Secondary Science

Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2019

by Peter Ellis Mandatory Credit: Photo by Naina Helen Jama/TT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10439688a) A screen displays the portraits of the laureates of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (L-R) John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino ‘for the development of lithium-ion batteries’ during a news conference at the… Read More

Chemistry goes to the Moon

In July 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the surface of the Moon.  It was the climax of the American Apollo programme.  A further ten astronauts (all men unfortunately) walked on the Moon. The success of the Apollo moon landings was the result of the bravery of the… Read More

What we know about GCSE 9-1 science now we’re almost one year on from the first exams

We are nearly one year on from when students sat the first round of exam papers for the new science GCSEs (9-1).  It has certainly been a steep learning curve for students and teachers alike. Leaders of science are having to respond to the changes in the new science exams… Read More

A-level Biology: Genetics, DNA, and Evolution

One of the major achievements during the Carboniferous, probably in response to a drying environment, was the development of the Amniotic egg, the major topic of this article. View the full article Here is a list of topics featured in the article: Some questions that you… Read More

A century of biochemistry

Science is usually taught in school as three separate subjects, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. It may seem that they are three distinct areas of study. In the real world of scientific research, the boundaries are often blurred as shown in the two discoveries celebrated here. Chemicals of Life Until the… Read More

Hot topics from the ASE Science conference

The morning after the night before. This year’s ASE Conference was held in Birmingham in January. Always a good cure for New Year’s blues, it was a lively mix of ideas, projects and sharing of experiences.  A key topic of conversation for many people involved with the secondary phase was… Read More

Fresh perspectives on A-level Biology

What are these articles for?  You will be hard pressed to find much in any of the A-level specifications which relate to an extensive knowledge about Tetrapod evolution!  There are other considerations however.  This series of articles introduces material which certainly is within the A-level cannon and in a context… Read More

The 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry

The study of living organisms is biology, but the processes of life are carried out in cells by molecules. The study of those molecules and their reactions is a branch of chemistry called biochemistry. The 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to scientists who have speeded up evolution… Read More

When fish wore armour

Armour was all the fashion of the day in the Silurian and Devonian periods and is particularly associated with a group of heavily armoured fish, the Placoderms. This group of highly successful animals lived from early Silurian through to the end of the Devonian (443.8 – 358.9 Ma ago). In… Read More

Chemical Anniversaries: 1868 – The element of the Sun

In August 1868 a total solar eclipse was predicted to cross India and Thailand. Astronomers from around the world travelled by land and sea to observe the Moon covering the Sun.  Many were keen to use a new instrument, the spectroscope, to examine the Sun’s corona. Isaac Newton used a… Read More