This resource uses the context of the INEOS TEAM UK America's cup base in Portsmouth for students to explore the factors surrounding, using and installing solar panels on the roof of the building.  It includes the modeling required to maximise the roof area that can be used for solar panels and the data anlysis...

A National STEM Learning Centre and Network Engineering Case Studies resource investigating battery powered lawnmowers and their potential environmental impact.

Lawnmowers have come a long way since they were a mechanical cutter being pushed along by hand. A smart battery (like in your mobile phone) lets you...

This practical activity explores beak adaptations in bird populations and looks at the way in which variation in beak shape is related to the available food sources within an environment.

Students simulate bird feeding by using a ‘beak’ to collect food and place it into a stomach. There are four different...

In this resource, students use their STEM skills to help them design and build a model of a flood- proof house. Activities to help them with their design include testing materials (for strength and absorbency) and structures. Set on a fictitious island coping with the devastating effects of flooding caused by...

In this lesson students investigate different fuels both practically and as a research project. This includes energy output, ease of combustion, the cost to environment in extraction, economic cost, ease of delivery and related factors.

Learning outcomes:

• Students could calculate the energy...

The materials provide teachers with examples of different enquiry types, e.g. classifying and identifying, developing systems, and pattern seeking.  The booklet provides an overview of the enquiries and the particular approaches used. Scientists use many different ways to collect evidence, but a survey undertaken...

In this topic, from the Association for Science Education (ASE), students explore the importance of biodiversity to humankind. The topic is designed to allow classes in schools across the world to exchange information about the factors affecting biodiversity today.

Students focus in particular on the...

In this ARKive activity, students work in medical teams and balance competing priorities for the conservation of an endangered species and devise a ‘treatment’ plan. Students learn the importance of biodiversity and species conservation, the fine balance of the ecosystem and how to measure competing priorities....

This short video and accompanying booklet introduce pupils to biofilms formed by bacteria. 

The video starts by introducing an everyday example of a biofilm on our teeth and then links this to bioflims in rivers. It explains how important these biofilms are in the context of food chains and makes for an...

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Much of the energy consumption in the modern world relies on the use of oil, coal or natural gas, and these fossil fuels are non-renewable. Some people believe that biofuels, made from...

This resource, from Siemens UK, looks at the use of wind farms to provide sustainable energy for a range of communities in a variety of settings. The selection of a New Zealand context is significant as Maori communities see themselves as being responsible for effective stewardship of the land for future...

A National STEM Learning Centre and Network Engineering Case Studies resource investigating the evolution of the Blu-Ray DVD player, starting with the invention of the laser in 1958. This is a science enquiry story of how these devices have evolved from the invention of the laser in 1958 to the high-tech blue laser...

In this activity, from the Institution of Engineering and technology (IET), students investigate a use of electronic systems to improve health care.

They study a case where a Body Centric Antenna (BCA) increases the...

This Science upd8 activity draws on research which shows that young female chimps learn survival skills faster and more effectively than males.

Their sex-based learning differences are similar to those of humans! In this activity students look at research evidence and decide whether learning differences are...

This Science upd8 activity investigates the claim that taking fish oil every day boosts students' school performance. The original study had no control. In this activity, students plan how to get more evidence on the effects of fish oils.