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...

In this activity, students make a nail into an electromagnet. They then investigate whether increasing the number of coils of wire, or the thickness or length of the mail, affects the strength of the electromagnet.

This booklet is part of the ‘Innovations in Practical Work’ series published by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme (SEP). Energy is a universal concept across the sciences, yet it is often difficult for students to understand. Part of the problem is that current...

This Catalyst article describes how to make ice cream using a mixture of ice and salt, without the need of a freezer. Detailed instructions and an explanation of how it works is included, as well as a link to a video showing how the process can be sped up using liquid nitrogen.

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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 activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, looks at how shadows are formed and what affects their size, direction and shape. Students place an object at the centre of a sheet of paper, and use a torch to produce shadows of different length and direction.

This activity can be used as an introduction...

'Not everyone has good eyesight. Many of us need spectacles or contact lenses to improve our vision. A lot of science goes into making sure people get the right spectacles to suit their needs.' These practicals and videos use a workplace context to help students to develop their understanding of the electromagnetic...

Four activity sheets produced by the Institute of Physics (IOP), to accompany the MODEL Project's Making a Spectacle video. Worksheet one takes an overview of the topic. Worksheets two - four are targeted at specific sections of the video. Answers to all the worksheet questions are provided in the Word document....

Six practicals produced by the Institute of Physics (IOP) that help students to understand the electromagnetic spectrum and about materials used in making spectacles.

In addition to the guidance included for specific activities, please refer to the generic health and safety information before commencing any...

This video begins by showing how reducing the pressure above water reduces its boiling point (it boils at RT).  This is because the water molecules require less energy to escape into the atmosphere above it. It also shows that as the most energetic molecules boil, the liquid is left with less energetic molecules...