This film, from Twig World, looks at the relationship between time and place. In an age before satellite navigation and GPS, one man found an ingenious solution to the problem of determining a ship's location at sea. The key points made in the film are: •Lines of latitude circle the Earth horizontally; lines of...

A podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Have you ever noticed that when you cross a busy road, as well as clocking the traffic, you subconsciously follow what your neighbours do?

Scientists have recently put a figure on this and worked out that...

In this set of activities children learn about the causes and potential impacts of sea-level rise while developing working scientifically. They use data from satellites which observe the Earth and collect information as the basis of evidence for this.

Activities are:

• reading a story about how...

This video explains how our preconceived ideas of how objects move can distort our understanding of Newton’s laws of motion, creating misconceptions.

1.            An object with no unbalanced force acting on it will naturally come to rest.

2.            An unbalanced force causes an object to move...

Aimed at primary level, this pack contains nine activities on the theme of transportation. The activities investigate topics related to friction, forces, levers, earth and space, air and water resistance and areas of design and technology. Designed either for use in class or within a science week or club, the...

The third unit of the Geology: Structure of the Earth series, produced by Northumberland County Council, follows on from the previous units and looks at the how, why and where of earthquakes, how they affect the Earth's surface, people and buildings, and how they are predicted. As in previous units, Unit 3 contains...

[b]Using positional vocabulary[/b]: the objective of this activity is for students to practise using positional vocabulary. The suggested activity requires students to hide an object in the classroom, then give directions to other students in order to find the missing object. The resource contains many prompts,...

A Catalyst article about the European Space Agency (ESA) which has sent the Venus Express spacecraft to explore Earth's cloudy neighbour. The purpose of the project, which is primarily to gather information about the atmosphere around Venus, is explained and is put into context with concerns about climate change on...

This film, from Twig World, explores some of the many ways to explore the Earth and its physical and 'human' features. The key points made in the film are: •Maps have been used by man throughout history to explain and navigate the world. •Traditionally, maps are two-dimensional drawings that use scale to map the...

Man-made satellites are put in specific orbits around our Earth and other planets to do certain jobs e.g. to send digital communications or to monitor the weather. These orbits can be distinguished by height above the planet and the orbital period. The orbits of natural satellites are much more varied and these...

The video begins by showing the misconceptions people have about weightlessness in space (space station). It explains how gravity exerts a force on the moon and so would also exert a force on the space station. It then shows that the astronaut is falling along with the space...

The ASE Lab Books were published in the early 1970s for the Association for Science Education by John Murray. Each title in the series covered one or two topics and brought together the best of the teaching notes and experimental ideas from members of the association...