Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) has provided a free online learning platform for schools which includes curriculum linked activities, developed to support secondary school students. These activities provide the opportunity for students to join a growing community of citizen scientists who are...

This activity, suitable for a multi-lesson sequence or a single extended session, challenges students to design and prototype a simple motion-sensing alarm. The device is intended to prevent theft or the accidental picking-up of a bag.

Motion is sensed using the accelerometer built-in to the BBC micro:bit,...

This resource from Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is a practical, classroom activity that allows the students to make a balloon model of a disease-causing bacterium. This illustrates its basic shape and structure. Students can choose from three bacteria species...

In this activity, students consider the evidence for causal links between sugar consumption, obesity and disease. They then weigh up arguments for and against banning sugary drink sales to children.

Curriculum links include:

Key Stage Three:

*Working Scientifically: Analysis and evaluation –...

In this activity students work as researchers on a TV show and plan a report about the claim that sunbeds cause skin cancer.

Learning objectives:

*Use knowledge about UV light to explain the link between sunbeds and skin cancer.

*Understand how scientific evidence can support a claim.

...

This Free-standing Mathematics Activity from the Nuffield Foundation is designed as a game to give students practice in working with money, entering items onto a bank statement and calculating the balance. To play the game, cards are placed face down in a pile. Students then take turns to turn over a card, enter...

This manual, from the Microbiology Society, provides a basic introduction to microbiology, aseptic technique and safety.

Part 1 of the book includes information on good microbiological laboratory practice, equipment, preparation of culture media, sterilisation and disinfection, inoculation, aseptic technique...

Students begin by considering what items are produced in batches, and why? Details are given on the characteristics of batch production, and how it can be applied to engineered products. Students consider how they could describe batch production and its advantages and disadvantages. Students may begin to research...

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...

This Nuffield exploration is a simulation of a booking system for a small guesthouse. Students have to manage the bookings and, as far as possible, arrange to give people the accommodation they request.

The key...

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...

This ACME report, from 2015, looks at what high-quality initial teacher education (ITE) for teachers of mathematics should look like.

Robert Barbour, Chair of the ACME ITE Working Group said at the time of publication: 'Everyone is in agreement that improving the mathematical skills of young people in...

This training resource from the National Strategies considers the causes of poor behaviour for learning as well as staff behaviour and its impact on learning. The aim is for teachers to: • Develop an understanding of how both student and teacher emotions can impact on learning. • Develop some strategies to avoid...

From Practical Action and the Royal Academy of Engineering, this short starter activity helps students to think about their own values and those of their peers in relation to the sustainability of engineering. The activity encourages an awareness of the impact of engineering on the environment and sustainability....

This document, published by SCORE, provides guidance to schools and colleges on the resourcing expectations of practical work in the sciences, to ensure all students receive a well-rounded science education.

It provides a comprehensive list of the levels of resourcing that SCORE considers necessary to carry...