Key Stage 4
Bring STEM education to life in the classroom
Featured Resources
Siemens offers a portfolio of unique and engaging materials and practical activities based on the national curriculum and the ground-breaking projects Siemens is engaged in. Please download, share and enjoy.KS4 Science Resources
Energy Island
In this three episode scheme of work, students will learn about the challenges and opportunities of using renewable energy technology in a particular context.
- Episode 1: Students will consider why an island might want to become self-sufficient, the different ways of doing this, and the challenges that may arise.
- Episode 2: Students will use the Energy Island interactive game to design and test their own renewable energy supply system for an island.
- Episode 3: Students will decide on a certain energy supply system for the island, weighing up different factors such as cost, pollution and energy supply, as well as having to justify their decision.
Electromagnetic Waves and MRI Scanners
In this resource, students will learn about how MRI scanners use electromagnetic waves to produce images. Students will aim to write and discuss how images are produced through MRI scans, and suggest the different ways in which these images are useful to medical practitioners.
Here Comes the Sun
This resource encourages students to explore the difference between energy generation from internal combustion generators, in comparison to photovoltaic (PV) cells.
Students will aim to:
- Understand the process of energy transfer
- Understand how PV cells and internal combustion generators provide energy
- Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each technology
Now Hear This
In this resource, students will learn about loudness, frequency and the process of hearing. They will aim to explain how the human ear works and responds to different sound intensities and frequencies. Finally, students will be challenges to develop a design for a hearing aid, demonstrating how it allows for a range of design requirements.
Energy Efficiency
This module guides students to analyse different lighting technologies.
Students will aim to:
- Use Sankey diagrams to illustrate the energy effiency of different lightbulbs
- Evaluate the social impacts of different lighting technologies
- Conduct a cost-benefit analysis for different lighting technologies
- Design a reflector for a bulb to produce even illumination over a given area
Tidal Energy
This resource introduces students to tidal energy as a form of renewable energy. Students will be encouraged to understand the potential of tidal energy as a sustainable energy source; evaluate the contribution that tidal energy may make to society; and finally, present a reasoned and justified case for tidal energy.
Inspired Bus Company
This resource introduces the opportunities and challenges of designing a bus with a lower environmental impact for an urban environment.
Students will analyse the key contextual requirements and factors to be considered when designing a bus; learn about the various power sources for a bus; understand energy transfer and loss in this context; and finally, work in teams to develop proposals and present solutions for fuel systems for buses for The Inspired Bus Company.
KS4 Computing Resources
Totally In Control
This resource introduces students to the features of a system; input, process and output. Students must identify how sequences of commands can be used to run equipment and how logic operation can respond to inputs and control outputs.
The activity creates context and stimulates discussion with an example of control systems on fairground rides.
A Case To Resolve
This resource explores how systems are developed to generate solutions to problems. Drawing in ideas about waves, light and X-rays students must apply their wider knowledge with logic to analyse outcomes from a process.
The activity creates context and stimulates discussion with an example of airport baggage handling where such systems are in place.
KS4 Maths Resources
KS4 Design and Technology Resources
Sustainability
Sustainability
Developed by Ben Hazzard of Burnage Media Arts College, this lesson plan and associated activities aim to provide pupils with an opportunity to understand sustainability and what is required for a company to become sustainable.
The pupils will be asked to:
- Analyse current companies/products and evaluate their sustainability