This unit on geometrical reasoning from the National Strategies aims to make a significant contribution to the development of teaching and learning of geometrical reasoning. It was planned for the end of Year Nine in order to provide an opportunity to draw together students’ existing geometrical knowledge within a...

This unit from the National Strategies is a sequel to the Year Eight multiplicative relationships unit. It provides an opportunity to revise, consolidate and extend ideas introduced in Year Eight and to make links to other mathematical strands, particularly shape and space. Making such links, especially with visual...

A Catalyst article about International Heliophysical Year (2007-08) - a year of scientific collaboration, studying the Sun and the impact of its radiation on the Earth. How the Sun is changing and the history of solar research is examined.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2007, Volume...

Act 1

A video shows two packages of Starbursts being opened...

A Catalyst article looking at the methods used to power rockets. Solid rocket boosters and liquid fuel rockets are the two main propulsion systems used to power rockets and solar power is used to drive electrical equipment. This article looks at these power systems and the future for rocket science.

This...

This task is designed to assess how well students understand proportional reasoning and measures set in a practical situation.

The task is set in the context of a company producing tubs of yoghurt. There is a series of questions relating to production that include calculating; profits, stocking of the...

This book looks at several aspects of how the mind works: *Making sense of the world * How we perceive * How we behave * Ways of learning * How we think and feel * What kind of person are you? You and Your Mind was one of the Science at Work series. All the booklets in the series were highly illustrated with...

Act 1

A video shows soda drink being poured into two...

The Science Education Tracker is a survey commissioned by the Wellcome Trust that helps build understanding of the experiences, aspirations and intentions of young people across England with respect to science and related disciplines. There are some reassuring findings in this representative study of over 4,000...

This comprehension activity, from Genetic Disorders UK, looks at the structure and function of the brain and central nervous system, and what can happen if the brain becomes damaged.

The information provided for...

This video, written and presented by Matt Parker and Timandra Harkness, considers the statistics of death. The only certainty is that everyone will die, but it is not known how or when this will happen. Based upon statistics, the odds of dying in particular ways are calculated and interpreted. The Normal...

This Catalyst article describes what it is like to work with laboratory animals, ensuring that they are treated ethically. The article focuses on the career of an animal technician making the point that a degree is not essential to pursue a career in science. There are many positions available each year for lab...

In this TEMI resource, a mathematical 'magic trick' is used to explore divisors, prime numbers and prime factorisation.

In the trick, the teacher invites students to type a random three digit number into their calculators. To make the task of predicting the divisors of this number even more difficult,...

In this Bowland assessment task, students are required to allocate dormitories at a Youth Hostel for a given number of boys, girls and adults given certain constraints. Suitable methods of displaying the information are to be designed, a systematic method employed in order to check that all the conditions have been...