A Catalyst article about the first generation of nuclear power stations. When these stations reach the end of their useful life this article looks at what is involved in decommissioning them and how the process is affected by the properties of radioactive elements.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science...

Written in 2009 by the Department for Children, Schools and families, this resource sets out the government's support for behaviour in schools at that time.

Produced in 1995, this publication, written by Ofsted at the request of the Department for Education, identifies some characteristics of good practice in Design and Technology at Key Stages Three and Four, and was aimed at those who are responsible for planning, organising and teaching Design and Technology in...

This paper, published by the Engineering Council in 2001, sets out the importance of design and technology education and the contribution it makes to the school curriculum. Design subjects play a role in developing innovative thinking and practices, and the skills needed in a knowledge economy. The aims of this...

A Catalyst article about designing, building and testing a spacecraft. There are thousands of man-made satellites orbiting the Earth. Some are only a few hundred kilometres above the Earth and complete one orbit roughly every 90 minutes. Geostationary satellites are located around 40 000 kilometres from the surface...

In September 2002, eight new General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) courses in vocational subjects were introduced: applied art and design; applied business; engineering; health and social care; ICT; leisure and tourism; manufacturing; and applied science. This report covers the introduction of these...

A Catalyst article about juvenile diabetes, a genetic disease also known as Type 1 diabetes, which affects over 200,000 people in the UK. Scientists are still trying to unravel its causes in order to develop improved treatments. This article describes what is being done to improve people’s understanding of the...

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...

A Catalyst article about diamonds. The element carbon exists in a number of allotropic forms, but diamonds have always held a special allure, whether it be for their hardness or for their transparency. The article examines how they can be made artificially and looks at some of their uses.

This article is...

This Catalyst article explains the code structure of DNA and looks into how it is copied across generations.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1.

Catalyst is a science magazine for students...

A Catalyst article about people who believe that their health is affected by mobile phone radiation. The World Health Organisation has labelled this condition Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance with attribution to Electromagnetic Fields (IEI-EMF). Idiopathic describes a disease with no known cause. The article...

A Catalyst article about mobile phones. This article looks at the science behind this popular piece of technology, such as the use of radio waves, aerials and cells. The article also explains how mobile phones are able to use short aerials.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16,...

A PISA in Focus study published in 2012 from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), looks at whether students perform better in science if they are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities, such as field trips and science projects. Most countries (22 of 31 OECD countries)...

Published in 2016.  Mathematics anxiety (MA) is the state of discomfort around the performance of mathematical tasks. Does MA cause poor performance in mathematics, or is it poor performance in mathematics that causes MA? The question is important, because it affects the “treatment” that results. Should the focus...

A Catalyst article about Dorothy Hodgkin who was a pioneering scientist, a peace activist, a mother of three and a Nobel Prize winner. The article looks at her life and work in science. She did valuable work as an X-ray crystallographer and in finding the structure of biologically important molecules such as...