Students investigate and evaluate the development of new technologies to reduce pollution from combustion: catalytic converters, electric cars and fuel cells. Cradle to grave cycles of use are  considered, such as the use of incineration of waste to produce electricity for transport.

Learning outcomes:

This very basic video shows what people believe water is.  It might be useful as a discussion point.

Different fuels are considered and how energy to move transport is released during combustion. This lesson also looks at the story of steam tube trains and our changing understanding of the effects of emissions from combustion on health.

Learning outcomes:

• Could represent combustion reactions...

This Science upd8 activity draws on Titan which is the biggest of Saturn's moons.

There are two student activities; one involves labelling a diagram to tell students on Earth about the nature of Titan.

The other asks students to take the role of Titanian space explorers and use data to compare the...

Conditions on other planets are unlikely to be within the same ranges as that experienced by Earth. However, a degree of variance from ‘ideal’ ranges may be tolerable for a small number of organisms known as extremophiles. This investigation looks at the effects of subjecting a living organism (yeast) to some...

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Identify the types of things rock may be comprised of.
• Describe the differences between grains, fossil fragments and crystals found in rocks.    
• Explain how the types of...

These student handouts contain text and questions about:

• Classifi...

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet introduces the concepts of dark matter and dark energy. Included is an online video that discusses how the Universe will end, including the role of dark matter and energy. The booklet describes the composition of the Universe, this is followed by questions...

Sports engineers from Sheffield Hallam University and Frazer Nash are helping Team GB's wheelchair paralympians fine-tune their equipment and training regimes using advanced analysis technology. Engineers explain the relationship between science and engineering in disability sports and how inspiring it is to work...

This podcast from the Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) Planet Earth Online collection looks at how scientists are using fish scales to figure out why the UK salmon population is falling; and how carbon dioxide emissions from power stations could be used to make household bricks.

Salmon numbers...

From Understanding Animal Research, these materials help students understand the process of drug discovery and development. It shows that the drug discovery process is long and complex and involves several different stages, including basic research, animal testing and clinical trials. The materials include: *...

Produced by Rolls-Royce, this series of case studies illustrates the wide range of career opportunities that are opened up for students with skills in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. They can be used to give careers advice and guidance to students as well as to illustrate the curriculum principles...

Produced by Rolls-Royce, this entertaining video clip takes the form of an animated rap which describes a range of career opportunities open to students with skills in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). It makes a good...