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

• Identify if a material is a composite.
• Recognise that materials within a composite keep their own properties.
• Predict properties of a composite material based on the...

From the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, these materials help students reinforce their existing knowledge and understanding of compression ratios. The activity helps with assessing students’ levels of confidence and competence and also with identifying any misconceptions that need addressing. The session...

This report, published by LSIS, describes an action research project carried out by Newcastle College. The main aim of the research was to identify a new approach to teaching which would help engineering students in the learning of calculus. The cohort of students had no previous experience of calculus and the...

This practical activity allows students to explore how nature creates calcium carbonate, a compound needed to manufacture cement, at ambient temperatures and using abundant, readily available raw materials. The cement used in concrete is manufactured from calcium carbonate, which is extracted from open-pit mines....

Concrete Canvas is an example of a deployable structure. It is a flexible, cement-containing fabric that hardens on contact with water to form a thin, durable, waterproof and fire-resistant concrete layer. Essentially, it’s concrete on a roll. Applications include erosion control and building vent walls in mines....

This Pedagogics resource uses the following quote from the Chinese philosopher Confucius: "Tell me...and I will forget. Show me... and I will remember. Involve me... and I will understand"

Produced by the LSIS, this practical activity is designed to engage learners in discussion about momentum and to help them to predict the possible effects of a collision. You may choose to perform a demonstration, using a simple runway, ball bearings and magnets, and then ask pairs or groups of students to try it...

These technical briefs look at the ways Practical Action have helped poor communities to make the best use of their own labour and to use locally produced building materials and techniques that they can afford and manage.

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

This STEMNET resource describes the background and career of STEM Ambassador Colin Glen, a project engineer working in a construction company.

Colin has worked on many great buildings in London. He is part of a team that ensures the comnpany's design, plans and construction meet the required specifications...

This STEMNET resource describes the background and career of STEM Ambassador Vicki Hodges, an Attitude and Orbit Control Systems engineer working on a project to develop an unmanned spacecraft.

Having joined the Astrium graduate scheme, Vicki has moved around the company and gained experience in a variety of...

Controlling Motion uses Cornerstone Maths' dynamic interactive web-based environment to give secondary students an introduction to the 'hard to teach' concept of linear functions....

From the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP), this publication looks at the process and problems caused by the corrosion of metals. The first part of the publication gives background information for students on elements, atoms, ions and electrochemical reactions involved in rusting. This helps students to...

This resource provides a cross-curricular design and technology and science project aimed at primary children. Using the context of the school class going to Greenland and forgetting all their shoes, children are asked to construct shoe soles that will insulate them as they take part in a dog-sled trip. Children...