A Catalyst article about BepiColombo, a spacecraft which will visit Mercury, powered by a revolutionary new rocket engine technology using ion engines and using a slingshot manoeuvre to accelerate it. The development of the spacecraft is an international project and will combine exciting scientific goals exploring...

Produced by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, in this activity students have to use their observational skills to identify and record the difference (phenotypic change) between two images, one wild type zebra fish and one mutant zebra fish.

To aid in their diagnosis of the phenotypic change, a glossary...

These resources exemplify the way practical work can be used alongside a pedagogical approach called model-based inquiry. This is based upon generating, testing and revising scientific models. Being primarily centred round collaborative and cooperative styles of learning, it also places particular emphasis upon the...

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 Walker Institute for Climate System Research. Climate scientists do not have a ‘climate in a test tube’ to try out their ideas, so to understand the...

This Mathematics Matters case study looks at how mathematicians work with epidemiologists to understand the spread of infections and mitigate their effects. Epidemics can threaten the lives of both humans and animals, so it is essential that we react swiftly to any outbreaks. Mathematicians play a key role in...

This resources provides a template for creating a model of the DNA double helix.  The class should collaborate on one model. Each student should make just...

This article investigates the history of models of the atom and discovers how, a century ago, scientists were devising models of the atom in an attempt to explain the limited evidence they had about the fundamental structure of matter.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2015, Volume 25,...

This simulation explores the factors which determine the concentration of a solution. It illustrates the relationships between moles, litres and molarity by adjusting the amount of solute and solution volume.

The moles of solute and the volume of solution (water) can be changed using sliders to make...

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry represents the manufacturers of most of the medicines and vaccines supplied to the National Health Service, in the UK. As part of their programme to encourage the study of science in schools, in 1995, the ABPI produced a book for post-16 students, on the...

In this video Helen describes how she became a trainee molecular geneticist at Addenbrookes hospital. The video could be used to introduce a lesson on  cystic fibrosis, genes, genetic testing, pre-implantation genetic testing, recessive and dominant genes, genetic disorders or genetic screening.

This simulation allows students to explore molecule shapes by building molecules in 3D and seeing how the molecule's shape changes as atoms are added.

It can be used to demonstrate that:

*The molecule shape is due to repulsions between atoms.

*The bonds are not fixed in place, but can rotate...

A Catalyst article looking at how modern archaeology uses analytical chemical techniques to answer questions about ancient civilisations and animals. Scientists working at the University of Bristol match compounds present in archaeological materials to those in modern plants and animals which were likely to have...