A Catalyst article about buckytubes, a type of carbon nanoparticle.The allotropes of carbon —diamond, graphite and buckminsterfullerene (bucky balls) — are well known. Now scientists are working on buckytubes. These are based on elongated tubes formed from sheets of hexagonally-linked carbon atoms, capped at both...

Carry out a survey on how many bugs are found in a certain area and add to a national survey. This resource fits in with the curriculum topics of animals in the local environment, habitats, and interdependence and adaptation.

There are six key species to watch out for: Two-spot Ladybird, Devil’s Coach Horse...

This resource, produced by SEPNet and Queen Mary University of London, uses Lego to represent the building blocks of matter. Different colour Lego bricks are assigned to different quarks and leptons. The quarks can be put together to make hadrons, such as protons and neutrons. The blocks can also be used to show...

This is a classroom-based activity from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute that allows students to explore the features of two bacterial pathogen genomes. The aim of this activity is to highlight the role of different genetic components in two closely related subspecies of Salmonella enterica, and to identify how...

Many structures are built around frameworks made of straight, rigid pieces of wood or metal, called members, connected together. Forces generated in the members support the structure. In this activity, drinking straws are used as members, to make a self-supporting dome.

Learning outcomes:

• ...

This activity links to aspects of energy production and electricity, giving pupils the opportunity to follow instructions to create their own wind turbines. This activity could be included in a lesson focusing on how wind turbines are one of many methods used to produce a sustainable energy source.

In this resource students use a plastic bottle to isolate a plant and see the effects of an aphid infestation.

• Build an aphid isolation tower

This simulation allows you to build an atom out of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and see how the element, charge, and mass change. Students can then play a game to test their ideas.

Curriculum links include:

• Atoms
• Atomic Structure
• Isotope Symbols
• Atomic Nuclei...

The Build the Change initiative from LEGO Group’s Sustainability team is designed to help children express their hopes and dreams for the future with LEGO® bricks and other creative materials, plus their own imagination, via learning...

With just a few materials, building a paper model of the International Space Station (ISS) can become a class project. This publication contains a brief overview of the ISS, its parts, the science that occurs on board, instructions, and extension fact sheets. Learn about the ISS, explore fun facts, simulate...

In this resource from the European Space Agency, students design and program a LEGO- built rover. Basic instructions are first programmed with the LEGO brick. Then, to remotely control the LEGO-built rover, students program it with the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 software. The objective is to conduct a space experiment...

This IPSE publication from the Association for Science Education (ASE) describes attempts within the Education Support Grant (ESG) project to establish liaison between and within schools. Most attempts were concerned with the primary-secondary interface. In addition to commenting on these, this publication also...

In this activity, students create colour images from satellite data. This allows them to study how different surfaces reflect different wavelengths of light, how coloured images are created using an RGB model, and how band combinations can be chosen to examine a particular landscape effectively.