This leaflet sets out the wide range of fields in which geoscientists work and how they play an essential role in many aspects of life, from economics to health.

Produced by the Centre for Science Education, this Science Assessment Task for More Able Students, comprises of two investigations with a space-related theme. Students investigate what needs to be considered if humans are to colonise our solar system.

They look at:

* forces and the force of gravity...

Tim Peake is a European Space Agency astronaut. This resource gives background to Tim’s training leading up to his mission in 2015/16 to the International Space Station. Tim is shown in survival training, in the swimming pool training for microgravity, and in the centrifuge at the European Astronaut Centre to...

Volcanoes can be found on many planets and satellites in the Solar System, although not all volcanoes are the same as those found on Earth. It is the conditions on the planet and its composition that determine the shape of the volcanoes and the material that is erupted.

Students will use topography data to...

Earth Observation (EO) scientists collect information about the Earth – the land, the sea and the atmosphere – using sensors carried on satellites, aircraft, ships, buoys floating on the ocean and thousands of weather stations around the world. There is now a great deal of data available and scientists are finding...

The movement of tectonic plates against each other can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and most active volcanoes on the Earth are located along the edge of these plates. Volcanoes can also occur far away from plate boundaries, although this is less common.

These volcanoes are maintained by hotspots...

There is a minimum size of meteorite that will make it through the atmosphere of a planet (or the Moon) and impact on the surface. If the meteorite is any smaller than this, it will burn up on its journey through the atmosphere and be seen as a meteor or shooting star (obviously if the meteorite is bigger it will...

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this colour leaflet describes the largest space telescope ever to be launched. The Herschel mission, launched in 2009, reveals how the first stars and galaxies formed. Herschel is observing some of the coldest objects in the Universe. It is the...

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this wall chart describes the space mission to Mars, the experiments aboard, whether there is water on Mars, Britain's Beagle2 lander and the search for life on Mars. Mars Express was the European Space Agency’s first mission to Mars. Its role is to...

Students will begin by comparing the range of temperatures on the Earth, Mars and the Moon, using the student worksheet ‘Temperature: from one extreme to another!’ They will have to plot the temperature over a ten-day period from 4 September to 13 September, as measured by three different craft that landed on the...

NASA's Viking Mission to Mars was composed of two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander. The primary mission objectives were to obtain high resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for...

This case study describes David Topping’s career path in environmental research, investigating how tiny atmospheric particles influence our climate and air quality. Some research can take place almost entirely in a laboratory, whilst other studies look at complicated interactions that are vast in scale or that take...

From the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this leaflet describes our Sun and its impact on Earth. It looks at the properties of the Sun and how current space missions and ground-based experiments are providing new understanding of our nearest star. STFC is a part of the Research Councils UK (RCUK)...

From the Royal Astronomical Society, this leaflet looks at career pathways and opportunities in astronomy. It also gives case studies that illustrate the jobs held by women astronomers, including: * Astronomy lecturer and researcher * British Antarctic Survey researcher * Earth scientist * Astrophysicist

From the UK Space Agency, this issue of Space:UK magazine contains news and features on: * Plans for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. * Tracking the world’s first spacecraft. * Satellites to help save lives. * Getting to grips with space weather. * How many satellites orbit the Earth? * Meet the engineer...