In this learning episode, produced by the Institute of Physics, students investigate how energy is involved in changes of phase, even though there is no change of temperature.

Using discussion, examples and...

From the Institute of Physics, these activities encourage students to discuss the origins, history and future of the universe. Through a range of discussions and activities, students look at:
• the hot big bang
• the age of the Universe
• cosmic microwave background radiation
• the future of...

In this problem students are given two circles with tangents that meet at a point P. The distance along the tangents from the circles to the point P are equal in length. The challenge is to describe the relationship between the x and y coordinates of the point P, given the coordinates of the centre of the circles...

This excel program is about finding the equation of straight lines in the form ax+by+c=0. The first two sheets deals with the equation of the line through two given points and the equation of the line through a point perpendicular to a given line. The resource is an...

This activity can be used to provide a simple introduction to the technique of Fermi estimation. The three files contain an overview, teacher notes and a student handout.

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Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, these materials are designed to raise awareness of the importance of estimating in engineering and to practise the skill. The activity includes discussion and matching sets of measurement cards to cards describing an object. The resource comprises: * Teacher...

This set of resources are based on Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BiFoR) work. The activities provide an innovative way to introduce the issues surrounding the estimation of biomass. For pupils aged between 11 and 14 there are engaging activities to introduce the concept of biomass and pyramids of biomass...

Published by the Wellcome Trust, the 'Big Picture' explores issues around biology and medicine. Why does Darwinian evolution raise controversy when, say, quantum mechanics scarcely registers on the public consciousness?

From Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), this practical activity was developed for Scottish Highers specifications, but the protocol can equally well be used for other specifications. 

Students prepare and stain roots, and then examine them to establish the frequency of mycorrhizae. 

The...

The video gives an amusing introduction to exoplanets. 

The student worksheet takes students through calculations on Doppler shift, orbits and Kepler's Third Law, estimating the mass of a planet using the conservation...

There are teacher notes and student materials which describe the research into the potential effects of climate change on a Coralline algae species. Curriculum links include biodiversity, sampling techniques, student t test, Simpson’s Index, photosynthesis, climate...

Coding spreadsheet enables students to analyse the effect of coding data. Students can manipulate the values for x and the frequencies by which each value of x occurs. Students are required to understand and explain why the particular coding has been used. Once the question has been generated students calculate the...

Outlier tester is a very simple but fun spreadsheet that gives students the chance to explore the definition of an outlier using the interquartile range to determine the values beyond which outliers fall. Sheet two provides definitions for determining where outliers fall. By manipulating the outlier values and/or...

Playing with the quartiles for a small data set involves students using the values 1,3,5 and 7 on the spreadsheet to get the target quartile values for sample sizes of 20, 21, 22 and 23. The aim is to note by how much, or how little, difference to the quartiles is made by increasing the sample size by one. Sheet...

The many applications of mechanics make it an important topic of interest to applied mathematicians, scientists and engineers. This resource, produced by the Centre for Teaching Mathematics at the University of Plymouth, is designed to provide a more realistic view of mechanics and help the teaching of mechanics...