This assembly resource from the Association for Science Education (ASE) aims to take a light-hearted look at why some science fiction ideas become reality and others do not. The assembly emphasises the importance of a basic understanding of science, in order to enter...

Produced in 2009-2010, Assessing Pupils Progress (APP) was produced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and is a structured approach to periodic assessment, written to enable teachers to use diagnostic information about students’ strengths and weaknesses and to track students’ progress.

[b]...

Part of the Assessing Pupils' Progress (APP) collection, these resources present the criteria for assessing progress in students’ understanding of science at Key Stage Three.

[b]Structure[/b]
These guidelines/criteria are to help teachers assess progress in students’ work across five strands of...

APP Standards Files exemplify student work at different levels. Each Standards File includes:

*examples of evidence generated from students’ work in science, which have been assessed to exemplify the APP approach and show national standards

*commentary on the evidence for each AF, which leads to a...

Guidance for teachers on the thinking behind the use of Assessing Pupils Progress (APP) in secondary science at Key Stage Three. This handbook stresses the 'periodic' nature of the assessment possible using APP, as opposed to day-to-day and transitional assessments.

[b]Contents[/b]
This booklet...

National Strategies teacher self-study units were devised to help science teachers develop an understanding of the key elements of Assessment for Learning and how it might affect their practice.

...

This resource provides Key Stage Three National Strategy training materials to run a day session with science teachers to help them develop an understanding of the key elements of Assessment for Learning and how it might affect their practice.

The search for life on other worlds is one of the most fascinating contexts that science lessons can have. In this guide, several of the resources focus on practical experiments or investigations that link astrobiology to the science curriculum. In all cases, regular scientific concepts such as factors affecting...

This activity includes a game-based approach to measuring reaction speed. Fast reflexes are vital to astronauts who may need to deal with rapidly escalating incidents and high-speed projectiles.

The effect of distraction on reaction speed is investigated – students collect multiple readings and take averages...

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support the teaching of the following concepts:

• The properties of elements and compounds arise from the structural arrangement of their constituent atoms.

• The representation of substances (elements,...

Work done in this Nuffield 13 - 16 module followed from the unit called ‘Particles’ and was intended to lead to an understanding of the ways in which some properties of materials can be explained in terms of the type and arrangement of their atomic and molecular...

This teaching resource is based on the discovery of a giant 30 000 year old virus, still alive under the permafrost. As the world warms, others may be uncovered. Could such an ancient virus wipe out the human race? In this activity, students learn how to interrogate sources to separate science fact from fiction....

This longer-duration activity involves prototyping a low-power lighting system. It could be used in an off-timetable workshop or across a series of lessons.

Students are challenged to work through the whole design process, and to place a micro-controller (in this case a BBC micro:bit) at the centre of the...

The BBC micro:bit is a great tool for carrying out surveys that involve quickly counting and recording one or two variables. Using the button inputs provides a simple interface to the device allowing, for instance, quick tallying of the numbers of two different types of bee around a plant. Other examples might...

Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) has provided a free online learning platform for schools which includes curriculum linked activities, developed to support secondary school students. These activities provide the opportunity for students to join a growing community of citizen scientists who are...