This report,  published in 2015, looks at how Independent Research Projects in Science (IRPs) are considered to be scientific projects that are about more than a pedagogical approach of ‘enquiry’.  They are open-ended research investigations led by the student, often with the support of a teacher and/or an...

This activity includes a quiz and fact file describing the use of fingerprints for identification and processes of DNA profiling.

Also Included is The forensic use of bioinformation - resources for teachers which contains:

* curriculum links

* lesson plans

* teaching notes

*...

The materials in this resource are from the Secondary National Strategy ‘Progressing to Level 6 and beyond in science’ project. They were intended for science teachers who are focusing on helping their students in developing skills in aspects of ‘How science works’ –...

This resource provides Key Stage Three National Strategy training materials to run a day session with science teachers to help them develop an understanding of the key elements of Assessment for Learning and how it might affect their practice.

This film tells the story of how DNA sequencing was used to identify the gene BRAF. Clinical researcher Ultan McDermott tells the story of how scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute discovered a specific mutation in the BRAF gene, which is found in around half of malignant melanoma cases. He...

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...

These activities have been developed for the National HE STEM Programme to be used in conjunction with the video resources found in this collection.

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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 ARKive, this hands-on activity is designed to remind post-16 students about the concepts of biodiversity, evolution and Darwin’s theory of natural selection. By investigating biodiversity and the process of evolution students learn how traits beneficial for survival are selected for and genetically passed on...

This unit looks at biofuels and how these relate to the climate crisis, fossil fuels and the food industry and whether they are the future of fuels.

In this unit students consider the relationship between the growing of crops for food or for fuel and conduct independent research to write a policy brief on...

From the Integrating Mathematical Problem Solving project by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI), this activity for post-16 students demonstrates that if a link is suspected between a risk factor and an illness, statistical methods can be used to test whether such a link exists. Topic areas covered are:...

This unplugged activity from Peter McOwan and Paul Curzon mingles computer science with biology. A group activity is used that mimics the firing of neurons within the brain. These trigger other neurons to fire – these can be compared to AND gates in logic circuits.

The ‘brain in a bag’ kits used in the...

In this module students will study barnacle morphology, life histories and life styles as Darwin did. He based his classification and search for a common ancestor upon his studies. Recent work using genetic and molecular evidence and scanning electron microscopy shows how some of the key difficulties in drawing the...

The Youth Grand Challenges is a new STEM competition that aims to inspire students aged 11-to-19.  This resource provides a selection of ideas for research or practical projects on the subect of the spread of disease.

Curriculum links include pathogens, bacteria, epidemics, pandemics, malaria, water borne...