Whether you customise this promising CD-Rom or use it straight, high interest is guaranteed, writes Ian Francis

This CD-Rom has been developed to cover the Ideas and Evidence (England)Nature of Science (Wales) requirements of 14-16 science courses. It effectively represents a storage medium for paper-based activities, which in the past would have been a ring binder packed with photocopiable masters. That’s not to denigrate this offering, which should generate some interesting lessons if you can find the time to fit them into your GCSE teaching.

The 24 units consist of large pdf files, and the disc includes version 4 of Acrobat Reader. There is scope to customise units using your own word-processing package, together with much cutting and pasting. Each unit should fill a 60-minute lesson and is aimed at CD grade pupils, with extension activities for those aiming higher.

The focus is on the nature of science rather than science concepts, although it’s never possible to divorce the two completely. While some units have snappy sounding titles such as “Impossible? Maybe!”, most are essentially variants of the comprehension exercise with some chat and Q and A “games” thrown in. Most fun are the handful of “starter units” designed to occupy 20 minutes, which include “newspaper headline bingo” and the “uncertainty game”.

Contemporary science issues include mobile phone safety, BSE and speed cameras (with professional footballers caught speeding - a nice touch), all of which most pupils should be aware of from the media. The PRI website (www.shu.ac.ukpri) aims to update dated material. Alternative activities, provided for teacherswho prefer a more traditional approach, would also suit last-minute cover lessons.

This is a promising resource and I’ll certainly be trying some of the activities with Year 9 science groups to fill the post-SATs timetabling void. It’s worth visiting the PRI website for further information and samples.

Ian Francis is a science writer and teacher