In this video from the Teachers TV series Demonstrating Chemistry, Professor Hal Sosabowski demonstrates a solid...

A Catalyst article about the organisms which live in soil. Many, such as worms and mycorrhizal fungi, are vital for keeping soil healthy and productive. An adventurous biologist could once bank on finding new species by simply travelling to some part of the world little known to science. Darwin’s famous voyage...

Produced by Solar Spark, this is a simple practical activity that can be used to show how a solar photovoltaic cell works. During a 45-60 minute session, students make solar cells out of cheap and readily accessible materials. The mechanism behind the solar cell is similar to that used in a dye-sensitised solar...

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...

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 resource contains three activities and accompanying teachers’ notes.

Picking out the details
Using images from the...

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 booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Solar cells use light from the Sun to generate electricity, and it is now quite common to see solar-powered consumer devices. What has held...

A crowd funding web site recently raised more than two million US dollars to fund solar roadways. These roads, claim the developers, will remain snow-free, and, at the click of a switch, can be transformed into car parks or even sports pitches. In this activity students consider whether solar roadways are worth...

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....