Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. A useful way to start thinking about matter is to think about the different materials, or substances, that it can be made into. These ...
At the Science Learning Hub, we know teaching chemistry can feel a bit overwhelming. In this recorded professional learning session, Greta Dromgool takes you step by step through key ideas ...
Many people have heard of Sir Isaac Newton. He is famous for developing many scientific theories in mathematics and physics. Newton described how ‘normal’ liquids or fluids behave, and he ...
Our world is made of elements and combinations of elements called compounds. An element is a pure substance made of atoms that are all of the same type. At present, 116 elements are known, and ...
Anything that has mass is made up of matter – an all-encompassing word for atoms and molecules that make up our physical world. We describe this matter as existing in states (sometimes referred ...
All soils contain mineral particles, organic matter, water and air. The combinations of these determine the soil’s properties – its texture, structure, porosity, chemistry and colour. Soil ...
Relative dating is used to arrange geological events, and the rocks they leave behind, in a sequence. The method of reading the order is called stratigraphy (layers of rock are called strata) ...
Geologists often need to know the age of material that they find. They use absolute dating methods, sometimes called numerical dating, to give rocks an actual date, or date range, in numbers of ...
Recent research has revealed that the large intestine and its resident bacterial population have key roles to play in determining our health and wellbeing. It is much more than just a waste ...
A ceramic is an inorganic non-metallic solid made up of either metal or non-metal compounds that have been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures. In general, they are hard ...
Calcium carbonate is the principal mineral component of limestone. Its chemical and physical properties lie behind the modern-day uses of limestone as well as the unique limestone landscapes of ...
The density of seawater plays a vital role in causing ocean currents and circulating heat because of the fact that dense water sinks below less dense. Salinity, temperature and depth all affect ...
Although elements such as gold, silver, tin, copper, lead and mercury have been known since earliest times, the first scientific discovery of an element occurred around 1669. Hennig Brand, a ...
Elements are formed deep within the cores of certain types of star. Find out more in this interactive.
A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes. Examples include quartz, feldspar minerals, calcite, sulfur ...
Lightning is a large-scale natural spark discharge that occurs within the atmosphere or between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface. On discharge, a highly electrically conductive plasma ...
Since the earliest times, humankind has had a close association with clay. From use as a building material, in pottery, for treating human digestive ailments to a multitude of industrial uses ...
If you poured some water down a slope, it would flow freely and quickly, but what about if you repeated the process with honey? Can you imagine how honey would flow down a slope? Sticky oozy ...
The temperature of the ocean determines what form the water takes. Most of the ocean is liquid water, but if it gets cold enough, it turns to solid ice, or if it gets hot enough, it can pass into ...
Pure lime, or quicklime, is calcium oxide. Its ease of manufacture and chemical properties make it an important industrial chemical. Lime has a long history dating from the earliest of times. Its ...
Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass. All physical objects are composed of matter, and an easily observed property of matter is its state or phase. The classical states of matter ...
The digestive system plays a critical role in breaking down large food molecules into smaller readily absorbable units. This animated video details how food is processed as it moves through the ...
It has now been well established that gut hormones have a key role in controlling food intake and energy expenditure. The gut is the body’s largest hormone-producing organ, releasing more than 20 ...
We happily live in the Earth’s gaseous lower atmosphere composed of a mixture of gases – primarily nitrogen and oxygen. However, if we move upwards from the Earth’s surface, the environment ...
