Investigating Poisoning
Investigating serious crimes such as murder, rape and terrorism requires forensic science experts. These people work alongside the police to find the evidence that will bring the culprit to court. In this Catalyst article, Tony Hargreaves looks at criminal poisoning and shows how forensic science is used to solve serious murder cases.
Dye-sensitized Solar Energy
The activity, from the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, provides an illustration of biomimetic technology. Students explore how to produce electricity by constructing a dye-sensitised solar cell at ambient temperatures, using a few simple materials. In the manufacturing of most solar cells, silica must be heated to separate the silicon…
Concrete Without Quarries
This practical activity, from the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, allows students to explore how nature creates calcium carbonate, a compound needed to manufacture cement, at ambient temperatures and using abundant, readily available raw materials. The cement used in concrete is manufactured from calcium carbonate, which is extracted from…
Colour Mixing
This video from the Royal Institution describes how colour mixing works. Colours of light cannot be mixed in physics but different cones in your eyes are sensitive to different colours. The brain interprets a mixture between the two as a colour somewhere between the two. In the case of magenta, your brain invents this colour…
Cloud Chamber
This video from the Royal Institution shows tracks within a cloud chamber. A supersaturated layer of alcohol vapour exists just above the floor of the chamber and the ionisation radiation causes vapour to condense along the path of the radiation. An Americium source is introduced into the chamber so that tracks from alpha radiation…
Biofuels
Produced by Debating Matters, this topic guide puts the biofuel debate in context, providing information, a reading list and weblinks. The resource encourages students to debate issues such as: • Are biofuels environmentally friendly? • Fuel versus food • A waste if time, money and energy? • Should governments…
Uncovering the Magical World of Signalling
This Catalyst article takes a look at the winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2012 who revealed how cells communicate. All functions of the human body require signals to be released, detected by a receptor in the right place and an appropriate response to be mounted. For example, hormones can be released into the blood stream…
Speak to Me, Lichen
In this Catalyst article, students at La Sainte Union Catholic School in North London investigate the link between lichen species and air pollution around their school. Lichens are indicators of changes in air quality; tolerant species replace those which are sensitive to a given pollutant. This effect is observed across urban…
Triple Science Case Study: Tenbury High School, Worcestershire
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how career awareness advice before students make their Key Stage Four choices, after school skills and concepts revision clubs, and an impressive range of STEM enrichment activities in the local environment can lead to success in delivering triple science. The…
Triple Science Case Study: Stocksbridge High School
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how using feedback from the students (and staff) to change the curriculum model and providing more detailed advice during the Year Nine options process with regards the nature of the course can lead to success in delivering triple science. The case study…
Triple Science Case Study: Pen Y Dre High School, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a focus on raising attainment in science, including looking specifically at literacy and Numeracy, after school skills and concepts revision clubs and a wide range of STEM enrichment activities, can lead to success in delivering triple science. The case…
Triple Science Case Study: Marden High School, North Shields
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how highlighting the different characteristics of the sciences and developing an enviable programme of enhancement and enrichment activities for students to enable them to make informed choices about progression can lead to success in delivering triple science.…
Triple Science Case Study: Cavendish School, Hemel Hempstead
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how adapting the curriculum to suit the needs of particular groups of students, recognising the importance of motivation and study skills when selecting students and planning well for future changes can lead to success in delivering triple science. The case…
Triple Science Case Study: Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College, Bradford
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how capitalising on the enthusiasm of the science staff to increase uptake and including science in the options rather than as an ‘extra’ after school can lead to success in delivering triple science. The case study provides some background information…
Triple Science Case Study: Balshaw’s School, Leyland
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how giving science a high profile to create enthusiasm for the subject in a large number of students, together with a whole school strategy of vigorously enhancing and enriching the curriculum, can lead to success in delivering triple science. The case study…
Triple Science Case Study: Woodrush High School, Worcestershire
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a focus on providing adequate curriculum time for triple science, moving towards a three year Key Stage Four, together with developing students’ science enquiry skills from Year Seven can lead to success in delivering triple science. The case study…
Alison Foster: a Chemist in the World of Plants
Alison Foster has combined her education in Chemistry with her love of plants to engage in some exciting projects at the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens. This Catalyst article gives a profile of her career choices, and introduces a public engagement activity called Chemistry in the Garden. Alison began her career in the pharmaceutical…
Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies or Weetabix
This Catalyst article looks at how scientists can use material recovered from archaeological sites to see how crops have been introduced to different countries over the history of farming. Three processes by which some plant material can be preserved are explained. The ratio of carbon isotopes from the collagen in animal bone can…
Emerging Infections: Science for You to Try
From the Royal Society, these materials allow students to investigate how viruses can change their genetic code and transfer from one species to another. Students carry out a practical investigation to extract DNA from strawberries and then go on to research about the genetics of HIV and drug resistance. The resource contains…
Invisible Defence: Stopping the Spread
From the Royal Society, these materials look at the development of vaccination by Edward Jenner. Jenner's discovery took medicine in an entirely new direction for its time. Doctors no longer just tried to cure diseases once they had happened, they could stop them from spreading from one person to another. In the activities,…
Seeing Into Bacteria
This Catalyst article describes how biophysics is helping in the search for novel antibiotics. Bacteria produce an array of proteins to kill off their competitors. These proteins, called bacteriocins, are very efficient at penetrating the defensive outer layers of bacteria cells by moving through specific membrane transporter…
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…
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…
Soil Testing and Decontamination
These resources, from Innovate Educate and The Avenue, are linked with a web site that describes the reclamation of a former coke-manufacturing plant in Chesterfield. These activities are split into two sections. In the first activity, students examine soil samples and characterise them by looking at: • soil type •…
Risk Assessment
These resources, from Innovate Educate and The Avenue, are linked with a web site that describes the reclamation of a former coke-manufacturing plant in Chesterfield. There are a range of activities undertaken on the site and this provides an excellent context to allow students to look at risk assessments. These activities give…
4/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Teacher guidance
Triple Science Case Study: Using Student Voice
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a school has used student questionnaires and focus groups to help develop a better understanding of student perceptions towards triple science, with the aim of raising the quality of teaching and learning. The case study includes some background information…
Triple Science Case Study: Planning Ahead on More Than One Front
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a school has planned ahead and taken a wide range of actions to provide and improve triple science GCSEs, drawing on the skills of a well-developed science team. The case study includes some background information about St Michaels CE High School (Lancashire),…
Triple Science Case Study: Identifying Students Early
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a school used a combination of identifying potential triple science students as early as Year Eight with student perspectives on the triple science courses and their reasons for choosing it. The case study includes some background information about Beal…
Triple Science Case Study: Inspiring Through Enhancement and Enrichment
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates the steps taken by a school in moving away from a stereotypical view of triple science as being academic and theoretical towards more exciting and engaging provision, and so attract more students to take up these GCSEs. It looks at the impact of developing a substantial…
Triple Science Case Study: Providing Lessons Outside the School Day
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a school provided extra lessons before school to dramatically increase the triple science take up, leading to greater progression to sciences post-16. The case study includes some background information about St Gregory’s Catholic High School (Warrington)…
Triple Science Case Study: Collaboration with the Maths Department
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a school's science and mathematics departments collaborated to increase the time available for students taking triple science and so increased the level of attainment for students. The case study includes some background information about Littleover…
Triple Science Case Study: Steering Students Towards Triple Science
From the Triple Science Support Programme, this case study illustrates how a school changed the options system to make triple science a more desirable choice, offered guidance to learners to encourage them to choose triple science, and improved the quality of teaching so students would want to study more science at Key Stage Four. The…
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