In this activity from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, students investigate the properties of different categories of smart materials and decide which kinds of materials might offer the best prospects for a financial investment. Students work in teams and...

Receptors under our skin send signals to our brains about the world around us. Engineers are borrowing this idea from the human body to create a ‘smart skin’ for aircraft. In this activity students learn about motes, the tiny sensors at the heart of this innovation, and how science and mathematics are central to...

This Mathematics Matters case study, produced by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, looks at how industry relies on cutting-edge mathematics to develop better quality communications. The amount of information we can transmit though the air is limited by the laws of physics, but the mathematics of...

In this activity, students explore the questions: What are the main sources of air pollution? What is the impact of transport emissions on air pollution and the natural environment? What can we do to reduce air pollution coming from transport? To what extent can emissions be reduced if solar powered cars instead of...

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, is all about helping pupils get to know the solar system.

• There is a lively song and animation in a...

From NASA, this is a set of high quality images and information about the solar system. The set of materials features the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Earth’s Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, asteroids, comets, meteors and meteorites, the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, and moons of the solar system...

This activity introduces children to simulations - modelling or acting out real-world, or maybe imaginary, situations. Linking to the teaching of space, it asks what factors need to be considered when simulating the solar system. Out of these, the children then decide what the most important things to include in...

This progression toolkit develops understanding of the key concept of solutions, as part of a topic on substances and mixtures. This key concept helps to build broader understanding about substances and properties, which is one of the big ideas of science education at ages 11-14.

It includes diagnostic...

This activity encourages children to appreciate how much science has gone into developing a range of different packaging materials and to highlight how easy it is to take disposable packaging for granted.

From an early age, Giuseppe had an interest in sound and audio productino. After college he worked as a sound engineer at a recording studio, moving onto outdoor shows and cruise ship audio management. After working in the theatre, he has spent the last 8 eyars at the Royal Opera House, ensuring the...

This resource provides a selection of lesson plans, worksheets and teachers notes relating to sound at Year Four. They include activities which show that sounds are made when objects vibrate and that sounds travel through solids, liquids and gases. They also look at the structure of the ear, how vibrations are...

Tim Peake is a European Space Agency astronaut. This resource gives background to Tim’s training leading up to his mission in 2015/16 to the International Space Station. Tim is shown in survival training, in the swimming pool training for microgravity, and in the centrifuge at the European Astronaut Centre to...

This activity could be used in Key Stage 2 as a stand-alone activity, as a focused task to develop skills in the use of the glue gun, or as part of a structures project investigating bridges.

In this activity, students develop both their skills in using a glue gun and demonstrate their understanding of how...

The aim of this resource is to give students the opportunity to investigate the science, technology, engineering and mathematics behind travelling at speed. Students will explore the maths and science of calculating speed before investigating vortices created by wing tips.

Welsh versions of the guidance...

This Practical Action resource presents a fun hands-on and brains-on challenge for Key Stages Two to Five.

The problem:...