Leading Space: Raising standards in STEM and other subjects
This publication is a report from the Leading Space Education Programme (LSEP). This is a Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funded project that has worked with 30 schools in England with the aim of enhancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in secondary schools and using space to: excite;…
A Century of Crystallography
This poster, from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, celebrates 100 years since two scientists in the UK pioneered a technique for crystallography. Crystallography uses x-rays to create a diffraction pattern to examine the atomic structure of crystals. The poster explains Bragg’s Law, which allows the calculation…
Raising Standards in STEM and Other Subjects: Using Space-related Contexts and Applications
The Leading Space Education programme has been funded by the STFC since September 2008. A network of schools was established and supported by SSAT, to develop and embed high-quality, space-themed educational practice. All schools started from different prior experiences of engagement with space education and are from a wide range…
Antimatter - Matter's Hidden Shadow
This poster looks at the nature of antimatter. One side of the poster discusses Dirac’s prediction and the subsequent discovery of antimatter, in the form of the positron. The difficulty of the storage of antimatter is explained and the use of positrons in medical imaging (PET scanners) is described. The other side of the…
The Structure of Matter
This poster looks at the structure of matter. One side of the poster discusses the limits of imaging with light and the use of electron microscopes, and looks at the 20th century pioneers – from J. J. Thomson’s plum pudding model, through Rutherford and Chadwick’s advances in understanding the nucleus, to the use…
Renewable Energy and Climate Change Podcasts
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at renewable energy and climate change in an accessible and informative way. The science of rubbish This podcast looks at the life cycle of rubbish, how to derive fuels from waste and even how the future for fuel production…
Earth Science Podcasts
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at Earth science questions in an accessible and informative way. Antarctica This podcast looks at how scientists in the South African National Antarctic Programme are studying the weather in space by monitoring the earth's…
Materials Podcasts
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at materials science questions in an accessible and informative way. When will 'indestructible' plastics finally degrade? Nothing lasts forever, so how long does it take plastics in the sea to break down? Super…
Questions and Answers
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at a wide range of general science questions in an accessible and informative way. In these podcasts, the Naked Scientist answers questions from callers into Talk Radio 702 in South Africa. Question and answer from the 25th May…
Biology Questions
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at biology questions in an accessible and informative way. Can we create a living organism? Is it possible to create life from basic elements? This podcast discusses the production of simple cells from basic elements in the laboratory.…
Naked Astronomy
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at physics questions in an amusing but also informative way. The oldest light in the Universe • The Planck mission which measures the cosmic microwave background. • Mapping the surface of Mercury. • How Lunar…
Physics Podcasts
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these Naked Scientist podcasts look at physics questions in an accessible and informative manner. Do bubbles keep your bath warmer for longer? The Naked Scientists discuss how a layer of bubbles can act as a thermal insulator. The scientists discuss how the bubbles…
TRUMP BaBar Resource Package: Posters/Leaflets
The TRUMP BaBar Resource Package, from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), included three colour posters/leaflets about matter, antimatter and the BaBar experiment. The posters help to explain how the BaBar experiment was designed to study the interactions between B and B-bar mesons as part of a quest to…
TRUMP BaBar Resource Package: Student Sheets
The TRUMP BaBar Resource Package, from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) included a set of copiable student sheets. The activities were linked to the particle physics experiment called BaBar, which was designed to study the interactions between B and B-bar mesons. The sheets include descriptions, explanations,…
TRUMP BaBar Resource Package: Teachers' Notes
The BaBar Resource Package, from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), was written for teachers (and students) with a basic knowledge of modern particle physics, at the level set out in the resources from the TRUMP Particle Physics Project. The BaBar teacher’s notes include guidance on the student…
Cosmic Rays: Mysterious Extraterrestrial Visitors
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Cosmic Rays is a colour A5 leaflet that opens out into an A2 double-sided wallchart describing cosmic rays and where they come from, what effect they have on Earth and how they are used in scientific applications. Sections of the leaflet cover: • The discovery…
How Big Is the Universe?
It is almost impossible for the human mind to grasp just how big the universe is, but astronomer Pete Edwards gives it his best shot in this Teaching Astronomy and Space video from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Along the way, he explains how astronomers have learned…
Exoplanets
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, produced by the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Don Pollacco introduces us to SuperWASP, one of the most successful exoplanet finding instruments in the world. Don explains how we find planets orbiting other stars and how…
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Tim O'Brien and astrophysicist Chris North explain how astronomers use radiation from across the electromagnetic spectrum. They demonstrate how Jodrell Bank and the Herschel Space…
The Life Cycle of Stars
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, produced by the Institute of Physics, Teachers TV and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), astronomer Tim O'Brien, from Jodrell Bank Observatory, explains how astronomers believe a star is born, lives and dies. Tim compares the life of stars like our Sun with much…
5/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Video
The Sun
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), solar physicist Lucie Green reveals her lifelong fascination with our nearest star, the Sun. Lucie explains how space telescopes are allowing us to see the Sun in greater detail…
Asteroids and Comets
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), astronomer Jay Tate reveals the risks and dangers of an asteroid collision with the Earth. Jay explains how our understanding of orbits allows us to track asteroids and looks into…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Video
Saturn and the Scale of the Solar System
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), planetary scientist Sheila Kanani shows us the stunning images of Saturn and its moons taken from the Cassini spacecraft. Sheila describes the Cassini-Huygens mission and how it…
Models of the Solar System
In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), physics teacher and astronomer Simon Foster explores how we developed our understanding of the universe. He shows how our changing models of the Solar System is an example of how science…
Redshift
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows a simple demonstration that can be used to help students understand red shift and blue shift of waves emitted by a moving object. Using the school yard, students move as…
The Life Cycle of Stars: the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows how students can be engaged with the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, which is used to illustrate the properties of different types of stars. This is achieved by using a large…
Colour and Temperature of Stars
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows how it is possible to illustrate how the light emitted by a star is related to the star's temperature. Using a filamernt lamp and a variable resistor, the lamp glows first…
Invisible Wavelengths
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows a simple demonstration to illustrate wavelengths of radiation that are invisible to the human eye, but which can be detected using a camera phone or digital camera. The…
The Earth's Atmosphere - Why is the Sky Blue?
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), helps to explain the answer to a simple question: why is the sky blue? Using a light source, a beaker of water and a few drops of milk, students can see how the milky water scatters…
Elliptical Orbits
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), illustrates a simple demonstration showing how the orbits of the planets form an ellipse around the sun. It also enables students to see why comets have a much more eccentric eliptical…
Solar Eclipses
From the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this short video clip shows a simple method for helping students to understand the relative positions of the earth, sun and moon during a solar eclipse. The video demonstrates how the moon's orbit typically takes its…
Phases of the Moon
This Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), illustrates a simple demonstration of the phases of the Moon. Using a light source and a small ball, the Moon's phases can be seen by a central observer representing the Earth.…