Types of content

The following list gives information on accessing all of the content types available in the GCSE Science product.

The GCSE Science content player

Most of the content on the site is displayed using the integrated content player. The screenshot below shows the player, and the list following describes the main functions and features.

1. The main content area

This is the area where the currently selected content will display. Any instruction that doesn't relate to standard player controls will be explained within the content.

2. Function controls

The tools on the bottom left of the player cover the main interaction functions for the player:

Back and forward - controls to move back and forward by one page at a time
Print - click to use your browsers print function
Colour - click the arrow to choose a colour for the currently selected tool
Zoom - click and drag to zoom in on a particular area of the screen
Select - select this tool to interact with functions provided in the content
Tool select - Shows the currently selected tool (see the description below for how the tools work.

3. Page navigation controls

Where there are a number of content items for a particular lesson, these are split into pages within a single content item. You will be taken straight to the correct page for the content you select on the lesson screen, but you can use the tools in this section to move between pages, as follows:

The menu button closes the player and takes you back to the lesson screen
Page select - click on a page number to jump straight to the page, or click the arrows to move back or forward a page
Back and forward - replicates the controls in the left-hand controls to move back and forward by one page at a time

4. Content controls

The buttons here control the animation - the key shows you the correct answers and the arrows button resets the animation. In some animations there may be an 'i' button which you can click to see extra information on the current content.

You can display all of the available tools by clicking the arrow next to the currently selected tool icon. The screen will show a palette of tools on each side of the player window (to allow for left- and right-handed use):

Screenshot of the GCSE Science content player controls

The tools are as follows (note that the colour of each tool can be set using the colour tool as described above):

Pen tool - use to draw thin lines on the screen.
Marker tool - use to draw thick lines on the screen.
Eraser tool - use to remove parts of lines drawn with the pen or marker tools, as well as rectangles, circles and text.
Cut tool - use to remove continuous lines drawn with the pen or marker tools, as well as rectangles, circles and text.
Rectangle tool - use to draw rectangles over the content.
Text tool - click and drag to draw a text box on-screen then use the text input tools to type on screen (you can set the font size, weight and colour and the background colour).
Circle tool - works like the rectangle tool but draws circles over the content.

When an animation is available to be run as part of the presentation you will see a set of transport controls to use. These are the same as those covered in the video content section following.

Video content

Video content runs in the player in the same way as animated content, with a slight change in presentation:

You can select between high quality and medium quality using the buttons to the left of the video. High quality will give you a better picture, but medium quality may give you a better viewing experience if you don't have a high-speed internet connection. The transport controls at the bottom left give you all the tools you need to interact with the video. The controls work as follows:

The counter on the far left shows time elapsed and counts up as the animation runs.
The counter next to this shows the total running time of the video.
The next two buttons are the play and stop buttons - the play button doubling as a pause button once the video is playing.
The slider next to the stop button gives a graphical representation of the running time of the video. You can drag the slider along to access specific parts of the video, although you may have to wait a short while for the file to download before you can move too far ahead. The background of the slider goes black as the file downloads so you will be able to access any part of it once the whole slider background is black.
The next slider allows you to set the volume for the sound - click on the musical note icon to mute and unmute the sound.

Audio content

Audio content runs in the player in the same way as animated content, with a slight change in presentation:

The controls work the same as for video content and you can additionally select a sound clip to listen to from the drop-down menu. Here the image and associated sound are of an international charity worker talking about the effects of an earthquake.

Crocodile Clips content

The Crocodile Clips content is stored as .hcs files which can only be opened with the Crocodile Clips player. This can be downloaded for free and there is a link to do so on any page that contains Crocodile Clips content. Once you have installed the player you will be able to view the content files.

Word files

Most of the planning documents are in Microsoft Word format. You will be able to view these directly in your browser if you have the correct software installed. Otherwise, you should download the files to your local machine and open them from there in Microsoft Word (or any compatible word processor).

PDF files

As with Word documents, you may well be able to view any PDF files directly in your browser. If not, download the files to your local machine and open them in Adobe Reader (available as a free download from the Adobe website if you do not already have this installed).

Media Bank assets

Some lessons also have Media Bank assets available to use. These are Harcourt assets that have been made available for you to download and use in your own presentations. If there is a media bank link, click it to see a summary of the assets available for the current lesson/item:

Screenshot of the GCSE Science media bank page

Clicking the 'View as presentation' link will launch the asset in the content player. To save the file to your hard drive, click on the 'save to disk' link and choose a location to save the file to. Clicking the 'save to disk' link may open the file in your browser if you have the software installed for it to do so. If that is the case then right click on the 'save to disk' link and select 'save link as...' from the pop-up menu. You can then choose where to save the file.

New Scientist weblinks

The New Scientist links go to articles on the newscientist.com website. There is a mix of free-to-view and pay-to-view content linked to the lessons and you will need a school subscription to be able to view any of the pay content. If you have spent more than £750 on Gateway Science you will be sent a free subscription to newscientist.com. You will see the first few paragraphs of any premium content, but won't be able to view the full article without logging in.