British Science Week is a ten-day programme of science, technology, engineering and maths events and activities across the UK for people of all ages, coordinated by the British Science Association. To find out what is going on across the UK to celebrate, visit the British Science Week Event Calendar and keep up to date by following British Science Week on Twitter.
To celebrate we have compiled a range of FREE resources for you to explore and enjoy. See below to explore a topic further.
Biology - Genomes
Genes are units of inheritance that contribute to a person’s behaviour and health. Genomes are composed of DNA, and a knowledge of the structure of DNA is essential to understand how it can function as hereditary material. DNA is remarkable, breathtakingly simple in its structure yet capable of directing all the living processes in a cell, the production of new cells and the development of a fertilized egg to an individual adult.
Learn the basic rules of genetics to try to fill your fish tank with as many high-value fish as possible in our game or try a FREE course on gene therapy or gene testing!
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Gene testing
This free course, Gene testing, looks at three different uses of genetic testing: pre-natal diagnosis, childhood testing and adult testing. Such tests provide genetic information in the form of a predictive diagnosis, and as such are described as predictive tests. Pre-natal diagnosis uses techniques such as amniocentesis to test fetuses in the ...
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Angel Breed
Understand the basic rules of genetics and see if you can breed the rarest fish in our biology game.
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What do genes do?
This free course, What do genes do?, explores how information contained in DNA is used, explaining the flow of information from DNA to RNA to protein. Also introduced are the concepts of transcription (as occurs between DNA and RNA) and translation.
Chemistry - Chemical Elements
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Discovering chemistry
Chemistry lies at the centre of our modern life, playing a part in areas as diverse as the development of new drugs and materials, analysing our environment through to more mundane activities such as washing your clothes and making your tea. But to truly understand the role chemistry plays you need to have a sound grasp of a number of ...
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Crime scene officer
Put yourself in a crime scene officer's shoes and try to solve a suspected murder when time and resources are tight. Can you link the suspects to the forensic evidence?
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Hat makers, Greek gods and the great poisoners
Ever wondered where the phrase 'as mad as a hatter' came from? We take a look at some infamous cases of poisoning.
From diamonds to dynamite, everything involves a chemical reaction. You can discover more about chemistry in our free course or explore the darker side of chemistry in our article on poison and our interactives on forensic evidence.
Environmental Science - The Oceans
Explore the Earth's oceans and ocean life with our free course game and quiz.
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Ocean explorer
Take a journey into the Earth's oceans and discover whether you've got what it takes to become an oceanographer. Explore ocean depths, currents, temperatures and find out more about the future of our oceans.
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The oceans
The oceans cover more than 70 per cent of our planet. In this free course, The oceans, you will learn about the depths of the oceans and the properties of the water that fills them, what drives the ocean circulation and how the oceans influence our climate.
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Plastics in our ocean
Test your knowledge about plastics in our oceans, and learn about how they impact the environment by clicking on the image below...
Geology - Tectonic Plates and rocks
Plate tectonics is an earth sciences topic that attracts a good deal of interest. Examine how the evidence for the movement of continents was gathered and how this movement relates to, and generates, geological features and phenomena such as ocean basins, mountain ranges, volcanoes and earthquakes. Alternatively, test your current knowledge with our quick-fire challenges on Slip Slide Collide! We also have a fantastic Geology Toolkit for you to enjoy.
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Slip Slide Collide
Want to learn more about the Earth's tectonic plates? Start your journey into the surface of the Earth with these three quick-fire challenges in our science game.
Activity
Level: 2 Intermediate
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Geology toolkit
Discover the unique landscape of Great Britain and Ireland with our interactive Geology Toolkit, featuring a geology timeline, rock analyser, rock cycle, landscape features and safety tips.
Activity
Level: 1 Introductory
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Earthquakes
Earthquakes shake the ground surface, can cause buildings to collapse, disrupt transport and services, and can cause fires. They can trigger landslides and tsunami in short, earthquakes can be very destructive. In this free course, Earthquakes, you will look at why, where and what happens when they occur and also at how earthquakes are assessed...
Free course
8 hours
Level: 1 Introductory
Physics and Astronomy - Out of this World
Why not go on a 60 second adventure in Astronomy? Or several? Below you can learn about the noise created by The Big Bang, and you can download the entire podcast in iTunesU for FREE.
Transcript
86.9 KB
Thinking about studying physics or astronomy? Or just want to be blown away by what is out of this world? Why not go where many have gone before and venture into some of our FREE courses on the subject?:
Spend 15 minutes on Mars in our interactive or make an impact with our Meteorite interactive game! You can also find out more about asteroids and meteorites in our collection.
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15 minutes on Mars
Have you ever looked up into the night sky at the red planet and wanted to know more? Now here’s your chance to explore Mars.
Activity
Level: 1 Introductory
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Meteoric
Rocks hurtling through space shape the surface of the moons and planets as collide – and now you can use your skill and knowledge to make your own mark. Can you cover a target percentage of a planet or a moon’s surface with impact craters – by choosing meteroids based on size, make-up and speed and aiming them at your chosen target.
Activity
Level: 1 Introductory
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The Magic of Meteorites
In March 2021, several rare meteorite fragments were found in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. We celebrate this amazing discovery with a mini documentary and other FREE resources on meteorites…
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
Health Sciences - Anxiety and pain
Focusing on anxiety, you will consider key issues concerning diagnosis, causes and interventions in our FREE course 'Understanding anxiety'. Plus, pain - we all understand what pain is, don't we? Or do we? Try one of our FREE courses to learn more!
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Exploring anxiety
This free advanced level course, Exploring anxiety, serves as an introduction to masters level study in neurosciences and mental health. Focusing on anxiety, you will consider key issues concerning diagnosis, causes and interventions. You will also learn how to evaluate news items, and to go behind the headlines and begin to explore some of the ...
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Pain and Aspirin
What causes pain and how do we stop it? This free course, Pain and Aspirin, looks at how the human body responds to the release of certain chemicals and as a result feels pain. Pain can be reduced by inhibiting the formation of such chemicals and you will learn how the molecular structure of aspirin has been formulated to help in this process.
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Drug development process: combating pain
Drug development process: combating pain, is a free course offering a brief introduction to the process of new drug discovery; from identification of a suitable candidate drug molecule to the development of a commercial drug product available in the clinic for pain relief or as an anti-inflammatory.
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