The movement of tectonic plates against each other can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and most active volcanoes on the Earth are located along the edge of these plates. Volcanoes can also occur far away from plate boundaries, although this is less common.

These volcanoes are maintained by hotspots...

This activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, introduces students to ways of combining errors (uncertainties) from two independent measured quantities. Using the equation for Doppler shift, the error in the rotational velocity and time period are calculated....

Using the context of archaeological science, students investigate the food and diet of the people of Stonehenge and the nearby settlement of Durrington Walls, 4500 years ago. There are opportunities for students to test rates of reactions between milk and acids or enzymes used in cheese making, to consider the...

This Problem Solving with Industry module was devised by the Centre for Science Education in collaboration with Willis Carroon North Limited and South Yorkshire Police. In this module the problem is to choose the most appropriate electronically-controlled security...

Students will begin by comparing the range of temperatures on the Earth, Mars and the Moon, using the student worksheet ‘Temperature: from one extreme to another!’ They will have to plot the temperature over a ten-day period from 4 September to 13 September, as measured by three different craft that landed on the...

In this activity, developed by the Institute of Physics, students use a lamp and polystyrene balls to model how astronomers detect exoplanets using the transit method. After completing this activity, students should: *Understand that the transit of a planet in front of its star temporarily reduces the star’s...

In this SATIS Revisited resource students consider the conflict between the increasing use of energy and the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels in order to lessen carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change.

The aim of this unit is to introduce the idea that the discussion of controversial issues...

This Problem Solving with Industry module was devised by the Centre for Science Education in collaboration with ICI. In this module students find out why pipes in a soda-ash chemical plant have become blocked with a white sludge. They identify the sludge and determine...

The poster ‘The Never-Ending Battle for Fortress Plant’ illustrates ideas about plant defences against pathogens. It depicts the plant as a fortress which is defended against invading pathogens. The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walk-through of the ideas in the poster...

Impulsive, socially anxious, uncompromising - these are some of the characteristics you may recognise in the teenagers you know. Scientists at the University of Oxford are researching into changes that take place in the teenage brain that may...

This mathematics lesson is suitable for KS4 or more able KS3 students.

They explore numbers in nature and discover that Fibonacci numbers and spirals frequently appear. They will then use the sequence to discover and...

RAL Space is the UK’s national space laboratory where our thermal engineers and technicians help design and build spacecraft. They make sure that the components will work correctly and are protected in the extreme temperatures of space by using a special type of insulation. In this activity and presentation, pupils...

This Science upd8 activity illustrates practical applications of classroom science in the context of using sustainable building materials, and highlights several related various career routes. Students become members of a consultancy firm which specialises in sustainable building projects. They have to use their...

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...

These resources provide up to date information and class activities on the topic of tidal power. Based on cutting edge research and the development of the Severn Tidal Barrage, students gain a valuable insight into the work of engineers in the design of the barrage and the environmental and ethical factors which...