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KS5 - Fingerprinting First Life
In this lesson, students will be exploring x-ray diffraction, the analytical technique used by scientists to explore the underlying atomic structures of minerals, isotopic dating, and using microscopes to image microstructure.
KS5 - Wave Machine
In this lesson students look at some of the other uses of interference (of light waves) and prepare a ‘news item’ about the recent discovery of gravitational waves.Student Worksheet
KS5 - Gentoyping
In this activity students research into how genetic tests are carried out and what the information from them can be used. They create an information sheet to help people make an informed decision on whether to have a genetic test.Student Worksheet
KS5 - Spectroscopy
In this activity, students explore emission spectra, calculate wavelength and energy, and learn about the different ways that spectroscopy can be used by researchers to do a range of things, from looking at the composition of distant starts, to developing more powerful ways to transmit data.Student Worksheet
KS5 - Organic Pathways
In this activity students find out about the chemical that gives vanilla its popular flavour - vanillin. They analyse the chemical pathway used to make vanillin from benzene and discuss the economic and environmental impacts of its manufacture.KS5 - Biology to Technology
In this biochemistry-based activity students consider why many industrial chemical reactions are being catalysed by enzymes. They find out about an important coenzyme, NADH and act in role as industrial chemists by evaluating the different ways of recycling it. The activity gives them an insight into research being carried out at the University of Oxford which brings together concepts from biology and chemistry.KS5 - Studying social anxiety
In this activity students read a psychology research paper that uses an experimental method to research social anxiety in adolescents. They will evaluate the method and draw conclusion before explaining them in terms of changes in the adolescent brain.KS5 - Testing Testing
In this lesson, students discover some of the uses of machine learning in addition to exploring the numbers behind false negatives and false positives and some of their surprising consequences.KS5 - Let Me Get This Straight
This activity looks at how to transform non-linear graphs that might be used to describe the spread of information through social media sites to linear ones in order to check that the data fits the relationship and to obtain unknown constants.KS5 - FYI on FAI
Students interpret abstracts from research articles into what causes FAI. They present this information at a 'conference' before summarising it as a short and snappy radio news item.Pupil Worksheet