Our society is linked by many networks: telephone networks, utility supply networks, computer networks, and road networks. For a particular network there is usually some choice about where the roads, cables, or radio links can be placed. This resource explores the need to find ways of efficiently linking objects in...

In this Science upd8 activity students use their understanding of simple circuits, electricity and magnetism to diagnose and fix problems with the running of a magnetic train in a theme park.

This resource is based on the Inventive podcast. The podcast mixes engineering fact with fiction. Each podcast features an interview with an engineer. In this activity, structural engineer and author Roma Agrawal is the inspiration for C M Taylor to write 'The Nightbuilder'.

Short audio clips about the...

When there are a lot of people using one resource, such as cars using roads, or messages getting through the Internet, there is the possibility of “deadlock”. A way of working cooperatively is needed to avoid this happening. The resource begins with instructions on how to play the orange game. The activity contains...

A National STEM Learning Centre and Network Engineering Case Studies resource investigating the design process involved in developing a paper cup for manufacture.

You wouldn't believe making a paper cup could be...

This activity shows how to accomplish a simple, but nevertheless seemingly impossible task -making a fair random choice by flipping a coin, between two people who don’t necessarily trust each other, and are connected only by a telephone. The resource begins with a detailed explanation of the activity and...

This resource provides a framework for teachers to run a transition project with Year 6 pupils to help them with the move from primary to secondary school. The project is based on the theme of Polar Exploration and aims to enable pupils to use and develop a range of STEM skills that they will ultimately need to...

Many optimization problems involve situations where certain events cannot occur at the same time, or where certain members of a set of objects cannot be adjacent. For example, anyone who has tried to time-table classes or meetings will have encountered the problem of satisfying the constraints on all the people...

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...

This pack of worksheets, produced by the Spode Group, is designed to give students experience in problem solving during the early years of secondary school, and was written in response to publications encouraging the teaching mathematics through problem solving,...

In this Tripled Crossed activity, from the Centre for Science Education and supported by the Astra Zeneca Teaching Trust, students match various nutrient groups with the food groups and consider the nutritional benefits. They are then provided with food cards that cover the kinds of foods eaten in Roman times and...

This excel file deals with the puzzle where a number between 1 and 63 is chosen. That number can be seen on some of a set of six cards. The number can easily be calculated by looking at the cards containing that number. This puzzle is based on binary numbers and the fact that any number can be uniquely expressed as...

This Problem Solving with Industry module was devised by the Centre for Science Education in collaboration with Willis Carroon North Limited and South Yorkshire Police. In this module the problem is to choose the most appropriate electronically-controlled security...

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Recall that all organisms store heritable genetic information in their genome inside cells.

• Recognise that the genome is made of a chemical substance called DNA....

Students will begin by comparing the range of temperatures on the Earth, Mars and the Moon, using the student worksheet ‘Temperature: from one extreme to another!’ They will have to plot the temperature over a ten-day period from 4 September to 13 September, as measured by three different craft that landed on the...