Did you know that the electron and electricity are named after amber, the ‘gold’ of the Baltic Sea? Bernhard Sturm’s teaching unit based on this fossilised resin introduces not only conductivity but also many other characteristics of solid organic compounds.
Have you ever longed for a hot drink or meal but had no fire or stove to hand? Marlene Rau presents two activities from the Lebensnaher Chemieunterricht portal that use chemical reactions to heat food – and to introduce the topic of exothermic reactions.
Mendelian inheritance can be a tricky topic to teach, but Pat Tellinghuisen, Jennifer Sexton and Rachael Shevin’s memorable dragon-breeding game makes it easier to understand and remember.
Astrid Wonisch, Margit Delefant and Marlene Rau present two activities developed by the Austrian project ‘Naturwissenschaft und Technik zum Angreifen’ to investigate how technology is inspired by nature.
Students often find it difficult to calculate the trajectories of projectiles. With the help of Elias Kalogirou’s model, they can be easily visualised. In addition, Ian Francis suggests further uses for the model in the classroom.
Bioinformatics is usually done with a powerful computer. With help from Cleopatra Kozlowski, however, you can investigate our primate ancestry – armed with nothing but a pen and paper.
Imagine sending music across the room by laser. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But Alessio Bernardelli’s students did just that – and then developed a play to explain the science behind it. Here’s how to do it.
Ages: 14-16, 16-19; Topics: Physics, Engineering, General science
Friedlinde Krotscheck describes how she used a cutting-edge science article from Science in School as the main focus of a teaching unit on the human body.