This Catalyst article explains how to make an elastic band using Copydex, a source of rubber latex. Rubber latex is a liquid polymer. It is made of long molecules which are all separate. Elastic bands are made by cross-linking the polymers in rubber latex. This changes the properties of the polymer and forms a...

This Catalyst article describes how an indicator changes colour when in solutions of different pH. Most indicators simply turn one colour in acid and another in alkali, although they are often an in-between colour when neutral. A universal indicator only turns as many colours as it does because it is a mixture of...

This Catalyst article describes how to make a lava lamp by using three simple ingredients: vegetable oil, food colouring and fizzing tablets. The article also explains the processes taking place inside a real lava lamp and why they happen.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume...

Produced by Solar Spark, this activity allows students to make a photovoltaic cell in the school laboratory. A solar cell uses light from the sun to produce electricity. A type of solar cell, called a dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC), can be made. This type of cell is cheaper than other solar cells, and is now...

This Catalyst article includes a recipe on how to make a non-Newtonian fluid which flows in strange and unexpected ways.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 26, Issue 4.

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This video demonstrates how a plasma can be made from heating a grape in a microwave. When gases from the grape absorb microwave energy electrons are removed. The free-moving electrons and positively charged gas molecules form the plasma.  The experiment shows how plasma produces visible light. However, the...

The booklet, from the Institute of Physics, considers how physics can connect with learners and with other human activities and areas of knowledge.

[b]Content includes[/b]:
•making explicit the coherence of the subject
•portraying scientists as real people
•introducing what it is like to...

This is one of a series of extended units, from the Association for Science Education and the Design and Technology Association, to provide in-depth coverage of a topic or an area of the curriculum. Through work on this unit, students learn about the potential for using renewable energy resources from small (local...

The National STEM Learning Centre and Network supports the teaching and learning of science, design and technology, computing, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in schools and colleges throughout the United Kingdom, from primary level to post-16.

This Ofsted document describes how the Sixth Form College Farnborough has re-introduced A-level human biology while ensuring that students are well aware of course requirements and are properly prepared for a challenging assessment regime. Providing good information about the course, a highly structured programme...