One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. An enjoyable and reliable practical activity allowing students to compare factors affecting photosynthesis. Possible investigations could include the rate of photosynthesis in sun and shade plants,...

In this practical, students investigate the effects of different levels of minerals (nitrates, phosphates and potassium) on the growth of radishes. Students sow radish seed in ‘soil’ containing different levels of 3 minerals - nitrates, phosphates and potassium. These minerals are present inside N:P:K fertiliser...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. An intriguing way to demonstrate gravitropism in action over the course of a lesson. Using black film canisters, a freshly cut seedling stalk (hypocotyl...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. In this practical activity, students to investigate the role of light in starch production in leaves during the process of photosynthesis. By using leaf discs rather than whole leaves, a number of...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. This activity offers a simple way to investigate phototropism: the response of seedlings to different wavelengths of light. This technique will help students investigate this tropic response, using...

One of a series from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology. This practical introduces a simple method to grow radishes, for investigations into the effect of a range of factors on plant growth, including levels of pollutants,...

One of a series of resources from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) investigating key topics in plant biology.

This activity allows students to investigate many factors that influence seed germination, including temperature, light, nutrient levels, pollutant effects, tropisms and so on.

It...

In this activity, from the LSIS, students discover for themselves the importance of the perpendicular distance in moments. It is presented as a whole class discussion but can easily be adapted for small group work.

The activity uses a magnetic disc that takes about 15 minutes to construct. The activity will...

Vernalisation offers an interesting example of the way that plants have evolved to exploit the predictability of seasonal change and, in this case, to ensure that flowering occurs at an appropriate time. It also gives an example of how environmental factors control and...

This brief resource provides five ideas for investigating the effects of eutrophication on aquatic plant life. Each activity is based on setting up a range of solutions with increasing amounts of minerals and following the growth of aquatic plants. The resource offers suggestions of how the mineral content could be...

This resource, from the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB), allows students to investigate the behaviour of ants, and includes:

• Background information about British ants.
• A step-by-step approach to the collection and maintenance of some British ants with particular reference to...

In this activity from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS), students investigate what causes a Venus’ Fly Trap to shut. These experiments are related to a series of investigations that Darwin carried out as part of his work on evolution and adaptation and background...

This lesson, from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), looks in particular at how infrared data is collected and used to measure changes in global temperature. Infrared radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum of light which has uses in astronomy, communications, surveillance and medicine...

From the Science Museum, this resource contains a booklet of science activities using everyday ingredients, with notes for teachers. The booklet contains step-by-step instructions for science activities and experiments that are safe and easy to do in the classroom or at home. The individual activities allow...