Aspiration and Challenge Newmarket Academy 2014/15 Aspiration and Challenge Science
Information and further research to support Able & Talented students in Science…
Websites: Please have a look at some our of suggestion for curious and inquisitive minds…
Chemistry
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/motm.htm
Visit Bristol Uni’s ‘molecule of the month’ page for
information about a different molecule every month
http://blogs.nature.com/thescepticalchymist
A blog from a major scientific journal, ‘nature chemistry’
www.rscweb.org/blogs/cw
‘Chemistry world’ blog from the Royal Society of Chemistry
www.chemheritage.org
The chemical heritage foundation, based in the U.S.,
combines passion for history and chemistry together
http://www.rsc.org/Membership/Networking/ChemNet/
Sign up for membership of ‘chemnet’ for 14-18 year olds
interested in chemistry and receive ‘the mole’ magazine for
free
www.at-bristol.org.uk
Explore the website for the @Bristol science centre; their
youtube channel is particularly worth checking out
http://www.thinktank.ac/page.asp?
section=224&sectionTitle=Our Favourites
Visit this page of Birmingham Science Museum’s website
for experiments to try at home
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/
Talks you through how chemical reactions work.
Recommended for triple science students and upwards
Biology
http://www.cellsalive.com/
An interactive site on microbiology, cell biology,
immunology and microscopy
http://www.beep.ac.uk/content/327.0.html
An excellent website on genetic engineering and cloning
http://www.ygyh.org/
An interesting website on the causes and effects of genetic
conditions
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
A really fun but very informative website about genetics;
lots of interactive content
http://www.abpischools.org.uk/page/student.cfm
An excellent website containing information about modern
advances in medical Science
http://www.villierspark-online-extension-activities.org.uk/
ActivityList.aspx?subject_id=2
Villiers park activities for G/T students doing AS and A level
Biology
http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/landsteiner/
A website containing some excellent interactive activities
on a number of Biological topics including blood groups,
malaria and MRI scans
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/index.html
Explore the natural world online with the natural history
museum, website
Physics
http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/oxed/secondary/
science/advancingphysics/support_materials/index.html
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl
Physics 2000; an interactive journey through modern
physics
http://www.iop.org/education/student/youth_membership/
page_41684.html
Thinking of taking A level physics? You’ll get free
membership to the institute of physics here
http://www.stfc.ac.uk/646.aspx
Official website of the large hadron collider
http://www.nasa.gov/
Keep up with all that’s current in the world of space at
NASA’s website
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
NASA’s jet propulsion lab website
http://www.darvill.clara.net
Andy Darvill’s Science site – An award winning website for
key stage 3 and 4 science
Aspiration and Challenge
Have a look at some of our book suggestions to inspire you.
Books:
A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson
Highly recommended: a hugely readable introduction to historical developments in many areas of science.
Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet Oliver Morton
An excellent and thorough treatment of photosynthesis, the evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere and the changes
brought about by mankind.
Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another Philip Ball
Can we apply physics to the behaviour of large numbers of people? Gets tricky later on, but fascinating throughout.
Chaos James Gleick
A classic. Introducing Chaos Theory and its implications for mathematics and the sciences.
Bad Science: Ben Goldacre
An expose of poor or downright deceptive science experiments and communication, mostly in medicinal science.
Measuring the Universe: The Historical Quest to Quantify Space Kitty Ferguson
A very readable account of the development of our ideas about space. Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Einstein all prominent.
Einstein’s Universe Nigel Calder
Does what is says on the tin. How did Einstein arrive at his theories of relativity and what implications did they have?
Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution Nick Lane
A biochemist looks at the evolution of photosynthesis, warm blood, death and other features of living things. Advanced.
Bully for Brontosaurus Stephen Jay Gould
One chosen more or less at random from the many worthwhile publications of Gould, a master of communicating
biological science. This one contains collected essays on a range of topics.
The Origins of Virtue Matt Ridley
To what extent is “nice” behaviour determined by genes? How do humans benefit from behaving nicely to each other?
See also Genome and Nature via Nurture: genes, experience and what makes us human.
The Chemistry of Life Steven Rose
An introduction to biochemistry. Which molecules are essential for life? What do they look like and what do they do?
The Periodic Table Primo Levi
How chemistry became intertwined with the life of a remarkable man who lived through key episodes in history. A
classic.