Passive House
Heating accounts for over half of the energy used in homes in the UK. This Catalyst article looks at buildings designed to cut heating demand almost to zero. There are over 70,000 passive houses in Europe – just a few of them in the UK. To be described as ‘passive’, a house must meet strict criteria for energy…
Extremophiles - How to Find Life on Mars
This Catalyst article looks at life in extreme environments on Earth which can suggest how life might exist on Mars. One of the developments in recent years that really opened up scientists’ eyes to the possibility of life on Mars has been the realization of just how adaptable and versatile life on Earth is. The extremophiles…
Ice - Water - Steam
This Catalyst article describes an experiment in which, using a microwave oven, water can be boiled in a cup made of ice, allowing all three states of water to be seen at once. The article explains what equipment needed to carry out the experiment, instructions, and a detailed explanation of why it works.
Mount Etna - Europe's Biggest Volcano
This Catalyst article takes a look at Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, the biggest and tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The article explores the geology of the volcano, its history and the local habitat surrounding it including how the volcanic conditions create rich fertile soil.
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…
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…
Thorium
In the build-up to the Christmas Lectures in 2012, the Royal Institution published a new video for every day of advent revealing the elements that really excite and inspire people. Physicist Suzie Sheehy demonstrates how element thorium could be used as a fuel in future nuclear reactors. Unlike uranium, thorium needs to be bombarded…
Activities
This resource contains a number of ideas for both teaching about space and for using space as a context for learning in other subject areas. They are: • Poems - using different types of poems in science and some space poetry words. • Songs and music - lists of songs concerning space and examples of space songs from…
Lesson Ideas and Examples of Children's Work
This contains detailed notes and lesson ideas on how one teacher used the space images and the Spooky Space Sounds presentation as a basis for a range of cross curricular work. The cross-curricular work includes non-fiction writing, speaking and listening, narrative, and music composition. There are also examples of children’s…
Our Address
This game invites children to work as a team to build up a sequential model of the Universe in stages, each stage being many times larger in scale than the last. The resource contains copies of the pictures (as PDF files) and detailed teachers' notes. There is a set of solutions as a PowerPoint presentation. This activity…
Crater Shadows
This activity involves perspective, modelling, light and shadow. Close up photographs of the Moon’s surface show all sorts of interesting features. Craters are amongst the most interesting, especially when the Sun’s light grazes low across the lunar landscape. The aim of the exercise is to recreate a realistic lunar…
Selenia in the Dead Sea Adventure
Learn about the properties of solids and liquids and dissolving in this colourful comic aimed at students in Key Stage Two. Written to promote enquiry skills in a context, it focuses on planning investigative work and evaluating evidence before carrying out an investigation on the different densities of salt and fresh water. This…
Selenia and the Victorian Adventure
Learn about the forces of air resistance and gravity in this colourful comic aimed at Key Stage Two. Written to promote scientific enquiry, it includes an air resistance investigation to find which is the best shape and size for a parachute. It also focuses on asking questions that can be investigated scientifically. This comic,…
Eating Chocolate
This Catalyst article looks at how the structure and properties of chocolate change when it is melted and re-solidified. An experiment is described in which the differences between solid chocolate, and chocolate which has been melted and re-hardened can be found, along with a detailed explanation of the physics involved in this process.
Thermometry... a Hot Topic
In this Catalyst article, Mike Follows describes the surprising range of thermometers available to scientists today. Many physical properties of materials depend on temperature. Thermometers are vital for measuring body temperature. The body's biochemical reactions work best at 37°C and the body is in serious danger if…
Flying Dry
This Catalyst article explores how high-speed photography can reveal how mosquitoes can keep dry while flying in the rain. To find out how mosquitoes survive impacts with raindrops, a group of engineers from Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) developed a system which allowed them to photograph collisions between water droplets…
Fracking: an Energy Revolution?
This Catalyst article looks at hydraulic fracking, the process of breaking up rocks deep underground using high-pressure water mixed with sand and chemicals. The process has been used for decades in the energy industry to free oil and gas trapped in rock formations. However, questions have been raised over the environmental impact…
Shoeburyness High School
Shoeburyness High School set up a Space Academy, and themed their whole Year Eight science scheme of work around space. The PowerPoint gives the background to the project and also includes evidence of the impact of the project in terms of student attitudes and behaviour. The Year Eight scheme of work is provided in six files,…
5/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Activity sheet
Long Eaton School
This resource is a lesson based around the Drake Equation – an equation used to estimate the number of detectable extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. There is a differentiated lesson plan and a PowerPoint which guides the class through the lesson. The students are posed questions about the implications…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Teacher guidance
Ashton Community Science College
This resource focuses on the activities that Ashton School used as part of the Mission X – Train Like An Astronaut programme, developed by NASA and run by the UK Space Agency, in the UK. The physical activities undertaken are associated with training activities for astronauts and link in to nutrition and health. Schools…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Activity sheet
Kingswinford School
The activities within this resource focus on three topics: Cepheid variable stars; a power system for the Mars Science Laboratory; and locating celestial objects using the Stellarium software. The Cepheid variable activity is suitable for GCSE or Post-16 physics and astronomy. Students need to be able to interpret data from a…
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…
Sound Survey
Using the context of what it would be like for a child with hearing difficulties in school, children develop a set of survey questions to assess the noisiest places in school and work in small groups to survey the site and map their findings. The activity encourages children to reflect on the experiences, needs and feelings…
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…
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