This Problem Solving with Industry module was devised by the Centre for Science Education in collaboration with Hadfield, Cawkwell, Davidson and Partners. In this module students, working in teams, are asked to come up with plans for a new DIY superstore.

In Building a town, from Cre8ate maths, students are encouraged to consider the mathematical shapes which form the net of a building. Some simple models are shown and students could use these to construct their nets, before building the models themselves.

The initial activity in this resource asks students to start with x = 6 and write further equations where x = 6 is the solution. For example, subtracting two from both sides of the equation gives

x ­- 2 = 4

The next step is to use the equation given to build a more complicated one. An example is

[b]Ordering units of weight:[/b] the objective of this activity is to assess prior knowledge of learners and their understanding of metric units. Students are presented with a set of cards on which are written metric weights in grams, kilograms and in words. Students are required to place the cards in order of...

Learners discover the BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute for forest research free air carbon enrichment) experiment and the infrastructure associated with it. They are introduced to the arrays, met masts and flux tower and encouraged to think about the research questions that this experiment can answer. Learners are...

This Salters’ Chemistry Course unit from the University of York Science Education Group covered:
* Properties of building materials including their reactions with acid.
* Factors which affect rate of reaction.
* The relationship between the properties and...

In this one hour activity, students evaluate the types of fire risks in different buildings.  In the context of a team which has been contracted by the local council to improve fire safety, each team picks a building type and produces advice for the council.

This assessment task from Bowland asks students to work out how much material is needed to make bunting to go round a garden. The key processes involved are representing, analysing, communicating and reflecting. Students are given a number of basic facts upon which to base their solution and two steps are suggested...

This activity investigates the potential of hydrogen fuel cells as a means of energy generation and storage. Students make hydrogen gas by electrolysis, supported by practical instruction sheet. Combined with the Burning Fuels 2 resource, students can explore the...

In this activity, students carry out research into the development and application of hydrogen fuel cells. Students are asked to produce a presentation or podcast which includes:

*An explanation of what hydrogen fuel...

This Salters’ Chemistry Course unit from the University of York Science Education Group covered:
* causes and control of fire
* flash points & controlled burning
* energy changes in chemical reactions
* bond breaking and making exothermic and...

This short task considers a distance time graph for a bus journey. Students must answer a series of questions on interpreting the graph, including drawing the graph of the journey of a bus traveling in the opposite direction.   

The resource comes with both scored and unscored student work. This is useful...

This resource features a task that explores setting up and solving simultaneous equations in a practical context.

Ralph and Jody go to a shop to buy potato chips and candy bars. Each buys a different combination of the items, with the total cost to each person being given. One equation is given, and students...

In this project, students find out about the causes and consequences of dehydration. They will experiments to investigate the constituents of commercially available oral rehydration salts (ORS), a common treatment for dehydration.

Most re-hydration salts contain glucose and sodium...

In this project, students devise experiments to compare the insulating (thermal) properties of different materials, relating thier findings to what the manufacturers claim about the thermal properties of their fabrics.