Resources by Open University

Exoplanets

This animated clip explains how planets outside our solar system are difficult to see because they get lost in the glare of the star they orbit. The clip briefly mentions Doppler shift, dimming through transit as detection techniques that enable us to infer what the planet is made of, and explains what the...

Project Mathematics Update is a series of professional development resource packs from the Open University, sponsored by the DES. The materials are designed both for teachers who are already teaching mathematics and for those...

Gaia and the Killer Asteroids

This animated clip explains how the Apollo and Aten asteroids have Earth crossing orbits and they are therefore the most probable groups of asteroids to hit the Earth. The Gaia spacecraft, at the 2nd Lagrangian Point is at a better vantage point than viewing these asteroids from the Earth.

How to Hunt Banded Snails

This survey, aimed at primary level, looks at the identification and classification of the banded snail, their biological variation and how this may be an adaptation to the habitat in which the snails live. It links to the topics of living things and their habitats and evolution and inheritance. The resource may be...

From the 'Open University' course 'Education/Mathematics; a second-level course', this module focuses on learning and teaching mathematics.

Invisible Witnesses

This booklet focuses on gendered representations of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and how young people's views of careers in these subjects are developed. Classroom activities were developed for students drawing on media literacy skills to examine how their ideas have been influenced by...

Large Hadron Collider

This animated clip explains how the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a large particle accelerator that allows us to understand the conditions at the beginning of the Universe. Through the collisions of protons within the collider, LHC has confirmed the existence of the Higgs Boson, a particle predicted by the...

The aim of this unit is to assist you to learn to do mathematics rather than be confronted by it. The unit draws attention to specific activities or processes which lie at the heart of...

From the 'Open University' course 'Education/Mathematics; a second-level course', this module focuses on learning and teaching mathematics.

Part of The Open University course Learning and Teaching Mathematics (Education/Mathematics: a second-level course)

This introduction outlines the content and objectives of Block 1 of this course. This block comprises Units 3, 4 and 5 and focuses on the teaching of number and algebra in primary and secondary...