, and pattern seeking.…
- 3/5
- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Teacher guidance
The Atmosphere
A Year Ten module from the Salters’ double award science course. The first section of the module introduces the formation, composition and structure of the atmosphere. The Sun is our main source of energy. Students consider why sunlight is more intense near the equator and how the tilt of the Earth’s axis causes the seasons.…
Moving On
A Year 10 module from the Salters’ double award science course. This module develops ideas about forces and motion in the context of road transport. It begins by eliciting some of the ideas students already have. Text activities consider the driving and counter forces involved when a bicycle starts, reaches a steady speed,…
Energy Matters
A Year Ten module from the Salters’ double award science course. The module begins by looking at the large variety of labour-saving devices now available and their impact on life-styles. Students work with a range of common electrical devices to investigate the relative amounts of energy transferred when each is in operation.…
Electricity in the Home
A Year Ten module from the Salters double award science course. Models are used to illustrate conservation of current in a series circuit leading to studies of voltage, current and resistance and the resistance law. Devices which have different resistance in response to conditions, such as LDRs and thermistors are investigated. Students…
Communicating Information
A Year Ten module from the Salters’ double award science course. Exercises on codes and signalling methods introduce ideas about communication. A study of the ear leads to sound communication systems such as radio and telephones. Lenses are studied and the formation of images. Studies of pin-hole cameras lead to comparison…
Sports Science
A Year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. The context for this module is the use of scientific ideas to explain human performance. Students discuss what is meant by being ‘fit’. They compare different uses of the word 'work' and are given a formal definition. Calculations…
Sound Reproduction
A Year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. The science content of this module covers electromagnetism, the inductive effect and the motor effect. These topics are developed in the context of recording and reproducing sound. Students begin by recording and playing back their own voices.…
Seeing Inside the Body
A year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. This module deals with radiation and radioactivity, introduced through their uses in medicine, both for diagnosis and treatment. Students simulate non-intrusive tests made by doctors in diagnosing illness. The advantage of access to ‘inside…
Energy Today and Tomorrow
A Year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. This module deals with the generation, transmission and supply of electric power. Understanding of the inductive effect is developed through demonstrations and practical work progressing to the design of dynamos and generators. The flows of…
The Earth in Space
A Year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. This module begins with revision of prior knowledge about stars, planets, moons and other bodies found in space. Students then consider gravity as the force which controls movement of bodies in space. They study the effect of gravity on falling…
We Have the Technology
This physics extension module from the Salters’ Science course covers the action of sensors and amplifiers in electronic systems. Potential dividers are studied as a way of supplying different voltages. The action of light dependent resistors and thermistors in potential dividers is studied. Transistors are introduced as devices…
All Systems Go
This physics extension module from the Salters' Science course deals with binary digital electronic devices, taking a systems approach. Ideas of input, output and control are considered and the concept of feedback. The use of logic gates to control switches and latches is studied and relays are explored as a way of switching…
When the Chips Are Down
This physics extension module from the Salters' Science course focuses on the physics and electronics behind each part of a television set. Production of electron beams and their deflection by electrical or magnetic fields are shown and students see how colours can be built up from the three primary colours of light. The cathode…
Make Your Own Spectrometer
From Solar Spark, this simple activity allows students to make a spectrometer using a card box and a compact disc. The compact disc acts as a diffraction grating and splits the light being observed into its constituent wavelengths. This gives the colours of the rainbow when viewing white light. This type of analysis is applied in…
Seismology
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP) and produced in partnership with the British Geological Survey. Earthquakes release huge amounts of stored energy, causing movements of the ground over large distances. Seismic waves generated…
Voicebox: the Physics and Evolution of Speech
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP) and produced in partnership with University College London and the Institute of Physics. Human vocalisation is unique in the animal world. Scientists study the anatomy and physiology of human…
- 5/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Teacher guidance
Radiation in the Environment
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Radiation is all around us and is part of our everyday life. Much of the radiation that bombards us comes from natural sources, though we are now subject to additional levels as a result of technological…
Seeing Beyond the Visible
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Silicon-based sensors detect photons that we ourselves cannot, and so provide a real extension to our senses. The booklet looks at these sensors and imaging software and how they can be used…
Light and Matter: Models and Applications
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Electromagnetic waves show a huge range in terms of frequency and wavelength, but the same basic principles underlie wave behaviour: understanding one application can help us understand others…
Radiation and Communication
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Remote controls, mobile phones, televisions and radios are such commonplace devices that it is easy to take for granted how they work. What they have in common is that electromagnetic radiation…
Motors and Electromagnetism
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Electric motors are ubiquitous in modern life, from transport to production machinery to household appliances. This booklet is aimed at non-specialist teachers, providing support for teaching…
Supermagnets: Exploring the Properties and Uses of Rare Earth Magnets
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). In recent years, the development of new magnetic materials has shown extraordinary advances. The remarkable strength of the latest generation of ‘rare earth magnets’, or ‘supermagnets’,…
QTC: A Remarkable New Material to Control Electricity
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). QTC (Quantum Tunnelling Composite) looks rather ordinary, but this rubbery black material shows remarkable properties. When squeezed its electrical resistance drops, and this unique property…
Solar Power: Electricity from the Sun
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Solar cells use light from the Sun to generate electricity, and it is now quite common to see solar-powered consumer devices. What has held back the use of solar power in large-scale electricity…
Energy Storage
This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). An important part of understanding energy is getting to know the different ways it can be stored and transferred. Finding ways to do this with greater efficiency is the focus of much research…