James Briscoe studies the highly structured development of the central nervous systems in embryos. For James, personal drive and self-motivation are key to success in science. A better understanding of the development of the spinal cord will shed light on diseased and damaged nervous systems, and the hope is that...

When teachers are introduced to ideas from research, they seek to make sense of the findings they are presented with by reflecting on their own practice and how they anticipate the research findings may or may not fit with the ways they view teaching, learning and assessment. 

Author: Chris Harrison

The ‘development’ section of the Fixpert's resource focuses on creating and testing a prototype for an outcome that meets their fix partner’s needs. Students build critical skills through evaluation and they practice design decision making that balances design ideas against user needs. Activities include a focus on...

From the ABPI this interactive resource provides students with information on the cause, symptoms and treatment of diabetes. The resource is offered at two levels, for students aged 14-16 and an advanced version for post-16 students.

Please note: From 2021, Adobe has discontinued support for Flash player...

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...

This Core Maths activity investigates diamond smuggling.

The presentation gives details of how diamonds were smuggled out of Namibia in cans of pilchards. Students need to use the information given to calculate an estimate of the value of the smuggled diamonds. They need to use estimation and the formula for...

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...

This Catalyst article looks at diamond and graphite which are allotropes of carbon. Their properties which depend on the bonding between the carbon atoms are also examined.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2.

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 looks at diamonds and shows how they have extraordinary properties: optical, thermal and when exposed to X-rays.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2.

Catalyst is a science...

Julia is a dietitian for Addenbrookes Hospital, she discusses her role in this video. Curriculum links include malnutrition, food groups, healthy diet and nutrition.

This short homework or worksheet activity describes how a bitmapped image has been stored in a file, including the encodings used in binary to represent the 4 colours which make up the image, and the height and width of the image. The data is all given in binary format. Students are then expected to recreate the...

These resources, written in 2011 and provided by the Joint Mathematical Council (JMC), discuss the role that digital technologies might and should have in mathematics education. Consideration is given to the types of experiences students encounter and how best to develop the curriculum to engage students in using...