Resources
TV maths star Johnny Ball presents brain-teasers from his regular slot on his daughter Zoe's Radio 2 show. Ball of Confusion is designed to twist your brain into enjoyable knots of...
Ball Run
In this activity children design and build their own Ball Run, and put their final creation to the test. They are provided with tips for joining dowels together,...
Balloon Buggies
From the Centre for Science Education, and with support from Shell Education services, these materials help children to investigate forces and motion.
A wide variety of buggies can be constructed and powered by a jet of air escaping from a balloon. Such a vehicle may run for a distance of 20 to 30 metres...
Balloon Bugs
This resource from Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is a practical, classroom activity that allows the students to make a balloon model of a disease-causing bacterium. This illustrates its basic shape and structure. Students can choose from three bacteria species...
Balloon length
A balloon is being blown up by a person. Between blows, the person pauses. As time progresses the person takes longer pauses and shallower blows. At the end, the air is released from the balloon. The challenge is to graph the length of the balloon against time.
Balloon length video
...Balloon powered cars
This resource focusses on making a balloon powered car to learn about forces. Presenting pupils with the question, 'How do things move?' pupils explore aeroplanes and cars, learning about ‘thrust’. Through designing their own balloon-powered car, children will explore how they can increase and decrease thrust,...
Balloon rocket
A balloon provides a simple example of how a rocket engine works. The air trapped inside the balloon pushes out the open end, causing the balloon to move forward. The force of the air escaping is the “action”; the movement of the balloon forward is the “reaction” predicted by Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
Balloon Science is a science resource that uses a range of different experiences utilising balloons to simulate and describe important concepts in science. Important...
Balloon speakers
This STEM activity works to develop pupils understanding of how vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear. In this purposeful challenge, pupils will investigate how a balloon can be used as a simple speaker to amplify sound, by blowing up the balloon and listening to how a range of sounds travel...
Balloons in Space
The Big Picture on pages 10-11 of this issue of Catalyst shows scientists in Antarctica launching a balloon which will travel up through the atmosphere to a height of 34 km above the Earth’s surface. This balloon is part of NASA’s BARREL mission, probing the radiation belts which surround the Earth.
...