The World of Science book was based on a selection of the existing SATIS units that had stood the test of time. The project team set up by the Association for Science Education also devised new units to cover topics that had been introduced into the curriculum...

This Resource Book includes guidance and answers to questions together with photocopiable activity pages for each of the 44 topics covered in the World of Science textbook.

Types of activities

The 'World of Science' is not a...

In this practical protocol students investigate one way in which bacteria acquire antibiotic resistance through conjugation - horizontal gene transfer from one bacterial strain or species to another.

Plasmid-mediated evolution is fast because whole functional ‘modules’ are lost and gained, rather than the...

This Catalyst article looks at research suggesting that the social world influences the activity of human genes, in turn affecting brain function. Neuroscientists are now beginning to explore how the brain might be linked to certain...

Produced by Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), this investigation looks at end-product inhibition of the enzyme phosphatase. 

The investigation is designed for students following a Scottish Highers course but it is equally useful for other post-16 courses in biology. 

This investigation involves...

Produced by Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), this activity enables students to investigate the effects of the plant hormone indole acetic acid (IAA) on root growth in mustard seedlings.

Different concentrations of IAA appear to have differing effects on root growth. These effects may vary from one...

Produced by Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), this activity enables students to investigate the effects of different concentrations of nitrates, phosphates and potassium on the growth of radish seedlings.

After sowing, the radish seedlings are kept well watered, in a warm temperature under constant...

'The great nature hunt' is...

This video applies physics to explain how trees can move water up their trunks over 10m, which is the natural limit of sucked water. The ideas of transpiration, osmotic pressure and capillary attraction are considered.  The explanation shows how a negative pressure is be obtained from the intermolecular forces and...

Produced by Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), this investigation enables students to investigate the response of leaf discs from sun and shade plants to green light

Leaf discs from a sun plant and a shade plant are put in a sodium hydrogen carbonate solution. The rate of photosynthesis is seen by how...

This Catalyst article focuses on the Gorteria, a South African daisy which shows great variation in its flowers. It attracts bee flies to pollinate it. It has been used to test theories of evolution.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2.

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This activity introduces the idea that climate change is leading to a greater risk of flooding due to higher levels of rainfall in a short period of time. The main part of the activity is a design challenge for the pupils highlighting how...

Published by the Wellcome Trust, the 'Big Picture' explores issues around biology and medicine. The human brain may be the most complex structure in the universe.

The brain is so powerful that it is attempting to...

A new procedure which creates babies with the DNA of three people has just been given the go ahead in Britain. In this activity, students learn how it can help women with a serious inherited condition to have a healthy baby and why it is deemed so controversial. They describe how to create an embryo with three...

This Science upd8 resource is set in the context of controversial medical study. Researchers have created a human embryo with three separate parents. The scientists believe the development is a potential breakthrough in the prevention of serious diseases. Students take on the role of a trainee nurse who has to...