This series investigates unusual careers in science-related fields and finds out about commonly considered ways in which science can be put to use. 

The Wellcome Trust Monitor is a unique survey of UK adults' and young people's views of science, biomedical research and science education.

* Wave 1 (the baseline survey) was conducted in 2009 by the National Centre for Social Research who interviewed 1,179 adults and 374 young people.
*Wave 2 was...

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute’s Public engagement...

From the Wellcome Trust, these short animations can be downloaded and used in the classroom. The animations help students to understand a range of biological processes and diseases. These include:
* The genome, methods used in DNA sequencing and the translation and transcription of DNA into proteins
*...

Produced by the Wellcome Trust, these resources include an interactive evolutionary tree and a video of the Tree of Life. These materials will help students to find out more about the work of Charles Darwin and evolution. The resources contain:

Tree of life video: The video is a short...

This Catalyst article looks at sperm whales and their ways of communications. Sperm whales can dive deep into the ocean. They use sound waves to communicate in the dark and to detect their prey.

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

A Catalyst article about whaling. During the last century whales were hunted and killed by many nations for the valuable materials they provided. Whale populations collapsed as a result. The article looks in detail at this example of human impact on the environment and details whale populations throughout the world...

This Catalyst article explains the use of stem cells to treat medical problems, and outlines new possibilities for the use of adult stem cells in treatment.

Currently, stem cells used for treatment are embryonic stem cells, since they have the ability to form any cell type in the body. The example of the use...

This short activity introduces students to the ideas of the footprint and resolution of an image, asking them to choose and use appropriate methods to calculate how these quantities would change as they moved a camera to a series of vantage points above the surface of the Earth

This article from Catalyst looks at aurora borealis caused by the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic field. It also explains how satellites are testing thoeires of how this happens. Auroral light emission occurs at roughly 100 km altitude. Energetic electrons in the solar wind cause the...

Work done in this Nuffield 13 - 16 module followed from the unit called ‘Food and digestion’. This B unit provided enough material for six double periods in the third year of secondary school (year nine). The teachers’ guide included four worksheets to supplement the...

This activity uses a humorous video to raise a serious question: can science tell us what animals are saying, and interpret their emotions? The Bow-lingual dog translator claims to detect animal emotions by analysing bark sounds waves. Students use research evidence to decide whether the device does what it claims...

Using real data from CensusAtSchool 2000/2001, this resource explores issues around the disposal or recycling of the empty aluminium cans in schools. Students discuss the issue, calculate statistics, draw graphs and look further into what happens to empty cans in their own school. 

From the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this resource describes the new and exciting subject that brings together many different branches of science. Astrobiology is the study of how life formed and developed on the Earth, the conditions that made this possible and whether these conditions can...

This Catalyst article looks at Biochemistry, the study of chemical reactions in living things, exploring how it differs from other biological subjects and how examples can be found in everyday life.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2.

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