In this video from Osiris Educational Bill Rodgers discusses his...

These technical briefs focus on manufacturing on a small-scale. It is an important livelihood for many people in the developing world and businesses are usually run by a family or a small group within the same community.

Technical briefs are documents produced by Practical Action which are freely available...

This film, from Twig World, looks at how the oceans can be mapped. Charting the waters around the Scottish island of Orkney was a pivotal moment in maritime mapping. But a reliance on outdated maps places modern ships in danger. The key points made in the film are: •Before mapping of the sea floor began, hazards...

In order to understand the orbits of planets, comets and other celestial bodies, it is necessary to examine the principles of how gravity, and the velocity of an object, interact to produce an orbit. It is a common misconception among students that planetary orbits are circular. This practical activity gives a...

Tom Harts is a marine biologist at the Zoological Society of London. This Department for Education clip illustrates the importance of mathematics in biology and provides an insight into a zoological career. Tom describes how he collects data during field trips in Antarctica which he then analyses back in London. He...

Mark Richards is a scientist and a DJ (DJ Kemist). He was born in Nottingham in 1970 to parents who had emigrated from Jamaica and remembers successfully 'battling with the boffins' at his comprehensive school, often coming top in chemistry.

Following a degree in chemistry, he has worked (getting a PhD along...

NASA's Viking Mission to Mars was composed of two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander. The primary mission objectives were to obtain high resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for...

Could there be life on Mars? Perhaps so, although the high intensity of UV light means that it is unlikely to be found on the surface. The experiment demonstrates how bacteria grown on agar plates can be killed off by UV exposure. Curriculum areas covered:

• Microbiology
• Cell biology
• ...

Aimed at the 11-14 age group, this is a unit of six one-hour design and technology lessons to develop an understanding of how systems on exploration robots are combined and collect data. Students are given a design brief to build their own model rover, experientially, to function in simulated Martian conditions....

These materials, from the Microbiology Society look at the work of Louis Pasteur and helps students to understand the growth of yeast. There are three resources that can be used together or separately and are suitable for Key Stage Two or Three students.

Marvellous microbes This comic strip...

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Describe weight as the force needed to support an object or substance.    
• Describe mass as a measure of the amount of matter in an object or substance.  
• Explain the...