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ESO 2  Science

1. Forces and Movements

Newton's forces and the effects of forces.Great presentation to learn about natural forces, balanced and unbalanced forces, effects of forces, calculations and graphs on speed and acceleration, air resistance and more.

Forces.Learn what forces are, how to measure them, and what they can do. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Friction.Find out how frictional forces, including air resistance, can affect the motion of an object. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Useful friction.Learn how frictional forces can be useful. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Balanced forces.Learn that balanced forces don't produce any change in the movement of an object. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Unbalanced forces.Learn that unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of movement of objects. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Gravity.Learn that gravity is a force of attraction which acts on Earth towards the centre of the planet, and that the size of the force of gravity depends on the mass of each object and the distance between them. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Mass, weight and gravity.Learn that the weight of an object on Earth is the result of the gravitational attraction between its mass and that of the Earth, and know that weight is a force so is measured in newtons. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Measuring speed.Learn how to work out the speed of a moving object and understand how to make calculations using the relationship between speed, distance and time. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Measuring speed activity.Play with a simulation that shows the relationship between time, distance and speed. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Distance-time graphs.Learn how to plot a distance-time graph and understand what it shows. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

2. Energy

Energy.Great presentation to learn about the types of energy, its laws, its transformations, the ways heat can be transmitted, major sources of energy, some of its uses in daily life, the advantages of reducing its use and the possibilities of the renewable sources of energy.

KEWL - Energy.A basic introduction to the main renewable and non-renewable sources of energy.

Special report: energy and fuels.New Scientist extensive collection of resources to take you through a deep insight on energy and fuels.

Why sustainable power is unsustainable.Serious obstacles on the road towards a future of renewable sources of energy.

The 10 big energy myths.There has never been a more important time to invest in green technologies, yet many of us believe these efforts are doomed to fail. This article disagrees.

Power plants of the world.Google Earth file showing a list with most of the world's power plants classified by type.

Dirty energy threat to green Brazil.Brazil boasts of being one of the world's "greenest" energy suppliers, but recent policy initiatives could jeopardise its desire to be a big player in future climate change discussions.

The big thirst.Article in The New York Times pondering the worrying future of our most wanted fuel: oil.

How oil refining works.Great review on one of the most important industrial processes in our society. With images and videos.

Oil: a History.A short history of black gold, from the ancient Persian army's flaming oil-dipped arrows to today's piercing pain at the pump.

Can carbon fiber solve the oil crisis?Cutting a car's weight makes a lot of sense in the knowledge that we are running down of oil. Learn how carbon fiber could help.

There is no such thing as nuclear waste.The author demystifies the danger of nuclear waste by suggesting alternative uses for them other than just burial.

Sunsite funsite.A great animated lesson to know all the basics about solar energy and how it is harnessed by humans and every other living being on Earth.

Solar power.One image showing some facts about the incredible potential of solar power.

How does solar power work?Very interesting and easy to understand introduction to solar power and its current state of development.

The amazing solar tower of Seville.Learn how solar power is being produced in the hot countryside near Seville.

Is the Sun setting on solar power in Spain?An article of the current heyday of solar power in Spain and its dependency on subsidies.

Biofuels.Encyclopaedia Britannica online article on biofuels.

Gas 2.0.Hot news on biofuels.

Are biofuels bad?A scientific study says that biofuels are even worse than the gasoline for the current climatic change. Learn why.

How biodiesel works.To learn it all about one of the most important alternatives to fossil fuels.

Can I make my own ethanol?Ethanol, mixed with a small amount of gasoline, can be used to fuel cars. Learn how to make it at home, safely and cheaply.

How biofuel is made.See how cooking oil leftovers from restaurants are used to produce a biodiesel that is later mixed with petroleum derivatives to fuel vehicles.

Can I run my MP3 player on methanol?They even say that you can run it with an onion and Gatorade, so why not with methanol?

Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol.Learn how a newborn company is experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide 'renewable petroleum'.

Forget solar panels, this house runs on algae.Students at the University of Cambridge have designed an energy and carbon-neutral house powered entirely by algae.

New facility uses algae to turn coal pollution into fuel.A coal fired power-plant in Oregon has started a pilot project to stop pollution by using algae to collect carbon dioxide and make fuel and other useful products.

Garbage energy.Watch this video to understand how we can produce electricity from methane captured in a landfill.

5 myths about wind energy.Wind energy might be the simplest renewable energy to understand. Yet there are misconceptions about what makes it turn.

Windfarms unlikely to threaten birds.Conservation groups have raised fears that large birds could get caught in the turbines and that these structures could disturb other species. But this idea is slowly fading away. Learn why.

Biomass energy 'could be harmful'.Biomass power - such as burning wood for energy - could do more harm than good in the battle to reduce greenhouse gases.

How geothermal energy works.Introduction to what geothermal energy is and how we can make use of it.

One hot island.Learn about Iceland's renewable geothermal power.

US geothermal energy.Enhanced Geothermal Systems is an initiative meant to harness all the power of the subsurface heat to produce electricity and heat. This Google Earth file shows all the potential of this kind of energy in the United States. There is a video describing the project at YouTube.

How hydrogen cars work.The car of the future is here today. It doesn't use gasoline and it doesn't pollute the air. In fact, it produces steam instead of exhaust. And the mystery fuel? Hydrogen, the simplest and most abundant element in the Universe.

3. Heat and Temperature

Temperature at The Open Door web site.Learn everything about measuring temperature: thermometric scales, types of thermometers, interesting temperatures and more.

4. Light

Light and the electromagnetic spectrum.Great presentation on the waves of the electromagnetic spectrum and their properties, the nature of visible light and its behaviour, its applications, and how the human eye forms an image.

KEWL - Light.Basic introduction to light and lasers.

Refraction.Learn about refraction of light and know some examples. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

5. Sound

Sound & Hearing.Great presentation on sound waves and their properties, their transmission, their behaviour, their applications, how the human ear is able to detect them, and more.

KEWL - Sound.Properties of sound waves and speed of sound across different mediums.

6. Chemical Changes

The golden book of chemistry experiments.Probably many of them are not the ones you should try at home without the supervision of an adult; still, it is an amazing resource with a wealth of information if you dream to become a professional chemist some day.

Periodic Table of the Elements.In many different languages and with links to the Wikipedia articles on each one of the chemical elements.

Chemical reactions in Chem4kids.com.A very comprehensive and easy to understand resource meant for pupils in secondary education. Use the links in the top right menu to further along the tutorial.

Structures and bonding.To know that elements combine through chemical reactions to form compounds and that compounds contain different elements that are chemically bonded together. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Reactions of metals with oxygen and water.Learn how different metals react with oxygen and water and know how to name the products and identify patterns in these reactions. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Reactions of metals with acids.Learn that metals react with acid to produce salt and hydrogen and find out how to test for hydrogen gas. After the review, you can try a simulation activity of this type of reactions.

Displacement reactions.Understand why more reactive metals will displace less reactive ones from their compounds. After the review, you can try a simulation activity of this type of reactions. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

The reactivity series of metals.Understand how the reactivity series of metals can be determined by considering their reaction with oxygen, water and acid, and learn how to use the reactivity series to make predictions about other reactions. After the review, you can try a simulation activity of this type of reactions. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Acids and alkalis.Learn how to use indicators to classify solutions as acidic, alkaline or neutral. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

pH scale.Learn that pH is a measure of the strength of an acid or alkali and how to interpret the colours of universal indicator solution. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

What happens when you carbonate water?Learn what an acid is through an experiment with carbonated water and red cabbage.

Acid - base reactions.Understand how different bases react with acids and write word equations for the reactions. Learn how to test for carbon dioxide gas. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Everyday neutralisation reactions.Learn about everyday neutralisation reactions. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Uses of salts.Learn some of the uses of different salts. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Making a salt using an acid and an alkali.Learn how to prepare a neutral salt sample using an acid and an alkali. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

Making a salt using an insoluble base.Learn how to prepare a neutral salt sample from an insoluble base. Interactive lesson at Skoool.co.uk.

The amazing rusting aluminum.Rusting of aluminium can either hold an airplane together or dissolve it to bits. Learn how.

Top 10 amazing chemistry videos.Fiery explosions, beautiful reactions and hilarious music videos are great reasons to be excited about Chemistry. Here are some of the best.

Balancing chemical equations.Step by step tutorial.

8. Nutrition in Living Beings

Photosynthesis on land and on water.Very simple animation showing how photosynthesis takes place both in land and in water living things.

Virtual owl pellets.Learn everything about the very interesting owls' regurgitations.

9. Interaction and Coordination in Living Beings

Coral spawn by moonlight.Scientists have puzzled over how corals get to know when to have sex: this video shows that it's the moonlight what makes some of them romantic.

Can you see me?These animals make use of extraordinary color patterns, in addition to modified exoskeletons, skin, scales, and behaviour, to mimic leaves and evade detection from predators or prey.

How animal migration works.Learn about the biggest, longest and most amazing animal migrations in the world, and figure out why and how animals make such astonishing journeys.

World on the move.A wonderful map-based website to learn about animal migrations, from the geese to the whales.

10. Reproduction in Living Beings

Flower parts.Learn the parts of an angiosperm flower with this interactive animation.

Flower structure.Learn the parts of an angiosperm flower and the functions of each.

General stages in the life cycle of flowering plants.Very useful commented photo gallery to learn about the life cycle of angiosperms.

Pollen park.Learn about plant reproduction through this beautiful interactive game.

Foxgloves.The foxglove is a marvellous example of a plant which is adapted to be pollinated by insects. Learn how certain parts of this plant have been specially modified over time so that it is able to attract insects.

Orchids: nature's sexy sirens.Orchids are just fascinating beings. Their refined sexual behaviour involves from promising food to even tricking insects into thinking they're a sexual partner. Learn more.

Male wasps make love to orchids.Learn how orchids mimic female wasps to favour their own fertilisation.

Sex and the seahorse.When the male is the pregnant one.

Penis length isn't everything… for barnacle males.Longer isn't always better, according to some men, and it seems the same is true for barnacles, too.

'Virgin births' for giant lizards.Females of the Komodo Dragon, the largest lizard in the world, are capable of producing offspring without male contact.

Ants inhabit 'world without sex'.An Amazonian ant has developed into an all-female species, researchers have found.

Animals in love.A wonderful photo gallery of animals in the mood for love.

11. The Ecosphere and the Ecosystems

Analyzing an ecosystem.Excellent quizz to test your knowledge on the basics of ecosystems.

Jack and the beanstalk.Cartoon film that uses the traditional pantomime story of "Jack and The Beanstalk" to link different types of feeding relationship. Includes reference to autotrophs, herbivores, carnivores, parasites, symbionts and saprotrophs.

The ocean food chain.Nice and easy to understand overview of the marine trophic levels. With links at the bottom of the page to help you explore further.

Marine food web.Interactive activity to place different marine species in their correct trophic levels.

If the Sun went out, how long would life on Earth survive?Learn about the chain of undesirable consequences that would result from our star suddenly dying off.

Earth's biomes.Great interactive animation showing the occurrence and main features of the Earth's biomes.

World biomes interactive map.Another great interactive map to see the occurence and learn the main characteristics of the world's biomes. With many activities.

What's it like where you live?A brief and very easy to understand introduction to the main biomes and aquatic ecosystems of our planet.

Water ecosystems.A brief introduction to fresh-water and marine ecosystems.

Great Barrier Reef.A National Geographic movie on the Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure.

How wetlands work.Water lilies, turtles, frogs, ducks, snakes, dragonflies, minnows, herons, sticky black muck, monsters… What do these things have in common? Wetlands.

National marine sanctuaries.Collection of select videoclips and still images from USA's underwater treasures.

How the Galapagos islands work.One of the world's most famous ecosystems is the place that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. But there's more to it than just finches and tortoises.

Scenes from Antarctica.A great set of 32 stunning photos taken in the Antarctica.

Global climate data map.This map can tell you the current climate in any country in the world: just drag a marker over the country on the map, and the map will return a calendar showing the precipitation, temperature and wind speed in the country for each month of the year.

9 of today's most important environmental issues.A list that neatly summarizes some of our most pressing environmental concerns.

Atlas of our changing environment.This map from the United Nations Environment Programme showcases 187 sites around the world where humans are having an adverse effect on the environment. The map uses illustrations, satellite images and ground photographs to highlight the impact of Humanity on the planet.

Anthropogenic biomes.Google Earth file showing a map of biomes created or transformed by humans.

Disappearing forests of the world.Google Earth file showing deforestation data for different countries.

Interactives: Garbage.Good lesson with coverage of topics such as solid waste, hazardous waste, sewage and waste reduction efforts.

What's the biggest threat to freshwater habitats?Learn what ar the freshwater habitats, why are they important, and how agriculture endangers them.

Why could China's Three Gorges Dam cause an environmental disaster?Is it a milestone of modern engineering or a potential environmental disaster?

Ocean debris turning Hawaiian beach into plastic.Consumer waste from the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is turning a Hawaiian beach "into plastic".

Protected areas of the world.Google Earth file showing the protected area network for a number of countries.

Biodiversity hotspots.Google Earth file showing information about the Earth's 34 Biodiversity Hotspots, as defined by Conservation International. These are the most important areas for conservation, with very large numbers of endemic species. Each of the hotspots has lost more than 70% of its original forest.

Protected Planet.Protected Planet lets you view the world's protected areas on a Google Map. If you click on one of the mapped protected areas then you are taken to a close-up of the selected area, which includes photographs, points of interest in the area and links to related protected areas.

Ecokids.The Canadian website Ecokids has quite a list of little environmental games arranged in categories like Wildlife, Climate Change, Energy, Water, Waste, Land Use etc. The learning based environmental games are also bunched up according to age levels. For instance, in The Journey of a Wildlife Photographer you have to become a wildlife photographer and check out how animals and birds have adapted to the environment.

WWF - Have fun while making a point.Are you looking for games to find out more about key conservation issues such as endangered species, global warming and pollution? If you are, then go right ahead and indulge yourself!

Recycle City.See how the people of Dumptown turned their town around, reducing waste and saving money or play the Dumptown game and create your own scavenger hunt.

How composting works.Composting is a method that transforms solid organic waste into a product that can benefit the environment as a natural fertilizer for gardening and farming. Learn more.

50 ways to help the planet.50 actions that people can carry on in their daily lives to help preserve the Ecosphere.

5 green myths.Many of us have adopted small, easy habits to help make our lives a little more environmentally friendly. But how can you be sure your choices are right for the planet?

Top 10 myths about sustainability.In-depth article explaning the real meaning of such a popular word.

How do you clean up an oil spill?Despite stricter penalties and better ship design, oil spills haven't been eliminated. And when they happen, what can be done to clean up that mess?

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