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Active Science

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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.

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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.
Balancing Chemical Equations
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Balancing Chemical Equations

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This activity is the best method I've even found for helping students understand how to balance equations. In my experience, every child in the class, has been able to achieve success, even if it takes them longer than other. The activity requires at least a modest supply of molymod (or similar) atomic models. Two accompanying worksheets provide a structured opportunity to consolidate and stretch.
Ions, Ionic Formulae and Ionic Bonds
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Ions, Ionic Formulae and Ionic Bonds

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This suite of materials is designed to lead students through the details of ionic compounds The atoms and ions worksheet helps students understand how ions are formed from atoms. Follow it up with formulae activity where students where pairs of students have to work out the formula and the name of a compound formed from two ions randomly drawn from a pack. Finally, there's a worksheet with a structured, step wise approach to develop students ideas about ionic bonding.
Chemicals on Earth
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Chemicals on Earth

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Here are three activities to introduce students to the range of naturally occurring chemicals found on planet Earth. They are designed to develop student's skills of interpretation and analysis. Students first label a diagram of the planet to show its different components. They then extract information from a table and interpret it to discover more about the some of the chemicals found on Earth. Finally a set of chemical cards are sorted into a Venn diagram
Covalent  molecules
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Covalent molecules

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In this bundle you'll find:- - a starter activity modelling air and the covalent molecules it contains - details of a teacher led demonstration showing that covalent molecules do not conduct electricity - an activity to help students draw representations of covalent molecules along with some extension activities - 3 worksheets to consolidate student learning
Getting Lead from Lead Oxide Practical Work
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Getting Lead from Lead Oxide Practical Work

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This is a great practical because students really will see the small beads of lead they create in the reaction. As well as details for the teacher and technician there is a worksheet for students that gives instructions as well as follow up work designed to help them think through the reaction. A foundation version of the student worksheet is also provided that may also be used with keystage three students.
Construction Materials: making and testing bricks and cement
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Construction Materials: making and testing bricks and cement

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A great practical activity for students who may be less academic; this experimental work will help students to see the relevance of chemistry to the construction industry. NOTE that access to a kiln (usually present in most secondary art departments) is required to make the bricks. There are instructions for making bricks and reinforced cement beams. Students then perform tests on the items they have made. There is follow up work provided on student worksheets
Electrolysis: extraction of aluminium
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Electrolysis: extraction of aluminium

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This is a role play activity to help students understand how electrolysis is uses to extract aluminium from aluminium oxide. It is designed to aid appreciation of the ionic nature of bauxite and assist the wring of ionic half equations. There is a follow-up worksheet to consolidate the key ideas.
pH, Indicators, Neutralisation and Salts
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pH, Indicators, Neutralisation and Salts

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This group of resources is "hands-on and brains-on" Start the lesson with the practical work making a rainbow. This can be done as a teacher demonstration but is lovely for students to carry out. Follow up with the "colouring in" worksheet that takes a look at different indicators. There is a kinesthetic activity designed to get students moving and help them think about which acids and alkalis are needed to make a series of salts. To finish off students can work through the neutralisation worksheet which involves more thinking and colouring in.
Introduction to Waves and the Wave Equation
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Introduction to Waves and the Wave Equation

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Two practical, hands-on activities, one takes place outdoors, to help students develop their understanding of some key waves vocabulary. There is also a sheet for students to record their findings and a worksheet with straight forward calculations based on the wave equation. The activities are useful for foundation GCSE students or form a good introduction to keystage 3 students.
The Solar System and Beyond
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The Solar System and Beyond

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This is a bundle based around helping students get to grips with the vastness of space and the key vocabulary that goes with it. To get students thinking, there's a starter where students give their opinions by placing themselves on an imaginary line . Their position on the line indicates how much they agree or disagree with a series of statements. The sizing activity quite literally paces out the solar system to scale and brings home the true distance between the Earth and Moon. There are then three worksheets designed to promote thinking and consolidate what students have learnt
The Greenhouse Effect
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The Greenhouse Effect

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This lesson is run as a competition between small groups of students. The lesson encourages students to use a series of challenges and clues to work out for themselves the key ideas about the greenhouse effect. The lesson is structured with a starter, a session gathering the main ideas and then time for students to put together their own explanation. It is aimed at less academic GCSE students but would also work well for keystage 3 students and more able GCSE students who could complete it more quickly.
Distance-time and Speed-time graphs
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Distance-time and Speed-time graphs

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There's a wealth of resources here; enough to fill a couple of lessons with a good variety of activities. Walking Graphs activity is an excellent way of helping students to really understand what distance (and displacement) time and speed (and velocity) -time graphs tell them. It's very engaging and students really enjoy it. Gradients Presentations talk through how and why velocity and acceleration can be calculated by finding graph gradients. Six Worksheets in a variety of styles to reinforce and consolidate understanding
Calculations using equations for AQA GCSE physics
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Calculations using equations for AQA GCSE physics

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These are great exam practise for higher students once they are familiar with how to use the equations in the specification. Each question required a multi-step calculation and often more than one equation is needed. There are two booklets; one using the equations needed in paper one and the other those in paper two. Fully worked answers are also provided which can be projected on to a board for use by the whole class.
Resistance and Ohms Law
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Resistance and Ohms Law

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You will find here a set of resources that have been tried and tested with both able and foundation students: - Details of a ball and pea model that provides a hands on model to explain resistance - A competitive game for teams of students based on understanding current, potential difference and resistance - a team game for foundation students that develops their ability to carry out calculations using equations - details of a simple experiment that demonstrates the link between voltage and current - a set of worksheets to reinforce and consolidate.
Carbon Cycle Game
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Carbon Cycle Game

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A very visual way of appreciating the carbon cycle and a great introduction to climate change. This board game shows carbon atoms cycling around the natural environment. It moves around the 3 main stores (plants, animals and the atmosphere) according the the roll of a dice, but overall stays in balance. However, when the game is repeated (by skewing the number of atoms that move for one number on the dice) the cycle goes out of balance. There is a sheet for students to record the movement of the atoms and notes for the teacher as well as Word and pdf versions of the board which can be printed onto A4 card of laminated.
space summaries and questions for AQA GCSE physics
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space summaries and questions for AQA GCSE physics

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This collection of materials has been written to help students summarise and revise all the information in the space section (P16) section of AQA’s GCSE physics. Each resource covers this whole section of the specification. summary presentation full of wonderful pictures supplied in pdf format as well as powerpoint four sides of exam style questions along with worked answers a set of key terms for students to sort and turn into a concept map along with pre-sorted words for less able students to use a single sheet of quick answer questions (along with answers) a set of notes for students that fit on to a single side a fill in the gaps worksheet that provides a set of notes once completed
space crossword and wordsearch  for AQA GCSE physics
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space crossword and wordsearch for AQA GCSE physics

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These resources were written specifically to meet the demands of the P16 (space) section of the AQA GCSE in physics. Three versions of the same crossword are provided to ensure that students find it hard to copy from each other! A word list (list of answers) is also provided to aid weaker students. The word list can also be used alongside the wordsearch. In addition, there is a colouring in sheet to help students remember the life cycle of stars.
Tests for AQA GCSE physics P1-P7
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Tests for AQA GCSE physics P1-P7

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End of topic tests for topics 1-7. They cover the entire topic well, are editable and designed to be printer friendly ie they are on just 2-4 sides of paper so they don’t cost much to print out! Worked answers are also provided for each test. NOTE this is the same material as provided in the revision question booklets so don’t buy the same thing twice!
Tests for AQA GCSE physics P8-P16
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Tests for AQA GCSE physics P8-P16

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End of topic tests for physics topics P8 to P16 (everything on paper 2) These tests cover the whole topic, are editable and are designed to be printer friendly ie they are on 2-4 sheets of paper so don’t cost much to print! There’s also worked answers for each test. NOTE this material is the same as that provided in the revision question booklets. Don’t buy the same material twice!