Suitable for students throughout secondary computing, including those studying at an advanced level, this exercise introduces the Heap Sort and explores why it is more efficient than the Bubble Sort in another Scratch Patch article. Students learn about tree data structures, including the correct terminology for...

This game-writing activity using Scratch will bring back youthful memories for some! It provides...

This practical guide to creating a simple game is aimed at those new to programming with Scratch...

Combining some fundamental physics with trigonometry and computer programming, this guide helps students to create a simulation of the projectile motion of a cannon ball. The concepts are all briefly explained, and the program introduces some clever mathematics as well as game elements, such as collision detection...

This project, exploring basic encryption, is a useful introduction to data security as well as iterating through strings to manipulate them. The program create a ‘substitution cipher’, one of the most basic forms of encryption. It also demonstrates that, for more complex chained commands, Scratch becomes rather...

This visual mathematics project focuses on the beautiful images known as Julia Sets (named after French mathematician Gaston Julia). Students use a repeated iterations to explore the world of complex numbers, writing and amending a relatively complicated Scratch program. 

A Nature of Science reader that tells the story of how scientists have searched for some simple substances from which everything else might be made. The story starts with the discovery that fire could help to obtain metals from rocks and ends with Mendeleev’s triumphant discovery of the periodic law and the...

This excel file deals with the puzzle where a number between 1 and 63 is chosen. That number can be seen on some of a set of six cards. The number can easily be calculated by looking at the cards containing that number. This puzzle is based on binary numbers and the fact that any number can be uniquely expressed as...

Edexcel’s GCSE Astronomy syllabus provides an opportunity for students to develop their understanding and enthusiasm for astronomy, as well as to complement and extend the reach of their study of Key Stage Four science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

This article from School Science...

A Catalyst article about Socotra, a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean off the horn of Africa, belonging to the Republic of Yemen. The islands are becoming famous for their range of animal and plant species and for their use as a natural 'laboratory' where ideas about evolution can be tested. The...

The Solar Spark educational resources are produced by the SUPERGEN Excitonic Solar Cells Consortium. This is a group of research scientists from eight UK universities working together to do scientific research on Excitonic Solar Cells. Researchers work in the areas of polymer solar cells, dye-sensitised solar cells...