This resource gives students a brief overview of the different options available when building a parachute for the CanSat Competition. Students will learn about the underlying physics of parachutes and their design and how to control the speed of their CanSat. 

Learning objectives:

• Understand...

A Catalyst article about a brilliant new light source under construction in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside - the Diamond Light Source. Diamond will be a source of synchrotron light. Many of the everyday commodities people take for granted, from chocolate to cosmetics, from revolutionary drugs to surgical...

This Catalyst article looks at diamonds and shows how they have extraordinary properties: optical, thermal and when exposed to X-rays.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2.

Catalyst is a science...

With this a-level video tutorial, the presenter talks about how we get the equation speed = distance / time and then looks at the differences between a distance / time and a speed / time graph.  It also demonstrates what the area under the graph represents as well as the gradient.  This can be followed by the...

Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, this activity takes students through a step-by-step approach to understanding the basic principles of distance-time and velocity-time graphs. Working through the activity will help students to:
* Understand the terms distance, time, velocity and...

This series of Marvin and Milo cards have been pulled together for the International Year of Light 2015. They include eight simple experiments that can be performed at home that link in to the theme of light, using: - A torch and a bottle to show total internal reflection - A glass of water to make a lens - Milk...

From NASA, this resource looks at how bodies in the solar system are classified. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined the terms "planet" and "dwarf planet". The IAU's decision created an opportunity for students to understand the solar system better by considering the definitions of planet,...

The Gaia spacecraft is a European Space Agency mission to map one billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

This resource includes a teacher’s guide, with suggested teaching sequence for the resource, and background information for both the teacher and student on the Gaia mission.  It also includes an...

The Gaia spacecraft is a European Space Agency mission to map one billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

‘Using the LCO and ESA Gaia data archives to find Type Ia supernovae targets – Student Guide’ – this guides the students through the process of data-mining the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) and Gaia...

The Gaia spacecraft is a European Space Agency mission to map one billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

‘Introductory Activity – Hubble expansion’ – Students use spreadsheets and sample data from historical supernovae to produce lightcurves and calculate the distances to the supernovae, leading to a...

This collection contains case studies and evaluation studies from work funded by or associated with ESERO-UK. ESERO-UK is the European Space Education Resource Office, otherwise known as the UK Space Education Office.

Funded by the European Space Agency and the Department of Education, the ESERO-UK is part...

This series of activities from NASA take a mathematical approach to looking at the Earth and its atmosphere. They are intended as supplementary problems for students looking for additional challenges in mathematics and physical science from age 11 to 19 years.

The problems were created to be authentic...

This Catalyst article investigates how the Earth's magnetosphere protects us from harmful cosmic radiation.  The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2.

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