A Catalyst article about a group of young scientists testing scientific claims in advertising. The group thought many claims sounded implausible. They decided to hunt for the scientific evidence behind them and challenge the manufacturers to explain how the products work. The article outlines the investigations...

The human population of Earth has reached seven billion. This Catalyst article explores the impact that human activity may have on the planet. The article looks at the rate of population growth and how human impact is also related on the amount of resources used by an individual. It considers if the effects of...

A Catalyst article describing how engineers have designed an aircraft which will produce much less noise as it approaches and leaves the airport. The Silent Aircraft Initiative is a collaboration between scientists and engineers at two universities, Cambridge (UK) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, this activity gives students the opportunity to practise quickly skim-reading a text to assess its usefulness.

A guided activity asks students to quickly browse through a scientific article and extract information such as its title, author and the subject of...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to look at a text, after an initial skim read, to judge if it is worth considering in more detail.

This ‘second glance’ activity serves several aims:
* It enables students to assess quickly what is the subject of the...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, this activity helps students to consider how useful and informative article titles are.

During the activity, students:
* browse a scientific article.
* look for information such as the author, publication date and content of the abstract.
*...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to identify different sections in scientific texts which help to create an order and logical progression of the information conveyed. It encourages students to look at how the information is split into several principal types and...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, this activity helps students to further examine scientific texts.

Texts can be characterised according to the type of information or knowledge they deal with. There are different kinds of texts and they can be classified and sorted in various ways. This...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to consider the best way to write an abstract or a short summary.

The activity is a useful learning tool as it enables students to:
* organise learning materials and texts.
* understand and remember information....

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, in this activity students examine a scientific article and answer questions which encourage them to consider:

* What is the main subject?
* Who are the researchers?
* Why is the study interesting and important?
* What questions does it...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to look at the structure of a scientific research paper.

The materials contain two activities. Each relates to a scientific paper that is provided in separate sections. Students are presented with the different sections of the...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, challenge students to write a scientific article.

Students are presented with a writing brief and guidelines which contain the required structure for their article. The activity could be extended into the production of a class newspaper...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to make oral presentations.

Students are encouraged to prepare a short presentation and, in doing so, consider the following points:
* Who are the audience?
* What does their audience know about the subject of the...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, help students to reflect on a presentation they have practised and delivered.

Working with a partner, they evaluate their presentations to consider points that include:
* What were the key points of the presentation?
* Were key...

These activities, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, gives students an opportunity to design and produce a science poster similar to one that could be presented at a conference.

The scientific poster format is an excellent way of presenting students’ work. It necessitates a brief and fluent...