There are several 'cool' mechanisms that result in materials luminescing or emitting light. Artificial luminescence has often been created by mimicking nature and there are many examples of applications in society. It is very likely that most of your students will have observed luminescence in one form or another, such as glow sticks,…

The 'Moss Safari' activity was developed to assist with knowing which organisms to look for when observing a drop of water squeezed from moss for the first time. In this case study, the activity was introduced online to 34 trainee science teachers. This was followed by a post-session questionnaire evaluating their experience of the Moss Safari.…

This overview is intended to help colleagues achieve successful and satisfying observations using a ripple tank. There are many observations to consider that can effectively illustrate reflection, refraction, interference and diffraction, but the most important consideration is to make every effort to enable students to see the effects we want…

Global warming is a current environmental issue that has been linked to an increase in anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To raise awareness of the problem, various simple experiments have been proposed to demonstrate the effect of carbon dioxide on the planet's temperature. This article describes a similar experiment, which…

The nature of light and how it is affected by gravity is discussed. Einstein's prediction of the deflection of light as it passes near the Sun was verified by observations made during the solar eclipse of 1919. Another prediction was that of gravitational redshift, which occurs when light emitted by a star loses energy in the gravitational field…

Thermal cameras are useful tools for use in scientific investigation and for teaching scientific concepts to students in the classroom. Demonstrations of scientific phenomena can be greatly enhanced visually by the use of this cutting-edge technology. (Contains 7 figures.)

This article attempts to summarise the good, bad and (occasionally) ugly aspects of teaching astronomy in UK schools. It covers the most common problems reported by teachers when asked about covering the astronomy/space topics in school. Particular focus is given to the GCSE Astronomy qualification offered by Edexcel (which is currently the…

Microscopes are especially useful for observing fine detail in biological specimens. However, there are many other small items that may be examined with microscopes, and it is important to introduce children to low-magnification images of items they can recognise before moving on to such large magnification that what they observe has no obvious…

Describes experiments involving variations on the electroscope, an electrostatic toy, a stationary wave machine, a spark counter, a carbon microphone, curvilinear expansion, soap films, a barber's pole, and a simple pendulum. (GS)

This article describes the basic physics of several types of holograms and discusses different recording materials in use. Current and possible future applications of holograms are described as well as their large-scale production. (Author)

Describes an open-ended investigation in which students have to look into a feature of lens performance that is not commonly found in textbook materials on optics. Presents explanations and sample results. (WRM)

Discusses various topics in color chemistry, including the electromagnetic spectrum, the absorption and reflection of light, additive and subtractive color mixing, and the molecular structure of simple colored substances. (MLH)

Describes an investigation of the effectiveness of a role-play activity used to help secondary science students learn about color subtraction. Finds that pupils were better able to understand the abstract scientific concepts after the activity. (Author/WRM)