An overview of the properties of alpha, beta and gamma radiation. The sheet consists of a blank table with jumbled answers underneath for pupils to sort. I use it during the first lesson of the topic where I show the class radioactive sources and what happens when you put paper/aluminium/lead in front of them.

Structure for an investigation taking 2~3 lessons. Suitable for KS3, 4 or 5 depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go, colour-coded slides steer you to KS3/4 or KS5. Method: drop a cupcake case. Measure the speed of fall. Now put another cupcake case inside the first. has the speed of fall changed? How much? What about 3, 4, 5, …10 cupcake cases? Is there a relationship between number of cases and speed of fall? Is it proportional? Simple on the surface, but gets students into independent/dependent/control variables, measurement, uncertainties, anomalies…the lot. Shamelessly based on an idea from the Physics teaching Podcast at https://twitter.com/physicstp

Each group gets a metre ruler and a 100g mass. Nothing else. Challenge - how are you going to measure the mass of the ruler? This resource is structured to begin with GCSE ideas, then move on to A-level handling of graphs, gradients and uncertainties.

A card sorting exercise. Cut up page 2, then put quarks into the boxes on page 1 to make baryons and mesons

A level physics students will probably have a confused notion of where electrons are - something about orbiting…but only in shells…some of the shells can take 2 electrons, others 8… This is a quick explanation of what the terminology means. A level chemistry students often have this as part of their course, so it’s handy for them to refer to as well.

Use a simple pendulum and a known value of g to measure Pi. A puzzle for KS5 students, presented as ‘confirm that our region of spacetime can be considered locally flat’. Let them wonder for a bit, then tell them they’ll be given a lump of metal, a ruler, stopwatch and a bit of string, and see where the discussion takes you. Opportunity to really go for those uncertainties - if you don’t get a result that you can believe in to 3 or 4 sig figs then you haven’t really tried! Original idea from Matt Parker https://twitter.com/standupmaths who has an unhealthy fascination with Pi.

Remove the turntable from the microwave oven, place a large bar of chocolate in there (maybe raise it a bit on a plastic plate). Run the microwave oven, with luck and skill you can get melted chocolate spots at the antinodes. Measure the distance between the spots, double it and you have the wavelength. Look up the frequency on the back of the microwave oven, use the wave equation and calculate c. Then eat the chocolate.

Get students talking about refraction.

A short powerpoint to introduce the idea of rms speeds of molecules and rms potential difference.

Nice illustration of Fleming’s left-hand rule. Welcome to the home of hi-fi! Come to think of it, this setup would probably also work as a microphone connected to a CRO if you yelled at it close-up. Must try it sometime.

Pretty much a whole lesson. A quick qualitative intro to the National Grid (no calculations). Then a walk through fuses, RCDs, earthing etc to give an overview of electrical safety.

What happens in a nucleus when an alpha particle is emitted? What about beta or gamma? This presentation and worksheet walks students through the processes and equips them to answer gcse questions. I’d been teaching this for ages, and eventually wrote this sheet so I could make a proper job of it and not lose students along the way.

A whole lesson to teach problem-solving, practical technique & data processing to new A-level students. You have a metre ruler. You have a 100g mass. Nothing else. Your mission is to determine the mass of the metre ruler. (Hint - principle of moments) The powerpoint walks the class through how to do it, how to get reliable results rather than just make one measurement and then claim that you’ve done it, how to use graphical techniques to get those reliable results, and how to calculate the uncertainties. Adapted from an idea I heard on https://twitter.com/physicstp You should subscribe and listen too!

A whole lesson practical. Use an electromagnet to repel a permanent magnet that’s placed on a balance. The powerpoint and worksheet walk the students through the procedure and how to process the results.

To do this properly, students would need a whole lesson. The worksheet walks them through the procedure, gives instructions about plotting the graph and scaffolds the conclusion.

To do this properly, students would need a whole lesson. The worksheet walks them through the procedure and how to write it up.

This powerpoint and worksheet walks students through the procedure for drawing ray diagrams for gcse. It refers to the AQA OUP textbook, but the activity itself is self-contained.

The wave equation “velocity = frequency x wavelength” tends to terrify students. This activity takes most of a lesson, and walks them through it so they can interpret exam questions and know what they’re looking at.

This would take most of a lesson, or a whole lesson if you have a follow-up discussion and compare results. An A3 sheet with a picture of a house and activity instructions, page 2 is a selection of appliances for students to choose from and put in their house.

Our equipment has a long tube in which we can adjust the water level, with a speaker at the top, driven by a signal generator. Hopefully you can set up something similar. The worksheet walks students through the procedure and the data processing. To keep it simple, I’ve ignored end corrections.