Human beings are pretty smart. We have transformed the world and thought up some wondrous inventions. But what will the future hold for planet Earth and the people who inhabit it? Can we use new technology and innovations to improve the quality of our lives as well as the world we live in?

This Science upd8 activity offers an opportunity to test students' understanding of the solar system, and their skills as independent enquirers, problem solvers and effective communicators. Students are part of an earth-bound team set the task of interpreting a range of data relating to the solar system/universe....

In this resource, pupils will create a solar system mobile and learn about the inner and outer planets in our solar system. They will learn that the outer planets are less dense than the inner planets and the planet with the highest density is Earth. Then will then carry out their own density experiment using...

A reader from the Science in Society series which looks at the mining industry, its geological background and the need to make better use of waste products.

Contents:

1. The Earth

2. Mining: some examples of mining operations

3. The mining industry

4. Reclamation and recycling...

From NASA, this image presents the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Outward from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The planets are not shown at their relative distances from the Sun.

This Science upd8 resource revolves around the topic of the universe. A mission brings space dust back from the tail of a comet. The dust may reveal secrets about the origins of the universe and life on Earth. Students must defend the mission's $200 million price tag and produce a graphic to support their talks. ...

From the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this leaflet describes our Sun and its impact on Earth. It looks at the properties of the Sun and how current space missions and ground-based experiments are providing new understanding of our nearest star. STFC is a part of the Research Councils UK (RCUK)...

This short activity introduces students to the ideas of the footprint and resolution of an image, asking them to choose and use appropriate methods to calculate how these quantities would change as they moved a camera to a series of vantage points above the surface of the Earth

From the Royal Astronomical Society, this leaflet looks at career pathways and opportunities in astronomy. It also gives case studies that illustrate the jobs held by women astronomers, including: * Astronomy lecturer and researcher * British Antarctic Survey researcher * Earth scientist * Astrophysicist

From the UK Space Agency, this issue of Space:UK magazine contains news and features on: * Plans for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. * Tracking the world’s first spacecraft. * Satellites to help save lives. * Getting to grips with space weather. * How many satellites orbit the Earth? * Meet the engineer...

From the UK Space Agency, this issue of Space:UK magazine contains news and features on: * Meet the UK space scientists and engineers at the heart of a mission to map the Milky Way. * How UK built satellites are helping to save lives. * The UK physics teacher going to the end of the Earth. * Working on the cameras...

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at physics questions in an amusing but also informative way.

The oldest light in the Universe • The Planck mission which measures the cosmic microwave background. • Mapping the surface of...

This issue of Catalyst includes the following articles:

Carbon Capture

This article investigates some ideas for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere and slowing down the effects of climate change....

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) looks at what UK farmers are doing to protect the country's vanishing bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinating insects; how scientists are trying to figure out how many types of microbes there are on our...