all picks
A good site for teaching about electricity and electricity safety. Areas for both 5-11 and 11-14 students.
A great idea to get students to test if equipment works.
A page on energy resources, with downloadable worksheets for pupils to completel.
Links to pages of information about different energy sources, renewable and non-renewable.
A useful interactive map that shows the relative amounts of different types of resources by country
A lesson plan that shows how to make a drag racer out of a mouse trap
Tutorial style page on reflection goes into quite a bit of detail with an animation and a self test.
Vary the incident ray and this applet will show the reflected and the refracted rays and calculates their corresponding angles. Behaves oddly in some browsers, so maybe not suitable for pupils on their home machines
PowerPoint presentation on light and colour.
Interactive Blockbusters quiz on light and sound.
Detailed description of a lesson plan to make 360 degree periscopes
Detailed practical instructions and other notes that explain how to demonstrate the reflection of light
A pack of lesson plans and linked video clips from the lectures, which can be used to teach a variety of science concepts.
Some fun demonstrations for this topic.
Interactive Blockbusters quiz on light and sound.
This quick practical experiment showing how a bubble is affected by different sounds is designed for use as a Year 7 to 11 physics classroom resource.
A wine glass is smashed by the power of sound when the right frequency is reached, in this quick experiment aimed at 11-16 year olds physics students.
Show Key Stage 3/4 physics students the different effects of sound, as demonstrated in this 15 minute video designed to be used on an interactive whiteboard showing high speed photography.
A pack of lesson plans that can be downloaded, together with video clips from the BBC children's science show that are linked to each lesson. The pack has worksheets and suggested activities for KS3 and 4.
Detailed practical instructions and other notes that explain how to show the shape of the magnetic field around a wire.
Detailed practical instructions and other notes that explain how to make a giant model of a permanent magnet with compasses.
An experiment that shows how the thermal conductivity of a material affects how cold we perceive it to be. Requires multiple LCD thermometers and large samples if possible
A simple fun experiment to try at home or in the lab. Can you really tell the temperature of something?
A experiment to show how radiated energy can be focused.
A worksheet on how to make a thermometer.
Experiment to show how changes in temperature cause objects to expand or contract.
Instructions for a simple experiment in which pupils investigate the insulating properties of styrofoam cups, recording data and drawing conclusions from it.
Detailed practical instructions and other notes that explain how to show that solids expand when heated.
A dipping bird is an example of a heat engine.
A pack of lesson plans and linked video clips from the lectures, which can be used to teach a variety of science concepts.
Introduction to series circuits from schoolscience.co.uk and British Energy, with a quiz and an interactive exercise.
Ideas about circuits with an interactive circuit builder
A site to revise charge, symbols, current and voltage.
An animated interactive site building circuits.
The website of the Electrical Safety Council geared to teens
A site that revises charge and current.
A site that revises circuit symbols and diagrams
A site that revises series and parallel circuits.
A site that revises measuring current and voltage.
A site that revises current in series circuits.
A game that needs ciruit knowledge to solve it
An interactive activity involving making changes to a simple circuit involving conductors and insulators.
An interactive activity on circuits and conductors.
A fun activity to help children learn about electrical circuits and conductors. Includes a quiz.
Section of the EDF Power Up! site dealing with energy and electricity in the environment, including hazards of high voltage and some environmental consequences. Includes some Flash based activities
Fun with words - click on some common words to find out how they are used in the energy industry. There are some surprises in store!
An interactive site about preventing energy wastage, includes games. Game is a bit frustrating!
Revision of energy basics and transfer, renewable and non-renewable sources and saving energy.
A game that asks pupils to make choices about the construction of a house.
A Blockbusters quiz about generating electricity and problems such as the greenhouse effect and pollution.
A blockbusters quiz about generating electricity
A series of pages explaining the physics of amusement park rides, includes a number of interactive activities.
A site that revises energy transfers between stores.
Short clear summary of non renewable energy resources, could instruct students to explore pages 5 to 7
A site that revises renewable energy sources.
A site that revises generating electricity and saving energy.
A Blockbusters quiz about energy.
Basic facts about oil, how it was formed, how is refined, data about production and environmental issues.
Resource from the US EIA about natural gas - its formation, location, extraction, uses and the environmental consequences. Well illustrated.
Info on coal from the US EIA - how it is formed, where it is found, how it is extracted and used, types, and environmental consequences. Well illustrated. Info on location is entirely US oriented.
US EIA information page on solar energy - how photovoltaic cells work and the different varieties of solar generator used.
US EIA page on wind energy - its history, how wind generators work, and the different types available.
Crosswords and word search puzzles covering a range of topics on renewable and non-renewable sources of energy and its uses. Some are harder than others.
A game to raise awareness of energy conservation in the home.
4 simple ways to save energy, information about renewable energy and games.
An animated and interactive page on types of energy and energy transfers.
A whole range of interactive activities to introduce pupils to energy. Requires speakers.
Information about sources of energy for electrical generation, with some good games and other links.
A page about sources and types of energy. Some fun energy games and a quiz. Teacher notes supplied. instruct students to go through from the 4 sections: 'the source' , 'power up' , 'everyday use' and 'the environment', play the games and think about the questions for each section
A game where pupils have to power a city with the minimum environmental impact and for the lowest cost?
An interactive page with information about fossil fuels.
22 pages on every aspect of energy. What it is, where we get it from to how we use it.
2 animated slides showing oil formation and trapping.
An introduction to biomass - the energy cycle in living matter.
A page about the forms, conservation and sources of energy. Better for more able, even then, they would need a focus e.g. turn this info into a poster/spider diagram.
An excellent interactive animation that enables you to find out about the energy transfers when a skateboarder skates on a track.
Nice animation to show how the cornea and iris work.
Tool to show how coloured lights mix.
Activity to show how light can be relfected with a self test.
A simple drag and drop word exercise.
An interactive prism with filters.
An interactive experiment on reflection.
An interactive experiment on refraction. Needs interpretative guidance (effects of different materials on refraction of light).
This one of the best of the on-line games. A beautiful and simple set of scientific Flash challenges that engage and stimulate. Pupils can play on this for hours and then create their own puzzles to send to their friends.
Students use their knowledge of light and reflection to guide Rani to safety.
An excellent interactive animation that enables you to look at refraction using a ray or wave view, and change the materials either side of a boundary.
A nice site designed to help students to understand sound and waves, very well presented. There are acoustic and audio related web demonstrations and experiments.
Exploration of the ear and hearing on the Nobel Prize site, based on the work of Medicine Prizewinner Georg von Bekesy. Videos, simulations and a quiz.
Interactive tutorial on sound, very visual, quite lengthy but lots of learning.
A Blockbusters quiz about sound and hearing.
A fun game to revise basic magnetic ideas.
A site to revise magnets, magnetic fields and electromagnets, some interactivity.
An interactive activity on magnetism.
A series of pages about magnets.
This one of the best of the on-line games. A beautiful and simple set of scientific Flash challenges that engage and stimulate. Pupils can play on this for hours and then create their own puzzles to send to their friends.
A Blockbusters quiz about magnets.
A site that revises bar magnets.
A site that revises magnetic fields.
A site that revises using electromagnets in an electric bell.
Students use their knowledge of magnets to play a game
An animation that shows the magnetic field around a magnet and electromagnet and the effect of changing the number of turns and the voltage.
Game in which kids estimate temperatures of e.g. a freezer, melting ice. An entertaining introductory activity to the use of melting and boiling points to separate mixtures
Nice friendly revision aid from the BBC's Key Stage 2 site setting out the basic facts about heat conductors and insulators and what they are used for.
Transfer of thermal energy from BBC Bitesize. A short but clear and simple explanation of conduction, convection and radiation
An animated page on conduction, convection and radiation.
A page of information about temperature and heat.
An animated interactive activity about conduction, convection and radiation.
Matching objects to their temperature.
This one of the best of the on-line games. A beautiful and simple set of scientific Flash challenges that engage and stimulate. Pupils can play on this for hours and then create their own puzzles to send to their friends.
A Blockbusters quiz about heat and conduction.
A fun activity that shows how to work out how thick the walls of a chocolate teapot would need to be to make tea in it
Build and test your own circuits. Click to pick up a component, place it on a square and click to rotate it.
Electricity timeline - The main discoveries in electricity.
A blockbusters quiz about Electrical Circuits.
Games, quizzes and puzzles of various kinds about energy from the US Energy Information Administration
7 great sites from the science museum. 4 games that have high educational merit, a strange but true and a world resources link. Excellent site.
Can you lift a 200kg hippopotamus, or generate enough electricity to illuminate a light bulb with the power of wind? These five Eureka! Games are based on real exhibits at TELUS World of Science. Click the arrow to get to the laser game
A game that gets pupils to work out how energy can be transferred.
Pupils try to guess which energy saving devices have actually been invented.
An interactive rollercoaster design simulator. Requires Java.
Energy riddles.
A game for students to judge how to meet demand from different resources but have minimal impact on the environment
Students find out about energy, energy resources and then play the game.
Can you lift a 200kg hippopotamus, or generate enough electricity to illuminate a light bulb with the power of wind? These five Eureka! Games are based on real exhibits at TELUS World of Science. Click the arrow to get to the laser game
A Blockbusters quiz about light and colour.
A video that shows how people did magic tricks using glass and reflection
Questions on sound waves, pitch/frequency, loudness/amplitude, comparing speed of light/sound, hearing and the function of ear.
Can you lift a 200kg hippopotamus, or generate enough electricity to illuminate a light bulb with the power of wind? These five Eureka! Games are based on real exhibits at TELUS World of Science. Click the arrow to get to the laser game
Students make paper screech
Interesting vibrations for the start of a sound lessons
A crossword puzzle on magnetism.
An interactive activity showing the effects of electric current on magnetism.
An experiment to find out how fridge magnets work
Short video and quizzes at different levels of difficulty on temperature and thermometers.
How dimmer switches work - both the original and modern ways - from Howstuffworks. Adverts are annoying but it's worth it.
Biography of Galvani from corrosion-doctors.org - an odd website dedicated to combating corrosion. However, the biographies seem correct and authoritative.
Detailed history of the invention of the electric cell (battery) with a timeline and a useful list of links
An interactive activity all about lightning.
A page explaining how fuses in cars work.
Revision information on electrical circuits and symbols. Includes and interactive activity and a test.
Clear but quite detailed explanation of how steam engines work, from the excellent Howstuffworks site. Includes a nice simple animation.
A page of detailed information on the historical beginnings of theories of electricity and magnetism.Interesting early history of electricity & magnetism; however, unnecessary anti-religious bias, and it stops at Faraday with
4 pages explaining how circuit breakers work.
Irish site for years 5 and 6. Choose from topics on Energy and Forces, Living Things and Material. Teacher materials are available
A School Physics site with information about energy resources, forces and motion, how animals would fare in the Olympics and much more.
Lots of information about energy types and changes. Some misrepresentation of photosynthesis (which does not produce free glucose). Very occasional spelling errors (notably “phosporous”).
A page of information about fossil fuels.
An introduction to energy, the problems and possible solutions.
A comprehensive site covering circuits, energy resources and electricity generation.
This site introduces electromagnetic radiation and explores many aspects of visible light including the perception of color and the characteristics of lenses. Links to loads of online activities for students and teacher resources.
An animated interactive page explaining how lasers work.
A page discussing the issue of whether black and white are defined as colours. Pupils might need a bit of guidance in understanding the different primary colour systems.
A School Physics site with information about the eye, colour, reflection, refraction and much more.
This article shows the mechanical systems that make hearing possible and traces the path of a sound, from its source to your brain. Nice animation of sound travelling though air.
Answers to some commonly asked questions about sound.
A school physics site with information about sound, the ear and much more.
A collection of pages that covers the ear, echoes, speed of sound, loudness and frequency.
Some info pages on how to make and break magnets.
Detailas of how electromagnets work with links to some uses of electromagnets.
Irish site for years 5 and 6. Choose from topics on Energy and Forces, Living Things and Material. Teacher materials are available
A page about the invention of the magnetic compass.
A school physics site with information about electromagnets, the Earth's magnetic field, uses of electromagnets and much more.
Explanation of how reed switches work. Examples of modern applications.
Clear detailed account of how different types of (mostly household) thermometers work, from the excellent Howstuffworks site.
Reference information about heat and temperature for teachers or extension material for the brightest pupils.
Clear detailed account of how a Thermos flask works - a useful way of revising conduction, convection and radiation.
A very clear explanation of what happens at absolute zero, and how the Kelvin scale works. Nevertheless, this is likely to be beyond many pupils at this stage.
A page about the early history of thermometers and temperature scales.
A biography of Anders Celsius 1701-1744.
A biography of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) 1824 - 1907. Server is not always stable.
A whimsical site that promotes an admiration for Lord Kelvin and his ideas.
A comprehensive look at heat. Direct students to scroll down to the section on NO SUCH THING AS
An interactive animated page explaining temperature and absolute zero.
A page on temperature scales and how a thermometer works.
Facts and fun about thermometers, including how to make a thermometer.
Facts and fun about refrigerators, including an experiment about food to do.
A page of background information about heat, temperature and thermometers.
A page of information about energy and heat flow. Very text heavy for primary but sections may be of use in class.
This page covers heat energy, expansion and energy transfer.
A School Physics site with information about conduction, convection, radiation and much more.
Instructions on how to make a lemon battery.
A simple electrical project to make a night light for your room.
Biography of Michael Faraday - one of the greatest experimentalists of all time, who made many pivotal discoveries in electricity and magnetism. Clearly written.
A lesson plan that shows how to use paper cups to show how well water conducts.
Make your own periscope.
Information and a wroksheet on changing sounds.
Animations show how sound travels through the air.
The Ear diagram to label.
The pathway of sound vibrations going through the ear to the brain. Simple blank worksheet with no explanation.
Worksheet: Simple literacy activity where pupils are required to answer questions from the text. May be too simple for age 13+.
Nice experiment worksheet, could be adapted to do as a homework activity.
Instructions on how to make musical instrument with craft sticks and rubber bands.
A multiple choice quiz from Doc Brown on magnetism and electromagnetism.
A video showing the use of magnetism to separate iron from waste (1:19 min). Also covers aluminium and plastics.
A video about the Japanese maglev train.
An extreme temperature line. Pupils will have experience of a tiny part of this line, which ranges from absolute zero to the core of a Star. Note that the scale is logarithmic and in Kelvin.
A lesson plan with resources to encourage pupils to estimate temperature.