Guidance and Case Studies

This page leads to a wealth of resources to support and enhance delivery of GCSE Physics.

You will find

Real case studies, produced by experienced practical teachers to provide ideas and inspiration for teaching a range of challenging topics. Areas covered include:
- circular motion
- half-life
- gas laws
- momentum
- the motor effect.
Links to various resources matched to GCSE Physics specifications and produced by awarding bodies, the Institute of Physics and other organisations. There are teacher resources such as lesson plans as well as animations and interactive resources for students to use.

If you cannot find what you want in the listed resources, enter keywords from your specification in the Search box on the right. Reduce the number of ‘hits’ by using inverted commas to search for phrases.

Useful links/resources

Show all materials for this page

AQA (Showing 9 of 13 available)

Physics Case Study - Ravens Wood School - The Motor effect (155 KB)
Downloadable file
Students will investigate the force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field. We will discuss applications of this, including the motor and the loudspeaker.
Physics case Study - Langley Park Boys School - Stars
Package
Students use secondary sources – ICT and books – to research key questions on the life cycle of stars. This lesson takes place over two sessions with homework between the two.
Physics Case Study - Newstead Wood School For Girls - Velocity
Package
Students make measurements of time from a movie clip. They use this data to produce a graph and use this to calculate acceleration and distance travelled.
Physics Case Study - St Olave’s Grammar School - Ripple Tanks
Package
Students gain first-hand experience of four different wave phenomena. They make comparisons between them and confirm the model of a wave.
Physics Case Study - St Olave’s Grammar School - Half Life
Package
Using dice as an analogy, students model radioactive decay. They collect results, plot a graph and find the half-life.
Physics Case Study - Newstead Wood School - Gas Law
Package
The behaviour of gases is used to develop investigative skills and practise using terminology correctly. Students use the particle model to explain macroscopic behaviour and predict measurements.
Physics Case Study - Ravens Wood School - Circular motion
Package
Students experiment to explore the relationship between mass, speed, radius and centripetal force and analyse the data they collect to find these relationships.
Physics Case Study - St Olave’s Grammar School - Focal Length
Package
Students plan and make measurements to obtain reliable data and evidence about a convex lens to understand how it brings parallel rays to a converging focus.
Physic Case Studies - Newstead Wood School - Electrostatics (160 KB)
Downloadable file
Students use the nuclear model of the atom to gain an appreciation of charging by friction and the forces between charged objects.

Edexcel (Showing 1 of 3 available)

Datalogging (BECTA) (112 KB)
Downloadable file
Datalogging is the capture and storage of variables as they change over time, and experiment as the context in which the datalogging takes place.

OCR 21st Century Science (Showing 1 of 1 available)

Datalogging (BECTA) (112 KB)
Downloadable file
Datalogging is the capture and storage of variables as they change over time, and experiment as the context in which the datalogging takes place.

OCR Gateway (Showing 1 of 4 available)

Gateway Science: OCR Physics for GCSE
External Publication
This book covers OCR Gateway Physics for higher-tier students and is OCR approved. It has clearly been written by a team of experienced writers. The six modules of the course are sub-divided into eigh...

Activity Resources (Showing 1 of 7 available)

SMART Physics
Web link
Having technology in the classroom can bring tremendous benefits to learners. Here you’ll find activities, programs and training to help you get the most from the web. This is a US package but has a w...

Case Study (Showing 9 of 10 available)

Physics Case Study - Ravens Wood School - The Motor effect (155 KB)
Downloadable file
Students will investigate the force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field. We will discuss applications of this, including the motor and the loudspeaker.
Physics Case Study - St Olave’s Grammar School - Focal Length
Package
Students plan and make measurements to obtain reliable data and evidence about a convex lens to understand how it brings parallel rays to a converging focus.
Physics Case Study - Ravens Wood School - Circular motion
Package
Students experiment to explore the relationship between mass, speed, radius and centripetal force and analyse the data they collect to find these relationships.
Physics Case Study - Newstead Wood School - Gas Law
Package
The behaviour of gases is used to develop investigative skills and practise using terminology correctly. Students use the particle model to explain macroscopic behaviour and predict measurements.
Physics Case Study - St Olave’s Grammar School - Half Life
Package
Using dice as an analogy, students model radioactive decay. They collect results, plot a graph and find the half-life.
Physics Case Study - St Olave’s Grammar School - Ripple Tanks
Package
Students gain first-hand experience of four different wave phenomena. They make comparisons between them and confirm the model of a wave.
Physics Case Study - Newstead Wood School For Girls - Velocity
Package
Students make measurements of time from a movie clip. They use this data to produce a graph and use this to calculate acceleration and distance travelled.
Physics case Study - Langley Park Boys School - Stars
Package
Students use secondary sources – ICT and books – to research key questions on the life cycle of stars. This lesson takes place over two sessions with homework between the two.
Physic Case Studies - Newstead Wood School - Electrostatics (160 KB)
Downloadable file
Students use the nuclear model of the atom to gain an appreciation of charging by friction and the forces between charged objects.

Image (Showing 1 of 2 available)

Corus (Steel Manufacturer) Science Site
Web link
Webpage from Corus which explains how steel is produced. Deals with the physics of sound waves, metals, heat transfer and radiation. Simple modular design with interactive features such as roll over d...

Instructional (Showing 1 of 2 available)

Physics.org: your guide to physics on the web
Web link
Physics.org is a comprehensive, award winning website produced by the Institute of Physics. It's contains a database of over 7,000 physics sites and an interactive section of games and animations to m...

Learning Resource (Showing 1 of 2 available)

Stimulating Physics Network
Web link
The Institute of Physics and the Science Learning Centres have formed a partnership to establish and run a support network for teachers and pupils of physics in England. This is known as the Stimulati...

Publications / Correspondence (Showing 2 of 14 available)

JISC Collections for Schools Online Subscription Resources
Web link
Online videos, images, interactive resources and reference information to support the teaching and learning of Triple Science, are now available through JISC Collections for Schools at discounts of up...
Institue of Physics - Schools and Colleges site
Web link
Explore this section to find out about our latest curriculum development initiatives, Affiliated Schools Scheme and professional development courses, as well as resource links and information about th...