Students are asked to design and make a sock puppet that can be used to promote the social issue of 3-5 years olds starting school. They begin by briefly analysing a simple textile product - their school tie to consider how a relatively simple product still has been designed to be effective. They need to consider a...

This Catalyst article uses physics to investigate the possible causes of the sinking of the Titanic. Mike Follows explains how the hull of the Titanic was constructed to be watertight, however, the strength of the rivets used on the ship were inadequate.

The article shows how the alignment of the sun, Earth...

The Salters’ Chemistry Course Guide, published by the University of York Science Education Group, was written to provide an introduction to the course and to supplement the sixteen unit guides which made up the main body of the course. Some parts were written for...

Using the context of archaeological science, students investigate the food and diet of the people of Stonehenge and the nearby settlement of Durrington Walls, 4500 years ago. There are opportunities for students to test rates of reactions between milk and acids or enzymes used in cheese making, to consider the...

Most people are all too familiar with the idea of animal parasites, including tape worms, ticks and lice. But did you know that plants can also act as parasites, exploiting resources from unwilling hosts? Rather than being rare anomalies, however, there are over 4000 known species of parasitic plants, with...

Cambridge University glaciologist Professor Julian Dowdeswell has spent three years of his life in the Polar Regions.

As Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, this film follows him to Greenland and the Antarctic as his...

A Catalyst article about neutrinos. Neutrinos are fundamental particles. They are tiny, a neutrino has a mass about one-millionth of the mass of an electron, and they have no electric charge. This article looks at the detection of these elusive particles which requires the use a giant detector. The one described is...

This Catalyst article looks at peatlands which usually conjures up images of bleak, boggy hillsides across Northern Europe, Russia and the USA. But peatlands are also found in the tropics. These currently act as a significant store of carbon, yet these valuable ecosystems are under threat; their disappearance could...

This Catalyst article takes a look at the winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2012 who revealed how cells communicate.

All functions of the human body require signals to be released, detected by a receptor in the right place and an appropriate response to be mounted. For example, hormones can be...

This Catalyst article looks at how scientists are learning to use polymers for many medical applications, including implants, bone repairs and reduction in infections.

In this video from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), engineers explain the technology behind Wii controllers. Micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) is the technology behind games console controllers and products like air bags. New applications for...

From The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these resources allow students to consider the problems of industrial waste disposal. In particular they focus on the biological treatment of industrial waste using air as a source of oxygen and problems that such biological treatment plants face.

Astronauts have been taking photographs of the Earth from space for over 50 years and Earth observation ...

This Catalyst article explains the use of stem cells to treat medical problems, and outlines new possibilities for the use of adult stem cells in treatment.

Currently, stem cells used for treatment are embryonic stem cells, since they have the ability to form any cell type in the body. The example of the use...

Geothermal energy is the heat produced by decay of radioactive isotopes deep within the Earth. The temperature at the centre of the Earth is thought to be around 5,000°C, with the temperature reducing toward the surface. It is estimated that 99.9% of the planet is above 100°C. Geothermal energy is considered a...