In this investigation, students extract iron from a breakfast cereal and consider how our bodies are able to digest iron by looking at its reactions with hydrochloric acid.

Ecology is one of the titles in the series of ASE Lab Books that were published in the early 1970s for the Association for Science Education by John Murray. Each title covered one or two topics and brought together the best of the teaching notes and experimental ideas...

From Solar Spark, this practical activity explores the reactions at electrodes in an electrical circuit. A solar cell contains two electrodes. Different reactions happen at each electrode so that electrons can move around the circuit to give an electric current. In this experiment students use filter paper soaked...

In Activities for the Classroom, the authors of the ‘Teaching about why things change’ project show how a new approach to the fundamental question 'why do things change?' can be adopted in teaching. They do this with a set of classroom activities which show how the...

Energy and Chemistry is one of the titles in the series of ASE Lab Books that were published in the early 1970s for the Association for Science Education by John Murray. Each title covered one or two topics and brought together the best of the teaching notes and...

The ‘Experimenting with Industry’ series was published in the mid-1980s when it presented industry-related science practicals for schools. It was developed as part of a 'teachers into industry' project organised by The Association for Science Education (ASE) on behalf...

This worksheet looks at electrolysis, its use in the extraction of sodium and aluminum and in the purification of copper. Having completed it, students are then asked to set up a simple electrolytic cell to obtain pure copper and calculate and measure the amount of product deposited at an electrode during...

The Fabric Fires activity for Key Stage Three students looks at how different fabrics catch fire and burn. Students are asked to first consider the commonest reasons for fires in the home. They then test and compare a fabric and a cotton wool ball, firstly when untreated and then having first soaked them in a fire...

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Plastics – or polymers as they are more correctly called – look set to be the material of the future. Think of any product and it is likely that it consists, at least in part, of a polymer...

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). New applications for traditional fabrics are being found, but increasingly, fibres and fabrics are engineered for specific purposes. Much...

In this predict-observe-explain activity, students explore different ways of extinguishing a flame with some surprising results. The lesson is introduced with the video of engineer Yusuf Muhammad. Yusuf is developing a revolutionary new household fire-safety device, incorporating the techniques of professional...

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Forensic science is widely featured in TV dramas and newspaper articles, though many people have a distorted view of this area.

The booklet introduces a range of qualitative and...