Could there be life on Mars? Perhaps so, although the high intensity of UV light means that it is unlikely to be found on the surface. The experiment demonstrates how bacteria grown on agar plates can be killed off by UV exposure. Curriculum areas covered: • Microbiology • Cell biology • Aseptic technique The video...

A matching is a set of edges on a bipartite graph in which no two edges share a common vertex. A bipartite graph consists of two sets of vertices X and Y. The edges only join vertices in X to vertices in Y. A matching in a bipartite graph is the pairing of some or all of the vertices in X with some or all of the...

This resource, from Mathematics for Engineering Exemplars, shows the application of mathematics within public health engineering to supply clean water in a rural mountain area. Here students learn about the formulae used to calculate the optimum size of pipes which will ensure good pressure of water throughout the...

Mathcentre provide these resources which cover aspects of matrices, often used in the field of engineering. They include determinants, multiplying matrices, the inverse of a matrix and Cramer’s rule, which uses determinants to solve simultaneous equations.

Comprehensive notes, with clear descriptions, for...

This resource is an interactive excel program which provides dynamic drawings and graphs related to the classic maximum volume of a box problem. There are two versions of the problem, one starting with a square base and the other with a rectangular base.

A multiple choice quiz on measurements, materials, forces and motion in A level physics.

Although it is written for OCR AS/A level ...

This activity is designed to enable students to gain a deeper understanding of the topic of variance and the difference between finding the population variance and the sample variance. Students might expect that the sum of the deviations would be divided by n when finding the sample variance instead of (n-1). The...

In this activity students are presented with a calculation of the standard deviation of seven athletes. Students are asked to comment upon the result. It is intended that students will spot that the standard deviation is too large given the data, but can students spot the error? This resource highlights the errors...

From the Integrating Mathematical Problem Solving project by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI), this activity shows that income is not equally distributed among all the inhabitants of a country. This can be shown visually using a graph and also measured. The mathematical ideas covered are:
•...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. A reliable way to demonstrate photosynthesis in the classroom. When the pond-weed Cabomba is placed in a solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate in the presence of light of appropriate intensity, it...

This is a good introductory lesson to get students used to using a variety of measuring devices they might be unfamiliar with and which one you would select for a certain job.  The measuring devices are:

• vernier callipers
• micrometer screw gauge
• travelling microscope
• a metre...

In this investigation students use a mass of plasticine on top of a hacksaw blade to see how the mass of the plasticine affects the resonance frequency that the...

Medical Emergencies, from the Centre for Science Education, is a set of teaching materials which offer a cross-curricular approach to learning about engineering. Students design and make a hanging storage device that could, ideally, be folded up to make a rucksack or...

This is a standard standing waves investigation, where you hang masses off an elasticated piece of wire/string to see how this impacts the vibrations.  It is good to provide this in the everyday context of a guitar or violin string and you can look at altering the length of the wire or the masses hung on it.

Merlin is an Excel add-in developed to enable students to draw statistical diagrams and to perform a number of statistical tests. The add-in was written to support the statistical elements of the biology advanced level curriculum but will also have applications in mathematics and other subjects where statistics are...