This issue of Big Picture provides lots of interesting information about flowering plants and their uses. 

The plant hormones animation explores the action of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and shows how scientists used experimental evidence to explain the role of auxins in a phototrophic response.

The...

A Catalyst article looking at the chemicals that are in plants and trees and the role they play in the life of the plant. Starting with photosynthesis the article moves onto naturally occurring chemicals and explains why plants need fertilisers. Growing salad crops hydroponically is also examined.

This...

A Catalyst article looking at how plants develop large surface areas both in the air (leaves) and in the soil (root hairs) to get all they need from the environment. The article explores the relationship between plants and soil and looks at new research on fungi in soil and their involvement with the mineral...

A Catalyst article about the use of remote telescopes and detecting cosmic rays. Giant telescopes that can be operated remotely are located in Hawaii and Australia and are known as the Faulkes telescopes.

These are available to students in the UK to do original research with, and enable the following...

A Catalyst article discussing how polymers affect every day of people’s lives. With diverse characteristics and applications their usefulness can only be limited by human imagination. Due to polymers’ widespread and varied use a responsible and systematic recycling programme is both economically and environmentally...

A Catalyst article about the problems of recycling plastics. The article looks at novel uses for products made from recycled plastics. It also looks at the make-up of polymers and the history of their manufacture. Finally, alternatives to plastics are examined.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science...

These resources from the Wellcome Trust look at how populations grow, change and move, and why understanding them is so important. The resources use real research to illustrate many aspects of the study of populations, including:

• ecology
• epidemiology
• ...

This Catalyst article is about Emily Beardon, a postgraduate student. Here, she explains how she became a research student and describes a typical day in the lab.

A Catalyst article about experimenting with waterboatmen and observing how they catch their prey. The equipment required for the activity is described.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 16, Issue 4.

Catalyst ...

A Catalyst article about predators. The article explores some general principles about predator–prey relationships and looks in some detail at the adaptations shown by a predatory insect being used in the control of an insect pest.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1...

A Catalyst article about the human gut and the many microbes it hosts, mainly bacteria. Probiotics are live bacterial ingredients or supplements designed to multiply in the colon and have an impact on health. A prebiotic is a carbohydrate that is not digestible by humans. The article examines the role they play,...

A Catalyst article describing how process chemists work in the pharmaceutical industry, devising methods of making new drugs. Process chemists are a link in the chain from an initial idea to a new drug making it to the market. It generally takes at least 10 years from an idea by a medicinal chemist to a new...

These resources explore proteins by their different function, with examples of how they give structure to living things, carry messages and molecules around our bodies, support the immune system, catalyse chemical reactions, and their use in industry and medicine:

Structure and movement How...