• About Science in School
  • About EIROforum
  • Submit an article
Science in School
Science in School
  • Understand
    • Recent research and science topics
      • Astronomy / space
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Earth science
      • Engineering
      • General science
      • Health
      • History
      • Mathematics
      • Physics
      • News from the EIROs
      • Science and society
  • Inspire
    • People, events and resources
      • Advertorials
      • Career focus
      • Competitions and events
      • Education focus
      • Resource reviews
      • Science and society
      • Science miscellany
      • Scientist profiles
      • Teacher profiles
  • Teach
    • Activities and projects
      • Astronomy / space
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Earth science
      • Engineering
      • General science
      • Health
      • History
      • Mathematics
      • Physics
      • Science and society
  • Archive
  • Login
  • Contact
Ages:
under 11, 11-14, 14-16, 16-19
Issue 1
 -  03/08/2006

Free image databases

The worldwide web is a wonderful source of information, but sometimes the sheer amount of content can be overwhelming. Where do you start looking? In each issue of Science in School, we will suggest useful websites for particular purposes.

Are you looking for a good picture to use in a worksheet, an overhead or a poster? You need it to be good quality, but you don’t want to pay to use it. Here is a selection of our favourite free image databases (you may even recognise some of the pictures).

The Multimedia Gallery of the European Space Agency (ESA) contains over 3000 images and videos, as well as other types of visual material about space.

The ESO Photo Gallery contains astronomical photos obtained with ESO telescopes, as well as images of ESO facilities, including the Very Large Telescope.

CERN's Multimedia and Outreach database contains over 50 000 images related to the work of the world's largest particle physics laboratory.

The multimedia database of EFDA-JET, Europe's fusion experiment, contains many images and videos about fusion power and fusion research.

The image bank of Interactions.org, a website designed for communicators in particle physics, has an extensive database of beautiful images.

The image database of Lightsources.org, which provides news, information and educational materials about the world’s light-source facilities, has a good variety of images.

The NOAA Photo Library contains images related to the work of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Wikimedia Commons is a repository of free photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts.

The www.freeimages.co.uk database provides over 2500 images covering a wide range of subjects, including science.

The image and video hosting website Flickr contains a wide variety of content uploaded by people from across the world. Many of the images have Creative Commons licences and so are freely available for use.

The BPoD (Biomedical Picture of the Day) website showcases stunning biomedical images that are provided by scientists from across the globe. The accompanying captions are engaging and written at a level suitable for schools.

If you use images from the databases listed above, it is advisable to check the conditions under which the images may be reproduced.

 

Institution

CERN   ESA   ESO   EUROfusion   

Author

To suggest types of websites that you would like us to review, or to tell us about your own favourite websites, email editor@scienceinschool.org. In the subject field of the email, please include the text ‘Website review’.
 

CC-BY-NC-ND
Log in to post a comment

Issues

  • Current issue
  • Archive

Events - School Projects

ESA: Astro Pi - Mission Zero



Write a simple program to read humidity on board the ISS and communicate it to the astronauts with a personalised message. Mission Zero can be completed in a single session and doesn’t require any previous coding experience or special hardware. It’s a perfect activity for coding clubs or groups of students who are beginners in programming and digital making. All who follow the rules are guaranteed to have their programs run in 2021.

Age: Up to 14 years old. Application deadline: 19 March

Institutions

Tools

  • Download article (PDF)
  • Print
  • Share

Related articles

  • Advent calendar 2010
  • ‘Ask a scientist’ websites
  • Educational resources for the International Year of Biodiversity
  • Science podcasts
  • Free online teaching materials

Login / My account

Create new account
Forgot password


Contact us

Please contact us via our email address editor@scienceinschool.org.

  • More contact details

Get involved

  • Submit an article
  • Review articles
  • Translate articles

Support Science in School


EIROforum members:
CERN European Molecular Biology Laboratory European Space Agency European Southern Observatory
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility EUROfusion European XFEL Institut Laue-Langevin


EIROforum
Published and funded by EIROforum


  • About Science in School
  • About EIROforum
  • Imprint
  • Copyright
  • Safety note
  • Disclaimer
  • Archive
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
ISSN 1818-0361

CERN
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
European Space Agency
European Southern Observatory
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
EUROfusion
European XFEL
Institut Laue-Langevin
EIROforum

Published and funded by EIROforum
  • About Science in School
  • About EIROforum
  • Imprint
  • Copyright
  • Safety note
  • Disclaimer
  • Archive
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
ISSN 1818-0361