What are the major atmospheric pollutants and where do they come from? Discover what air pollution means for the environment and how it affects humans, from smog to acid rain. Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points....

Water can either be a solid, a liquid or a gas. How does matter change state? Chemistry - Atoms And Bonding - Learning Points. Ice, liquid water and steam all consist of exactly the same molecules. Evaporation occurs when the temperature...

Without the greenhouse effect, our planet would be too cold to inhabit, but it's currently a major cause of global warming. What is the greenhouse effect, and why is it such a conundrum? Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points....

What is the difference between solids, liquids and gases? How does each state behave? Chemistry - Atoms And Bonding - Learning Points. The kinetic theory of matter states that particles are in constant motion and there are forces of...

The noble gases were one of the last groups of elements to be discovered. From helium balloons to light bulbs, these gases have many uses in the world around us. Chemistry - Periodic Table - Learning Points. The noble gases are found in...

Conduction, convection and radiation are all ways in which heat is transported. How does each work, and what are they useful for? Physics - Energy And Radioactivity - Learning Points. The three types of heat transport are conduction,...

The discovery by Robert Bunsen which allowed elements to be identified more easily, and even led to the discovery of new ones. Chemistry - Atoms And Bonding - Learning Points. Gustav Kirchoff assembled the first spectroscope - two...

Sound waves move through different mediums at different speeds, but why is this? What factors affect the speed of sound? Physics - Waves - Learning Points. Speed of sound depends on many different factors. Temperature, elasticity and...

Sounds can vary greatly: extremely quiet or deafeningly loud, high and shrill to low and booming. Why are they so different? Physics - Waves - Learning Points. Sound is a vibration passed to and fro along particles forming a wave. It can...

The discovery of Titan's atmosphere excited scientists, who believe it could hold the key to life on Earth. Physics - UniverseLearning Points. Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a dense atmosphere. Titan's atmosphere is 98%...

We look at how an incandescent light bulb can be made. First we attach a tungsten wire to electrodes in a flask of air and pass a current through the wire. The wire glows briefly before burning and breaking. Next we fill the flask with...

We use a Bunsen burner to burn different chemical salts to see how the flame colour changes. This shows that sodium burns with a yellow flame, lithium burns with a red flame, barium burns with a yellow-green flame and copper burns with a...

We look at how the mass of wire wool changes when it is burned. Wire wool is almost 99% iron. When we burn it, it combines chemically with oxygen from the air to form iron(III) oxide. The mass of the product is more than the mass of the...

We investigate the properties of two types of gas bubbles: methane gas bubbles and bubbles of the gas we breathe out. The air-filled bubbles sink and we are unable to set them alight, while the methane bubbles float upwards and are...

We use a Hero's engine model to show how equal and opposite forces can cause propulsion. Two holes are pierced in a metal bottle and some water is added. This is suspended above a Bunsen burner, and as the water boils and leaves the...

We inflate a rubber glove using the gas produced during a neutralisation reaction. Bicarbonate of soda is added to vinegar in a beaker covered by a rubber glove and it expands. The gas is used to extinguish a flame, showing that it is...

Discover that altering the number of successful collisions between particles is key to changing the rate of chemical reactions. How this can be manipulated? Chemistry - ReactionsLearning Points. New substances are made when particles...

What is it? ... It's the surface of a bubble! Material processes - Solids, liquids and gases - Gases A Twig Tidbit Film - Big Reveal. The image zooms out from an extreme close-up to full frame. The children have to guess what the image is.

Did you know that the surface of Jupiter is made up entirely of gases? Material processes - Solids, liquids and gases - Gases Learning Points The surface of Jupiter is made entirely of gases. A Twig Tidbit Film - Did you know? A...

A balloon is dipped in liquid nitrogen ... what happens next? Material processes - Changing materials - Expansion and conduction A Twig Tidbit Film - What happens next? A short section of film is played and the children have to guess...

What's that noise? ... It's a whale's blowhole! Material processes - Solids, liquids and gases - Gases A Twig Tidbit Film - What’s that noise? The children have to identify an object from its sound alone.

Did you know that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent heat from escaping? People and places - Future of energy - The energy debate Learning Points Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. A Twig Tidbit Film - Did you know? A...

Four balls that are used in different sports are shown on screen, but which is the only one that has a solid filling? Material processes - Solids, liquids and gases - Gases Learning Points Gases do not have a fixed shape and so move to...

Check out the various forms of weather, what causes it, and how it affects our lives. People and places -Physical geography - Weather Learning Points The weather is the current state of the atmosphere in a particular location on Earth....