Science / Year 7 / Science as a Human Endeavour / Nature and development of science

• TLF-IDL2357

Select energy sources and energy converters to build energy chains to power appliances and vehicles. Examine how each energy converter in a chain loses some energy and reduces the energy available for use. For example, show that using a solar panel and an electric motor to drive a car delivers only 16% of the original energy ...

• TLF-IDM015429

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Discover how space exploration has developed over the years. Find out about different space missions and experiments, and a range of spacecraft from the early probes to more complex shuttles. Where do you think space exploration might take us in the future?</span>

• TLF-IDM014089

This is a unit of work designed to help students investigate the similarities and differences between a range of organisms including plants, animals and micro-organisms. Students use these variations to organise and classify organisms according to accepted hierarchial categories. They examine the need for scientists to ...

• TLF-IDM018088

Does the Moon ever appear bigger and brighter in the night sky? Find out as astronomer Tanya Hill from the Melbourne Planetarium explains why we sometimes see a 'supermoon'.

• TLF-IDM020174

Watch and listen as Dr Graham Phillips explains what has been discovered about our universe in the last decade or so. What did the WMAP satellite study? What did it confirm? The scientists in this story talk about being surprised to find that the universe is expanding at an increasing pace. What do they say is responsible ...

• TLF-IDM016472

This six and a half minute video segment from Catalyst explains Earthshine as light from our own Earth reflected back from the Moon's dark side. A PhD student is studying it to learn about how light reflects from a planet that contains liquid water as well as land. Her work may one day lead to the discovery of other planets ...

• TLF-IDM016773

An interview and tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney and its herbarium with Dr Tim Entwistle, a plant scientist and the NSW Government Botanist. Tim talks to a pre-service teacher from Macquarie University about his love of plants, in particular freshwater algae. In the herbarium we find out why it is so important ...

• TLF-IDM016656

An interview with Adam Cawley, a chemist and scientist from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, who is an expert in drug testing in sport. Adam talks to a teacher from Killara High School about working as a chemist, and the challenges in drug testing.

• TLF-IDM017609

Spinosaurus, perhaps the biggest and fiercest predatory dinosaur ever, hunted and ate the huge, 8-metre long sawfish called Onchopristis. Watch this clip to discover what special adaptations Spinosaurus had for fishing out its large prey. Like a cross between a Tyrannosaurus and a crocodile, this dinosaur was a massive ...

• TLF-IDM015714

Australia has produced many of the world's top scientists. Watch this clip to discover who some of them are. Explore the scientific discoveries that made them famous, and how they changed our understanding of the world.