In this independent research project students research the causes and consequences of diarrhoea and dehydration. They find out about the different treatments available for dehydration and design some experiments to compare commercial and homemade oral rehydration salts.

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Students investigate the best material for a pizza box, with possible tests including:

• Thermal conductivity - Design a test to see which materials keep a pizza the hottest.
• ...

In this project, students make their own lipstick or lip gloss and investigate how lipsticks are coloured, carrying out tests to compare their lipstick to a shop-bought one .  They consider the properties they want to test, such as resistance to water and cleaning products, and covering...

Students investigate the effect of industry or agriculture on a water course, by comparing levels of pollution with those in an ‘unspoilt’ body of water. They will need to consider what form any pollution...

In this independent research project, students investigate the fat and salt content of different crisps and then suggest which crisps would be best for a patient with coronary heart disease. They start by finding out about the effects of high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and what...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, this activity is about information storage and retrieval, about books and journals and about comparing print with electronic information storage.

Students carry out...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, in this activity students first carry out an Internet search to find websites that would be helpful in answering specific questions about a science topic. They evaluate the usefulness and reliability of different websites. In the second part of the activity,...

This activity, from the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, helps students to develop their skills in assessing information. Students consider what they need to look for in an information source to be sure that it is reliable. Students consider the peer review process of a professional journal and compare this...

This activity, from the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, helps students to examine the claims to truthfulness of statements of different kinds. The aim is to become more critical of the use of language and to develop a constructive scepticism when assessing primary and secondary information. Students are given...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, in this activity students look at surveys as an important method of gathering and retrieving information. The activity allows students to evaluate the process of collecting data from short interviews with their peers. It consists of a speed survey game, which is...

These materials, from the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to consider the appropriate approach when communicating ideas and information to particular audiences. The activities encourage students to: * analyse information and resources for their level of difficulty, the audience, its reliability...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, in this activity students identify potentially misleading statistics and explain some of the issues involved in using data to inform policy making.

The activity is...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, this activity is a game which emphasises the specific nature of scientific vocabulary. The object of the game is to collect three cards with the same word. These must include the correct scientific definition, a correct but non-scientific definition and a...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, in this activity students study a short podcast from the National Geographic. The clip is intended to encourage members of the public to replace standard light bulbs with low-energy light bulbs. It presents science themes in a way that gets a message across. The...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, the resources in this section help students to develop their skills of information retrieval. Activities relate to five aspects of information retrieval:
* methods of information storage and retrieval
* the...