All life forms on Earth are based on organic biochemistry. This activity requires students to analyse an unknown soil sample (just recovered from a space mission to another planet!) and look for signs of possible indicators for life. Curriculum areas covered: • Cell biology • Food tests, including starch, sugar,...

This resource explores what a vegan diet involves and considers the social and political implications of a vegan society. It is part of the collection of educational resources from The Economist Educational Foundation.

Session 1:

• Explore different kinds of diets
• Reflect...

This Science upd8 resource focuses on the chemical PFOA (perflurooctanoic acid), which is used in Teflon manufacture and is reportedly linked with an increase in the risk of developing allergies. In this activity students examine some of the evidence surrounding PFOA and consider a range of viewpoints.

Work done in this Nuffield 13 - 16 module followed from the B unit called ‘What do plants use for food’ and the S unit ‘Food chains and webs’. This X unit provided enough material for eight double periods. It could be selected to complete either a Science or a Further...

This report identified the alarming disparity between the proportions of students studying mathematics beyond the age of 16.  At that time only one-fifth of pupils in England continued to study maths at any level after achieving a GCSE - the lowest of 24 developed countries. A key recommendation from the report was...

This article discusses using mini battery powered computers to sense, and report back environmental data across a wide area in the Lake District. It talks about some of the ways in which this type of robotThis article discusses using...

Newton is regarded as one of the most influential physicists and mathematicians of all time and his actual birthday depends upon which calendar is used. Under the Julian calendar which was being used in England at the time Newton was born on Christmas day 1642. However, under the currently used Gregorian calander...

This Cre8ate maths activity focuses on reflection and thinking about translation or rotation. It also uses co-ordinates to develop a non-standard transformation. The topic provides rich opportunities for cross curricular work and can also provide the focus for off-site activities.

These four puzzles were initially published in 1917 but are now presented by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) in their Secondary magazine as starting points for mathematical exploration.

It’s in the news! This idea for a mathematical activity featured in the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) Secondary magazine issue 81.

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Issue 84 of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) Secondary magazine featured an activity which was developed by a teacher looking for ways of integrating a problem-solving approach into his everyday teaching.

The activity focuses on finding the mean, mode, median and...

These INSET resources from the National Curriculum Council (NCC) provide a range of activities for teachers of Key Stages One to Four to help them achieve continuity and progression in their design and technology lessons. The programme gives a picture of the practice at the time (1991) in a rapidly changing area of...

A Catalyst article about scientists publishing their results in journals. Newspapers, magazines and TV programmes are full of stories based on science and technology. But can these articles be trusted? This article looks at the way in which scientists try to ensure that their own publications are reliable. It makes...

This Catalyst article looks at a newspaper report, which carried the headline “It’s life, but not as we know it”, following NASA’s supposed discovery of a ‘second form of life’. The scientific paper, published by the eminent journal Science, even created widespread speculation about the existence of extra-...

A Catalyst article about working in materials science and engineering, the process of deciding which material is best for each application. The structure of materials, processing them and working in jobs and careers with them are explained.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2007, Volume 17,...