Hello, is this planet Earth?

In this activity from the European Space Agency, students communicate with a rover on "Mars". The objective of the mission is to send an automatic message from Earth to a rover located on Mars via an Orbiter. This message is sent by a programmed, LEGO-built, robot running an automatic switch. The rover on Mars...

Technical textiles: Nomex

Nomex is a high performance fibre engineered to be able to perform in extreme conditions. This resource explores why designers might choose to use it,  some examples of products that are made from Nomex, and suggests ways of using Nomex in the...

Technical textiles: moisture management materials

This resources explores how moisture management technology is used to develop engineered products . It introduces key words such as breathability, wicking, microfibres and provides examples of products and tradenames that make use of this technical textile technology.

Technical textiles: Kevlar

This resource supports student understanding of the properties and uses of Kevlar. It explores why designers might choose to use it,  some examples of products that are made from Kevlar, and suggests ways of using Kevlar in the classroom.

Technical textiles: composites

This resource provides slides, discussion activities and experiments to help increase student understanding of composites. The composites it focuses on are glass reinforced plastic, carbon fibre, concrete, wood and textile laminates.

Technical textiles: introduction to technical textiles

This resources provides students with an introduction to the topic of technical textiles. It provides an overview of what technical textiles are and why we might use them for different products. The specific classifcations of technical textiles...

Technical textiles: teacher notes

These teacher notes will guide you through the collection of resources created for space-inspired technical textiles. Including:

• ...

Smart materials: thermochromic materials

This resource explores the topic of thermochromic materials. It provides content to explain what they are, how they are used and suggests practical experiments that will allow students to get hands-on with the material.

Smart materials: shape memory alloys and shape memory polymers

Shape memory alloys (SMA) and shape memory polymers (SMP) remember their original shape, even after being significantly deformed, returning to their original shape in response to a stimulus. This resource explores the technology behind SMA's and SMP's, the properties that they bring to engineered products and...

Smart materials: piezoelectric materials and quantum tunnelling composites

This resource explores the properties and uses of piezoelectric materials and quantum tunnelling composites. Taking examples from space technology, it provides a number of examples to discuss in the classroom and suggests practical experiments to give your students a hands-on examples of the technology.