This Mathematics Matters case study looks at how mathematicians are aiding the fight against viruses. Many viruses have a symmetrical structure made from basic building blocks, and biologists have struggled to explain some of the more detailed shapes. Now mathematicians are using complex theories of symmetry to...

Published in June 2013, this report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) presents the findings from an investigation into the impact on students of the subject-specific CPD undertaken by teachers at the National Science Learning Centre.

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DfE Advice for schools on assessment after the removal of the national curriculum levels system for grading children.

Pages 20-24 cover the principles that underpin assessment policies.

Page 41 recommends what trainees should learn about assessment during their training.  

Page 38 onwards...

This collection of Nuffield Maths resources explores Financial Calculations. The demand is roughly equivalent to that in Higher Level GCSE and Level 2 Functional Mathematics.

The collection contains the following resources:

Pay as you earn   Students work out how much income...

This resource from Ofsted is a full report and summary of the findings from a visit, in September 2009, made by two of Her Majesty's Inspectors to educational establishments in Finland. Evidence was gathered from three schools and a university from each of three towns about the factors that contributed to Finnish...

This video demonstrates how compressing a gas increases its temperature. A small piece of cotton wool is placed into the bottom of a narrow plastic tube. When the air is rapidly compressed by a piston, the air temperature increases and the cotton ignites. The 'fire piston' can be used to illustrates the transfer of...

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) looks at how the famous White Cliffs of Dover could be made of fish poo (at least partially), why one researcher is so interested in dead whales, and why the Japan earthquake was so powerful and devastating....

In this video, Matt describes how he became a fisheries technical officer for the Environment Agency. His job is to monitor river habitats and fish populations, including improving the habitat and restocking fish after any pollution incidents.

The video could be used to introduce units of work including...

Countries charge for planes to fly through their airspace even if the plane does not land. Different countries levy different charges, therefore plane companies consider a number of different routes and calculate the associated charges with each route. The formula used to fly over Europe is considered and an...

This challenge, from Practical Action, requires students to design and build a model structure that will enable farmers to grow crops even in an area that may become flooded. A floating garden, built on a base of aquatic weeds, is a low cost and sustainable way of allowing people to grow vegetables. The resource...

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) looks at why removing some man-made coastal flood defences might not be such a bad idea, what it is like studying gas exchange in the wilds of the Southern Ocean, and – in what could be the first case of '...

These videos highlight the problems caused by flooding in the developing world, and show how Practical Action works with local communities to help reduce the impact of future floo...