Teaching through discrepant event activities increases student interest in science. In this article, I will introduce a well-known 19th century demonstration, the Tissandier experiment, to stimulate curiosity among students learning the concept of inertia. In this demonstration, a hard object (e.g. a wooden rod) placed on fragile supports is…

Science and technology play an important role in modern medicine and experience shows that, although school students and their relatives are likely to have experienced some of the complex procedures available today, they are generally not aware of the science behind them. Demonstrations that link school science to medical procedures can therefore…

In this article we describe a demonstration for most of the elements from the periodic table which together constitute the show "An Elemental Spectacle: A Guided Tour of the Darker Reaches of the Periodic Table."

To improve the quality of education, it is important for teachers to have an understanding of action research. Action research is 'learning by doing', which involves identifying a problem, looking for a plan to resolve it, observing how successful it is and, if not satisfied, trying again. Action research helps educators to be more effective in…

Practical work and experimental science are at the heart of teaching and learning in science classrooms. The COVID-19 pandemic forces secondary school science teachers to make difficult decisions about how best to facilitate practical work safely. We present empirical evidence of the effectiveness of teacher demonstrations and videos in preparing…

Activation energies form an energy barrier to a chemical reaction taking place. Simple collision theory, i.e. that particles need to collide to react, would suggest that activation energy is the energy needed to overcome a coulombic barrier provided by the negatively charged electrons contained within energy shells surrounding an atomic nucleus.…

Astro Academy: Principia is an education programme developed by the UK National Space Academy for the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Academy designed, constructed, flight-qualified and developed experimental procedures for a suite of physics and chemistry demonstration experiments that were conducted by ESA…

Doing science involves the development and evaluation of models. These models are not objective truths but can be understood as explanations, which scientists use to explore and reason about an aspect of the world. Learning science involves students expressing and engaging with models in the classroom. However, this learning should not be seen as…

Demonstrating that a moving magnet can induce an electromagnetic force by causing an electric current in a conducting material can be shown by a number of methods. A common method is dropping a magnet down a copper pipe and showing that the rate of fall is much slower than expected owing to the induced electric current in the copper pipe. This…

Inspired by the inclusion of a British astronaut on the International Space Station, explanations and demonstrations that lead to an understanding of how satellites stay above the Earth are described. This is a mixture of separate ideas that have been demonstrated successfully at a public exhibition of science-based activities. Although some…

Traffic on motorways can slow down for no apparent reason. Sudden changes in speed by one or two drivers can create a chain reaction that causes a traffic jam for the vehicles that are following. This kind of phantom traffic jam is called a "jamiton" and the article discusses some of the ways in which traffic engineers produce…

Gravity is an intangible abstract force when considered theoretically and yet we are affected by it constantly. The apparently "strong" nature of gravity, which in the layperson's mind causes him or her to stick to the Earth, is belied by the fact that it is the weakest of the fundamental forces. Demonstrations that allow pupils,…

This article outlines some engagement or "showmanship" devices that can enhance the impact of live practical demonstrations. The fifteen engagement techniques described herein are used by the author in his spectacular chemistry demonstration shows in theaters, but they can also be useful in the classroom environment. Many of the…

What is friction? Like gravity, friction is a type of force. In simple terms, friction is, by and large, resistance to movement when two or more objects slide past one another. In this task young people are challenged to build a "buffer" to stop a moving ball using only a piece of ordinary A4 paper or a strip cut from it; that is,…

Science demonstrations are often criticised for their passive nature, their gratuitous exploitation and their limited ability to develop scientific knowledge and understanding. This article is intended to present a robust defence of the use of demonstrations in the classroom by identifying some of their unique and powerful benefits--practical,…