Secondary project briefs (ages 11+)


Bronze Awards are typically completed by students aged 11+. They complete a ten-hour project which is a perfect introduction to STEM project work. Over the course of the project, teams of students design their own investigation, record their findings, and reflect on their learnings. This process gives students a taste of what it is like to be a scientist or engineer in the real-world.


Silver Awards are typically completed by students aged 14+ over thirty hours. Project work at Silver level is designed to stretch your students and enrich their STEM studies. Students direct the project, determining the project’s aim and how they will achieve it. They carry out the project, record and analyse their results and reflect on the project and their learnings. All Silver projects are assessed by CREST assessors via our online platform.


Gold Awards are typically completed by students aged 16+ over seventy hours. Students’ projects are self-directed, longer term and immerse them in real research. At this level, we recommend students work with a mentor from their chosen STEM field of study. All Gold projects are assessed by CREST assessors via our online platform. There are more CREST approved resources that have been developed by our partners and providers specific to your region.


There are more CREST approved resources that have been developed by our partners and providers specific to your region.


Find out how to build practical CREST projects into secondary science lessons using our free teacher guidance pack. Supporting this guidance are easy-to-use, free-to-download mapping workbooks, which match individual Bronze, Silver and Gold CREST Award projects with each area of the secondary science curricula for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can download and save your own copy of the relevant mapping workbook via the following links:


England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales


To browse the briefs, click the buttons below or scroll down.

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5 years ago

Insulating fabrics

  • Text
  • Properties
  • Insulating
  • Fabrics
  • Devise
  • Thermal
  • Reduce
  • Duvets
  • Suitable
  • Fabric
  • Measuring
This resource is published under an Attribution - non-commercial - no derivatives 4.0 International creative commons licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). For more information visit our Terms and Conditions (www.crestawards.org/terms-and-conditions).

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Click to edit project description www.crestawards.org

Page 1 of 2 Which fabrics are the best insulators? Heat is transferred from hot places to cold places. Hot things cool down and the heat is transferred to something else, which warms up. Outside on a cold winter’s day we usually try to reduce our heat loss by wearing extra layers of clothing. In this activity, you will compare the insulating (thermal) properties of different materials. Getting started Do a little research into clothing and other items such as sleeping bags and duvets to find out how their heat insulating properties are achieved. You might also want to find out what terms such as ‘thermal insulation’ and ‘thermal conductance’ mean. Next, you should obtain some suitable samples. Devise an experiment to compare the insulating properties of your samples. For example, you could devise a test procedure that involves wrapping a layer of fabric around a 250 ml beaker of hot water and measuring with a thermometer and stop-clock how long the hot water takes to cool down. Do this for each fabric, but make sure your tests are fair and that they enable you to make a comparison of the thermal properties of your sample fabrics. You will need to do trial experiments before you can make your final plans. Things to think about Consider: whether you should have the same volume of water in each beaker; if you need a lid on the beaker; what start and finish temperatures you are going to use for measuring the cooling time. Alternatively, you could measure the temperature drop in a certain time interval. Useful resources Contact a manufacturer of fabrics designed to be thermal insulators or manufacturers of sleeping bags, duvets, fleece jackets or other clothing designed to keep the wearer warm. Hopefully you will be able to get some free samples of fabric! You’ll need to present your results as suitable graphs or charts and discuss any patterns you find in the results. Try to relate what you find in your tests to what the manufacturers claim about the thermal properties of their fabrics. Click to edit project description

Bronze level

Ten hour projects recommended for ages 11+. Find out more about this level and how to gain a CREST Award on the Bronze Awards page.


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Bronze

Silver level

Thirty hour projects recommended for ages 14+. Find out more about this level and how to gain a CREST Award on the Silver Award page.


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Silver

Gold level

Seventy hour projects recommended for ages 16+. Find out more about this level and how to gain a CREST Award on the Gold Awards page


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Gold

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