This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). In recent years, the development of new magnetic materials has shown extraordinary advances. The remarkable strength of the latest generation...

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...

There is a minimum size of meteorite that will make it through the atmosphere of a planet (or the Moon) and impact on the surface. If the meteorite is any smaller than this, it will burn up on its journey through the atmosphere and be seen as a meteor or shooting star (obviously if the meteorite is bigger it will...

Learners discover the BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute for forest research free air carbon enrichment) experiment and the infrastructure associated with it. They are introduced to the arrays, met masts and flux tower and encouraged to think about the research questions that this experiment can answer. Learners are...

The oceans are become more acidic. This is due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through the ...

This resource from the European Space Agency climate change resource pack provides information gathered from the electromagnetic spectrum which is used to monitor and measure changes in the Earth’s climate system. Resources focus upon how satellite instruments orbiting the Earth detect data from the visible light,...

By constructing a model of the constellations in the zodiac, students can learn about the relative motion of the Sun and the Earth. Students can find their own star sign and discover how the view from the Earth will change as the Earth orbits the Sun. The model allows them to see how the night sky changes over a...

 These materials look at three possible projects that relate to sustainable travel.

* Communications project - students gather information and explain about ‘green’ transport policies, reducing and offsetting carbon footprints.

* Practical project - students investigate how to compare carbon dioxide...

This resource uses the context of tornadoes in the solar atmosphere to investigate circular motion and energy changes. A hole is drilled in the bottom of a washing up bowl and orange pith can be used to track the motion of the water when draining through the bottom and creating a vortex. The Key Stage Three...

In this activity developed by the Institute of Physics, students investigate how temperature changes with distance from a heat source and relate this to planetary temperatures. After completing this activity, students should be able to:

*Understand that the temperature of a planet depends on its distance...

In this activity developed by the Institute of Physics, students use iron and sand to model the composition of the Earth and estimate what fraction of the Earth is occupied by its iron core. After completing this activity, students should be able to: *Measure mass and volume. *Calculate density from mass and volume...

This Science upd8 activity draws on Titan which is the biggest of Saturn's moons.

There are two student activities; one involves labelling a diagram to tell students on Earth about the nature of Titan.

The other asks students to take the role of Titanian space explorers and use data to compare the...

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, challenges students to explain the phases of the Moon by linking the movement of the Moon around the Earth with our perspective from Earth of light and shadow on the Moon.

The two files are identical, apart from the curriculum links stated in the teachers...

Comets are considered to be time capsules containing information about the conditions of the early Solar System. In order to understand what comets are, where they come from, and their influence on the evolution of Earth, it is necessary to find out what material they contain. This teacher demonstration and student...