Forces and Springs
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of forces and springs at Key Stage Two. A presentation introduces springs and explores the elastic and inelastic properties of materials. A whole class activity focuses on applying different forces to 'stretchimals' (stretchy toy animals).…
Sunlight and Space Travel
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of Earth, Sun and Moon and light and shadows at Key Stage Two. A presentation introduces light and how shadows are formed leading into an investigation. It moves on to look at the spin of the Earth and how we have day and night, the orbit of the Earth…
Earth and the Solar System
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of Earth and Space at Key Stage Two. A presentation introduces Earth and the planets of our solar system, with an activity in which children help demonstrate the relative sizes of planets and the distances between them. It moves on to look at our galaxy…
Light
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of light at Key Stage Two. A presentation introduces sources of light and how we see them, demonstrating how we see objects, reflection of light, composition of white light and primary colours. The presentation is interspersed with class experiments,…
Sound
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of sound at Key Stage Two. A presentation looks at vibrating objects as the sources of sound and at how sound travels as a wave. It demonstrates the types of material through which sound can travel and how frequency is affected by the size of a vibrating…
Forces and Magnets
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of magnets at Key Stage Two. A presentation introduces class investigations on magnetic materials and on the forces of attraction and repulsion using bar magnets. It demonstrates how to make a compass and looks at the Earths’ magnetic field. The…
Forces and Gravity
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of forces and gravity at Key Stage Two. A presentation introduces pushes and pulls, gravity and weight, demonstrating forces acting on falling objects and how to measure force using forcemeters. It also looks at gravity on the Moon and how planets orbit…
Electricity
This resource from Physicists in Primary Schools (PIPS) supports the teaching of electricity at Key Stage Two. A presentation looks at simple circuits, electrical insulators and conductors, use of materials relating to their conductivity and electrical safety. Throughout the presentation there are class experiments, games and…
Physics Lives
These videos from the Institute of Physics look at the innovations made by four physicists and their potential impact on society. Air apparent asks the question “What if you could see the pollution around you?”. Mark Richards has developed a way to measure pollution using ultra-violet light. Each pollutant has its…
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
This resource from the Institute of Physics (IOP), describes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the body. The magnetic resonance imaging video, taken from an IOP Schools and Colleges lecture, uses analogies with sound to describe how the resonant frequencies of protons within the body can be used to produce images. The functional…
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
This resource from the Institute of Physics (IOP) includes information and activities related to Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The video describes how annihilation of electrons and positrons can be used to produce X-rays and image the body to find cancers. The teachers' notes contain an introduction to PET, lesson…
Gamma Cameras
This resource from the Institute of Physics (IOP), describes how cameras sensitive to gamma radiation can be used to image the body. The video, taken from an IOP Schools and Colleges lecture, briefly describes the history of the discovery of radioactivity and how the first particle accelerators could be used to make radioactive…
5/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Video
Electrocardiagrams
This resource from the Institute of Physics, describes how electrocardiagrams (ECGs) record the activity of the heart through electrodes placed on a patient's skin. The teacher's notes contain an introduction to ECGs and lesson notes for the associated PowerPoint file. A mark scheme for the worksheet is also included.…
X-ray Imaging
This resource from the Institute of Physics (IOP), describes how X-rays can be used to image the body. The X-rays video, taken from an IOP Schools and Colleges lecture, describes how Roentgen discovered how to image using X-rays, in his lab. The lecture also describes how barium and iodine can be used to to image parts of the body,…
Ultrasound
This resource from the Institute of Physics, describes how ultrasound can be used to image the body. The video describes how ultrasound can be used to image a professional footballer's knee to investigate the cause of pain. The teachers' notes contain an introduction to ultra-sound imaging, lesson notes linked…
Pulse Oximeters
This resource from the Institute of Physics (IOP), describes how light can be used in pulse oximetry to measure pulse rate and oxygen levels in the body. The video, taken from an IOP Schools and Colleges lecture, describes how shining red and infra-red light through the body can be used to measure pulse rate and oxygen levels…
Black Holes - an Essential Component of Our Universe
Black holes provide an important tool for testing the fundamental laws of the universe. This resource from the Institute of Physics, looks at the extreme physics associated with black holes, how we can spot them, and what roles they may play in galaxy formation. This guide looks at stellar black holes and the supermassive black…
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…