This Catalyst article investigates the development of better, more energy-efficient solar cells. Every minute enough sunlight strikes the Earth to power our civilisation for a year, yet less than 1% of global energy generation is provided by solar energy. Solar cells convert sunshine directly to electricity, but to...

Produced by Solar Spark, this activity looks at the relationship between light and absorption in solar cells. Using a photovoltaic cell and different colour acetate sheets, it demonstrates the ability of solar cells to absorb at different wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum and shows how the more it can...

Solar Detectives, from the Centre for Science Education, is a set of teaching materials which offer a cross-curricular approach to learning about engineering. Students build and modify a model solar car and research the science and mathematics underlying the use of...

Reliance on unsafe drinking water is a significant problem in many areas of the world. This Catalyst article looks at the method of solar disinfection to provide safe drinking water.

UVA from the sun causes a breakdown in cellular functions, and combined with the increased temperature of the water from a...

Produced by the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP), these images are useful for adding to documents and presentations, or for use with an interactive whiteboard. Mainly simple line drawings, they can be cut and pasted into documents and image processing applications. The images in this resource are related to...

This series of activities from NASA take a mathematical approach to looking at the Sun-Earth system. They are intended as supplementary problems for students looking for additional challenges in mathematics and physical science from age 11 to 16 years.

The problems were created to be authentic glimpses of...

From NASA, Solar Energy for Space Exploration is a problem-based learning activity. The project requires students to propose and defend a design to provide power to a lunar or Martian research base for six astronauts. To prepare for the final project, students investigate the variables that affect the operation of...

This Catalyst article is about the surface of the Sun. The article looks at a sunspot as seen by the Japanese Hinode solar observatory. Sunspots enable research about the nature and activity of the Sun. They are regions of strong magnetic activity and the article reports on the history of research into sunspots....

From NASA, this is a set of high quality images and information about the solar system. The set of materials features the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Earth’s Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, asteroids, comets, meteors and meteorites, the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, and moons of the solar system...

This collection contains resources relating to the Solar System and Planets. There are a range of activities, images, video and information from sources such as the European Space Agency and NASA. There are a range of materials which can be used with primary or secondary students.

From NASA, these high resolution images show separately the planets of our solar system. Images in this resource include: Sun, Earth, Moon, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto.

This resource is from a collection of Nuffield Maths resources exploring dynamics. The demand is roughly equivalent to that in GCE A level. The resources typically include slide shows to introduce the topics, student sheets and teacher notes, as well as other relevant resources.

In this activity the friction...

Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), these resources are aimed at mathematics practitioners.

In this resource, sessions look at:

• Solving simple equations (encouraging reasoning rather than 'answer getting')
• Rearranging simple equations (encouraging reasoning...

Volume two of two publications produced by the Spode Group with the aim of providing a useful set of examples that are convincing applications of mathematics and applications which can be taught in schools.

This...

This resource, written by Emma Morris, outlines the core choices facing mathematics education and builds on the recommendations of the 2011 Vorderman Report, by examining which mathematics approaches and reforms have worked overseas. The paper does not recommend directly importing practice from either of the case...