Plant gums are often used in the food industry as thickening and stabilising agents. Gums are water soluble polysaccharides, such as starch and cellulose. In this activity, students investigate what happens to the texture when different polysaccharides are mixed.

When solutions of some polysaccharides are...

The Propagator project introduces students to hydraulic systems and their inner workings. Using a...

This video clip demonstrates an investigation into the absorption of infrared radiation by different surfaces. This is a required practical for students to understand and be able to carry out for GCSE Combined Science and Physics.

Produced by Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), this resource looks at the compounds produced by conifers that inhibit the growth of other plant species.

Conifers, such as pine trees, contain compounds which...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. An intriguing way to demonstrate gravitropism in action over the course of a lesson. Using black film canisters, a freshly cut seedling stalk (hypocotyl...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. In this practical, student investigate how lead inhibits catechol oxidase, an enzyme which is easily extracted from a banana and which is responsible for turning fruit brown. Measuring the intensity...

In activity children simply give directions to a “robot” (either an adult or another child) and find out which instructions the robot is able to follow, and how their instructions are taken literally. It allows children to...

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 is designed to have students study a visual representation in detail. Students are asked to look consider components that include:
* the title
* its content
* information the students have gathered from the visual
*...

In this activity, produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, students learn about the importance of a comprehensive and accurate bibliography, before compiling one of their own for an article they have written previously. In the activity, students become acquainted with and practise the way a bibliography is...

Produced by Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, in this activity students write a review article, paying particular attention to the structure, content, language and format used. Following the activity, students should be able to: * use their knowledge of the structure of scientific review articles to write a...

Produced in 2011 by the Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the themes of harnessing technology and, equality and diversity. From Sussex Downs College, the study describes how research into engaging male learners was used to investigate why more males than females achieved below...

This booklet, published by Unilever, gives an account of surface activity that was intended complement the coverage of surface tension as dealt with in school textbooks. The aim was to make the topic accessible to post-16 science students in schools and colleges. The...

Produced by The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these resources help to put curriculum science in a real life context.

Children follow the use of water from a reservoir, through an industrial site where it is treated, used as cooling water, and treated again before being returned to a...

The Basic Course of Nuffield Home Economics was designed for students aged 11–14. The project was supported by the Nuffield Foundation and devised in collaboration with trial schools and with industrial consultants.

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