Motion is vital to life, and to science. This unit will help you to understand why classical motion is probably the most fundamental part of physics. You will examine motion along a line and the ways in which such motion can be represented, through the use of graphs, equations and differential calculus. View course on original website...

David Attenborough looks at ‘life in the trees’: examining how species have evolved to cope with arboreal living. You will learn how lemurs, anteaters, bears and many others have developed different methods to help movement and survival. View course on original website...

Fossils are a glimpse into the distant past and fascinate young and old alike. This unit will introduce you to the explosion of evolution that took place during the Palaeozoic era. You will look at the many different types of creatures that existed at that time and how they managed to evolve to exist on land. View course on original website...

The restless Universe introduces you to major achievements and figures in the history of physics, from Copernicus to Einstein and beyond. The route from classical to quantum physics will be laid out for you without recourse to challenging mathematics but with the fundamental features of theories and discoveries described in sufficient detail to whet your appetite for further physics s... View course on original website...

How do we become individuals? This unit looks at how genes and the environment interact making each of us unique. Looking at the period between conception and birth you will examine the issues of nature or nurture to see which has the greatest impact. View course on original website...

This unit looks at two topics that are of immense worldwide social, economic, ethical, and political importance – ‘addiction’ and ‘neural ageing’. You will develop a Master's level approach to the study of specific issues within these two important subject areas. View course on original website...

Providing an overview of current issues in UK science education, this unit examines what type of science the curriculum should cover and for what purpose. The unit will introduce you to practical problems in the delivery of an effective science curriculum, and particular questions at all three educational tiers - primary, secondary and tertiary - will be touche... View course on original website...

Health, safety and risk assessment are of paramount importance both in the laboratory and the field. This unit will help make you more aware of the hazards and risks involved in laboratory and field-based research work, as well as giving you an overview of the legal requirements attached to this work. The unit discusses issues involved in the handling... View course on original website...

This unit looks at how telescopes and spectrographs are designed to improve our ability to observe the universe. You will examine how different technologies have been developed over the last four hundred years to enable us to look deep into space. View course on original website...

This unit provides an overview of Open University Course Y161 Introducing environment. You will be introduced to the types of activities, tasks and assignments that you would be asked to undertake if you were to enrol on the course. View course on original website...