Developed with funding from the Department for Education, these video clips show interviews with young professionals working in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sectors. The films introduce some of the exciting careers that students may access by studying STEM subjects. The professionals...

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Silicon-based sensors detect photons that we ourselves cannot, and so provide a real extension to our senses. The booklet looks at these...

Each individual blade of grass consists of various tissues, each made of cells in their thousands. In these cells an as yet unknown number of reactions and interactions are constantly taking place. The cells contain different parts known as organelles, which can be thought of as the cellular equivalent of the...

A year 11 module from the Salters’ Key Stage Four double award science course. This module deals with radiation and radioactivity, introduced through their uses in medicine, both for diagnosis and treatment. Students simulate non-intrusive tests made by doctors in...

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...

This resource will let students see pink elephants. When the human eye is exposed to one colour for a relatively long period of time, the cone cells will become saturated with that colour. Once the eye is exposed to a broad range of colours again, the brain will pick up weaker signals from that colour and an image...

In these resources from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), students look at the scientific and factual side of this important aspect of the curriculum. The Key Stage Three lessons look at how plants can be used to clean up contaminated land and the science of acid rain. The Key Stage Four lessons...

These resources from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) look at parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Key Stage Three resources look at how synchotron radiation is used to look at the structure of proteins and viruses. The Key Stage Four lesson focuses on infrared radiation and its uses,...

In these STFC resources, students discover fascinating facts about materials and their properties. The Key Stage Three resources look at the many different facets of cement. The Key Stage Four resources examine ethics and science of oil drilling, oil being the basis for the plastics industry. The resource also...

The Science and Technology Facilities Council offers a variety of lessons to support secondary teaching of space science. The Key Stage Three resources consist of nine lessons based on the QCA programme of study:

•Our solar system
•Moving Earth
•Using models
•Because I said so!
•Is...

A Catalyst article about light pollution which is a growing problem, especially for astronomers, obscuring the view of the Moon, stars and planets. Astronomers are campaigning to reduce the pollution and bring the night sky back into view. With the aid of statistics the article makes the case for better street...

This activity allows students to investigate how images are produced from data streams by using first a spreadsheet and then an image-processing program. They then go on to see how the usefulness of such a monochromatic image may be enhanced by using lookup tables and calibration. The materials used focus on the...

Work done in this Nuffield 13 to 16 module followed from the unit called ‘Senses’. This B unit provided enough material for six double periods in the third year of secondary school (year nine). The teachers’ guide included 11 worksheets to supplement the students’ booklet. The general introduction in the teachers’...

As transistors become smaller, the doping of semi-conductors becomes a significant challenge. This Catalyst article looks at how Scanning Tunnelling Microscopes can be used to manipulate individual atoms, to create electronic devices of unprecedented accuracy. The technique could also be used to fabricate quantum...

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP) and produced in partnership with the British Geological Survey. Earthquakes release huge amounts of stored energy, causing movements of the...