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...

Guidance and navigation engineer, Richard Lancaster, explains how the ‘Mars Yard’, at Airbus Defence and Space, Stevenage, allows engineers to test out the capabilities of the ExoMars rover.  He talks about the need to transmit all commands and receive data through a spacecraft orbiting Mars.  Spacecraft engineer,...

Could there be life on Mars? Perhaps so, although the high intensity of UV light means that it is unlikely to be found on the surface. The experiment demonstrates how bacteria grown on agar plates can be killed off by UV exposure. Curriculum areas covered: • Microbiology • Cell biology • Aseptic technique The video...

This collection provides 4 units of work linked to Design and Technology, which explore the need for exploration robots, how they work, how their systems collect data and an understanding of the specialised materials and mechanisms they use. All activities centre around the ExoMars Mission and the Rosalind Franklin...

This is a unit of three two hour lessons to consolidate understanding of the specialised materials and mechanisms used on exploration robots. Students build or test, or build and test these to develop knowledge and evaluate them.  These resources are aimed at the 14-16 age group.  The context is focussed on the...

Students watch a car production line to demonstrate mass production taking place. Details are given on the characteristics of mass 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...

This resource looks at how cutting edge science is being used to answer archaeological questions, as well as solving present day problems, such as the identification of meat in processed foods. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA was performed, at the University of York, on samples from skeletal remains unearthed by the...

In this simulation students can hang masses from springs, adjust the spring stiffness and damping, and even slow time. The lab can be transported to different planets and there is a chart which shows the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy for each spring.

[b]Sample Learning Objectives[/b]

*Explain...

This resource from the Nuffield Foundation provides a set of 24 cards which students use to match graphs with descriptions of the real situations they represent. The slideshow includes the same graphs with added titles and labels. This can be used in a class discussion about the shapes of the graphs, the variables...

A matching is a set of edges on a bipartite graph in which no two edges share a common vertex. A bipartite graph consists of two sets of vertices X and Y. The edges only join vertices in X to vertices in Y. A matching in a bipartite graph is the pairing of some or all of the vertices in X with some or all of the...

This video looks at the different grades of steel used in the frame design of a Brompton bicycle, typically steel tube and steel sheet. Designers consider several criteria when choosing materials for a folding bicycle, including strength, weight...