Suitable for students throughout secondary computing, including those studying at an advanced level, this exercise introduces the Heap Sort and explores why it is more efficient than the Bubble Sort in another Scratch Patch article. Students learn about tree data structures, including the correct terminology for...

This game-writing activity using Scratch will bring back youthful memories for some! It provides...

This practical guide to creating a simple game is aimed at those new to programming with Scratch...

Combining some fundamental physics with trigonometry and computer programming, this guide helps students to create a simulation of the projectile motion of a cannon ball. The concepts are all briefly explained, and the program introduces some clever mathematics as well as game elements, such as collision detection...

This project, exploring basic encryption, is a useful introduction to data security as well as iterating through strings to manipulate them. The program create a ‘substitution cipher’, one of the most basic forms of encryption. It also demonstrates that, for more complex chained commands, Scratch becomes rather...

This visual mathematics project focuses on the beautiful images known as Julia Sets (named after French mathematician Gaston Julia). Students use a repeated iterations to explore the world of complex numbers, writing and amending a relatively complicated Scratch program. 

Edexcel’s GCSE Astronomy syllabus provides an opportunity for students to develop their understanding and enthusiasm for astronomy, as well as to complement and extend the reach of their study of Key Stage Four science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

This article from School Science...

This London Engineering Project paper, from Royal Academy of Engineering, describes the stages of setting up the Solar Car Challenge as a 12-week themed activity. Students were asked to work in groups to create and customise cars to make them faster and bespoke. Work on...

The Solar Spark educational resources are produced by the SUPERGEN Excitonic Solar Cells Consortium. This is a group of research scientists from eight UK universities working together to do scientific research on Excitonic Solar Cells. Researchers work in the areas of polymer solar cells, dye-sensitised solar cells...

The Standards Unit: Improving Learning in Mathematics resources were produced as a response to the Smith report. The materials use active learning approaches originally designed for post-16 mathematics but for use across the secondary phase. The resources, and the work of the Standards Unit with leading maths...

This poster looks at the structure of matter. One side of the poster discusses the limits of imaging with light and the use of electron microscopes, and looks at the 20th century pioneers – from J. J. Thomson’s plum pudding model, through Rutherford and Chadwick’s advances in understanding the nucleus, to the use...

This booklet illustrates ten case studies of civil engineers describing their career paths and options within civil engineering.  The publication is aimed at school students to inspire and interest them in engineering careers and to emphasise the value of STEM subjects.  

This paper, published in 2012, presents the emerging findings from a qualitative investigation into the impact on learners of the subject-specific continuing professional development undertaken by teachers at the National Science Learning Centre based in York, England. The paper presents the research findings from...

This paper from the May 2016 Using STEM Research Conference investigates the ways in which real world contexts can be used in D&T lessons, from local projects such as community gardening to global concerns such as climate change.

Author: Kay Stables