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Active Science

Average Rating3.94
(based on 10 reviews)

A specialist science shop featuring hands-on and minds-on activities all designed to promote both thinking and learning. I'm a very experienced teacher with advanced skills teacher (AST) and specialist leader of education (SLE) accreditation under my belt.

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A specialist science shop featuring hands-on and minds-on activities all designed to promote both thinking and learning. I'm a very experienced teacher with advanced skills teacher (AST) and specialist leader of education (SLE) accreditation under my belt.
A Scale Model of Planet Earth
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A Scale Model of Planet Earth

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Combining ideas about scale and ratio with earth science, this pair of activities gives instructions for how to make a 3D model of Earth that can be sliced open to see its inner structure. It is followed up with a paper exercise where students make a scale drawing of our planet. The worksheet includes some extension questions for more able students.
Pressure in Gases
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Pressure in Gases

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Two activities here; an introduction that models how the pressure in gases is generated followed by instructions for students to carry out the collapsing can experiment - one of the most memorable pieces of practical work if a little wet! A follow up worksheet helps students think through the science behind the practical work
Introduction to Measuring
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Introduction to Measuring

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A fun practical activity that introduces the idea about accuracy of measurement and using the appropriate piece of equipment. The teacher sheet is backed up by a worksheet for students. It is aimed at keystage 3 students but is likely to be useful for less able keystage 4 students.
Magnets Investigation
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Magnets Investigation

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This set of resources leads students through an entire investigation into magnetism. WIth the help of the presentation they choose their own question to investigate. The teacher presentation provides suggestions, notes and an equipment list.
Introduction to speed
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Introduction to speed

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This set of activities provides teacher notes on ideas about helping students to understand exactly what speed means and goes on to suggest how to introduce the use of the equation for speed. There is a student worksheet to reinforce the key ideas about speed. A follow on activity with a set of animal pictures allows students to calculate the speeds of a wide variety of animals.
Introduction to Errors
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Introduction to Errors

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A teacher led demonstration activity to help students understand how errors in measurement are inevitable. The accompanying worksheet allows students to record the errors as they occur in the demonstration and then provides an opportunity to think through what they learnt.
Introduction to resolving forces
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Introduction to resolving forces

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Here are some notes and ideas for teaching forces to help students think through these important concepts. The teacher demonstrations are followed up by a student worksheet to consolidate what they have learnt.
Introduction to Force Pairs
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Introduction to Force Pairs

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Force pairs are a key concept in physics yet for most of the population, they are not intuitive. This resource starts with thinking about the forces that send balloons flying. It's followed by a circus of acclivities that provide cognitive conflict to help students understand where forces are acting, even if it isn't obvious. The activity is accompanied by a worksheet for students for students to record their thinking
Thinking Through Floating and Sinking
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Thinking Through Floating and Sinking

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Based around the sinking of the Titanic, here are three linked activities designed to support students as they think through the key concepts required to understand floating and sinking. Students will examine various hypotheses about the sinking of Titanic and asses their plausibility before putting together a scientific explanation of floating. The teacher notes provide guidance on how to differentiate the activities for less able students.
Energy needed to Make a Mug of Tea
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Energy needed to Make a Mug of Tea

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This piece of practical work turns making a mug of tea into a quantitative activity. There are teacher notes along with an equipment list. The student worksheet provides a structure for students to record their measurements and support as they work through their calculations along with some more stretching questions for more able students.
Earth Sun and Moon
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Earth Sun and Moon

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A suite of resources that give ideas and instructions on active ways of teaching; day and night, seasons and phases of the moon. The set of teacher notes are accompanied by a template and instructions to make a working paper model of the Earth, Sun and Moon and a worksheet to help reinforce key ideas about the phases of the Moon.
Craters Investigation
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Craters Investigation

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A great context for some investigative work and a fun experiment to carry out. There are background notes for teachers along with a link to a great website. For students there is a worksheet to help them think through all aspects of the investigation. Ideal for keystage 3 students to develop their skills.
Solids, Liquids and Gases
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Solids, Liquids and Gases

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This is a fundamental area of science that students really need to understand well. There are two lots of sorting to complete in the Venn diagram activity along with a student worksheet to consolidate the key ideas. It's accompanied by a teacher sheet providing details of demonstrations designed to bring home the properties of gases.
Understanding the Particle Model of Matter
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Understanding the Particle Model of Matter

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Understanding particle theory is fundamental to science; it's so important that students have a really good understanding of it. This activity is designed to make students really think through these important ideas before they record what they have discovered.