Resources by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme

Microplastics and the oceans

This Catalyst article looks at microplastics. Microplastics are tiny particles of polymer used in many products, they have been found to be an environmental pollutant especially in oceans.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1.

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Minerals and Rock Structure

A Catalyst article about the rock cycle which is responsible for the formation of many different types of rocks and minerals. The article explores the formation of minerals, their chemical composition and internal structure together with the reason for mineral hardness. As silicates form a third of all known...

Mission to Mercury

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...

Mixing Colours

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Visible light is the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with which we are most familiar. We are able to distinguish between different...

Modelling Climate Change

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...

Models of the Atom *suitable for home teaching*

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,...

Molecules From the Past *suitable for home teaching*

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...

Money, Mistakes and the Birth of a Science

This Catalyst article looks at how the laying of telegraph cables across the ocean bed led to the science of oceanography. Over two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered in sea which can reach depths of 11 000 metres. The article looks at the challenge of laying cables in this environment and the history of the...

Motors and Electromagnetism

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Electric motors are ubiquitous in modern life, from transport to production machinery to household appliances. This booklet is aimed at non-...

Mount Etna - Europe's Biggest Volcano

This Catalyst article takes a look at Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, the biggest and tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The article explores the geology of the volcano, its history and the local habitat surrounding it including how the volcanic conditions create...