In this activity, students create colour images from satellite data. This allows them to study how different surfaces reflect different wavelengths of light, how coloured images are created using an RGB model, and how band combinations can be chosen to examine a particular landscape effectively.

The premise of this activity is that the school is sending a rover to Mars. Its mission is to search for evidence that life has ever existed there. The class must decide where the rover should land on Mars. They will do this by working in groups and investigating six potential  landing sites and weighing up the...

The premise of this activity is that the school is sending a rover to Mars. Its mission is to search for evidence that life has ever existed there. It is the job of the class to decide where the rover should land on Mars. They will do this by working in groups and investigating six potential landing sites and...

The premise of this activity is that the school is sending a rover to Mars. Its mission is to search for evidence that life has ever existed there. It is the job of the class to decide where the rover should land on Mars. They will do this by working in groups and investigating six potential landing sites and...

In this resource from ESA, students' mission is to design and build a vehicle that will protect their Eggnaut from the perils of re-entry from space. The objective is to have your Eggnaut survive the fall without a crack. The project can be adpated for either primary or secondary students. The resource was produced...

This interactive online game from Siemens sets students a series of challenges to design a roller coaster which needs to reach the end of the ride and at a safe speed. Students use problem solving and mathematical reasoning skills to change some of the track features and see how this affects the speed of the...

This resource shows how you can successfully lift a person off the ground using two cordless leaf blowers, problem-solving skills and some STEM knowledge: the same knowledge and skills that are used to design hovercraft.

Curriculum links include:

forces ...

Measuring the diameter of our star This simple exercise allows students to measure the diameter of the Sun using a metre rule and two pieces of card. An image of the Sun needs to be projected on the card using a small hole in one piece of card.

Measuring the number of hours in a day...

From the Integrating Mathematical Problem Solving project by Mathematics for Education and Industry (MEI), this activity for post-16 students demonstrates that coffee cools gradually because it is hotter than room temperature and heat is lost to the room. Mixing the coffee with milk also cools it but this effect is...

From the Integrating Mathematical Problem Solving project by MEI, this series of activities explores how mechanical oscillations are important in many areas of everyday life. Sometimes they are useful, for example the motion of the suspension on a car, sometimes they...

In this activity students roll rice filled balls (to mimic boccia balls) down a slope and measure the distance that they roll after the end of the slope. The ball is released from different heights up the slope and a graph of stopping distance is plotted. Students must then compete to roll their balls to a target...

On December 15th 2015 European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake launched on the six month Principia mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Principia was named after Isaac Newton’s Naturalis Principia Mathematica, describing the principal laws of motion and gravity.

The education and inspiration of...

From NASA, these activities look at the scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical foundations of rocketry to provide exciting classroom opportunities for authentic hands-on experimentation. Rockets have formed the basis of space exploration.

Extensive teachers' notes, guidance and lesson plans...