A Catalyst article about phytoplasmas which are micro-organisms that affect crop plants modifying their growth. The article looks at the damage that they can inflict on crops which in turn can cause famine. Botanists are seeking to counter the effects of phytoplasma disease and the article looks at laboratory...

This resource, from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) At Work With Science series, includes two activities to help students with job applications and understanding what employers need from their employees. The tasks encourage students to examine curriculum vitae, assess their...

This is one of the 14 Background Books published for Stage III of the Nuffield Chemistry Sample Scheme. The books were highly illustrated and designed to be attractive. This book describes developments in photography It long before the modern era of digital photography.

The main topics are:
*the...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the themes of knowledge and technology transfer and employer engagement. This case study describes the placement of a lecturer in material sciences who engaged in an industrial secondment through the New Engineering Foundation (NEF...

From the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this poster describes the Planck mission that is enabling scientists to map ripples in the electromagnetic echo of the Big Bang, across the entire sky, to build up a picture of the early Universe in unprecedented detail. The resource looks at: * The...

The aim of this experiment is for students to be able to determine for themselves the threshold voltage needed to activate a range of LEDs of different colours. From these values, combined with a knowledge of the wavelengths of each LED, students can plot a graph to determine a value for Planck’s constant. The...

Planet Earth podcasts, from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and hosted by Planet Earth online, cover a variety of topics about the world around us. Each podcast reports on two to four different stories, describing research projects and studies, dangers to the environment and wildlife, and proposed...

Produced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in 2009, this guidance supports the planning, development and implementation of the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties. It draws on effective practice across a range of schools and can be used in...

Most current theories of adaptation and evolution are based on an organism’s inflexible genetic inheritance, where variation depends on chance mutations to the DNA sequence. Now, biologists studying epigenetics are trying to uncover the roles of this more flexible system.

This Catalyst article explains how scientists came to understand plants' sensitivity to external stimuli and their ability to move. Mimosa pudica...

This collection of posters are available to download and print out for your classroom. The posters are accompanied either by articles exploring the science (for post-16 students) or with teaching notes and presentations to explore the ideas behind the poster (for 14-16 students)

Plant Physiology is one of the titles in the series of ASE Lab Books that were published in the early 1970s for the Association for Science Education by John Murray. Each title covered one or two topics and brought together the best of the teaching notes and...

The plant kingdom is full of fascinating organisms that are responsible for much of what keeps life going. Find out just what’s going on under the surface of the weird and wonderful world of plants. Quick confession: we couldn’t possibly hope to cover the entire plant kingdom, so we’ve focused mostly on flowering...