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 Catalyst article looks at sexual selection, a form of natural selection, and the role it plays in the evolution of many organisms. The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 24, Issue 4.

Catalyst is a science...

This is one of the 18 Background Books published for Stage II of the Nuffield Chemistry Sample Scheme. The books were highly illustrated and designed to be attractive. This book describes aspects of the history of chemistry by exploring the developments that led to the Periodic Table.

There are 4 parts to...

Work done in this Nuffield 13 - 16 module followed from the S unit called ‘Circuits’. This D unit provided enough material for eight double periods during a Further Science course and built on the content of the S units for Single Science. The teachers’ guide included...

In this biology extension module of the Salters’ Science course, an exhibition of foods is used to introduce examples of using microbes in food processing. Students make sauerkraut and learn about the establishment of microbial populations in new habitats. Positive uses...

This resource provides five activities which support learning about food, diet, digestion and food preparation and preservation all set in the context of Polar Exploration. Each activity has a context that links it to a person working in the...

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...

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 Unilever Laboratory Experiment describes the preparation of soap from a mixture of cooking oil and dripping. The leaflet was first published in 1964 and so lacks modern safety guidance. The procedure is authentic; it is designed to produce a convincing sample of soap. This means that it could be the basis of...

The method of preparation of a sulphonate paste described in this Unilever Laboratory Experiment is basically the same as that used by Unilever in the large-scale production of soapless detergents at the time of publication in 1964. The required reactants included an alkylbenzene hydrocarbon supplied by the...

This Catalyst article looks at the production of rice, which is a staple food for billions of people. It describes how crop scientists have identified varieties of rice with favourable characteristics, such as flood resistance, and are using them to develop crops with increased yield. Such crops may help to...

Published in 2015, the Wellcome Trust worked with the National STEM Learning Centre and Network to develop an intensive continuing professional development (CPD) programme for primary teachers to improve their expertise, in order to become Primary Science Leaders in their schools.

The Trust commissioned the...

The engineers behind the Watt Nightclub in Rotterdam turn the energy created by clubbers on the dance-floor into power for the lighting. There is even a giant battery to monitor the energy and encourage the crowd to dance more.