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:

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

Bronze Silver Gold Partner resources

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All SuperStar challenges

The activities in this pack have been selected from our library of CREST SuperStar challenges. Children need to complete eight challenges to achieve a CREST SuperStar Award. If you want, you can mix and match challenges from different packs, as long as children complete eight SuperStar challenges. 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/).

Fantastic Fingerprints

Fantastic Fingerprints Activity Card Fantastic Fingerprints NEWS Fantastic Fingerprints Fantastic Fingerprints Teachers at Startown Primary School are wondering if they can use fingerprints to take registers, log children on to computers and borrow library books. Teachers at Startown Primary School are wondering if they can use fingerprints to take registers, log children on to computers and borrow library books. NEWS NEWS Teachers at Startown Primary School are wondering if they can use fingerprints to take registers, log children on to computers and borrow library books. The fingerprint pad designer told our reporter, “Electronic pads scan the fingerprints. They change the fingerprint pattern into a code. The code is saved on a computer. Children only need to touch a pad to register. The possibilities are endless.” The fingerprint pad designer told our reporter, “Electronic pads scan the fingerprints. They change the fingerprint pattern into a code. The code is saved on a computer. Children only need to touch a pad to register. The possibilities are endless.” The fingerprint pad designer told our reporter, “Electronic pads scan the fingerprints. They change the fingerprint pattern into a code. The code is saved on a computer. Children only need to touch a pad to register. The possibilities are endless.” Mrs Teachem, the school’s Head told our reporter, “I’m not sure it will work. Are fingerprints really all different? I would like to know what your readers think.” Mrs Teachem, the school’s Head told our reporter, “I’m not sure it will work. Are fingerprints really all different? I would like to know what your readers think.” Mrs Teachem, the school’s Head told our reporter, “I’m not sure it will work. Are fingerprints really all different? I would like to know what your readers think.” Your challenge Find out if everyone’s fingerprints really are different. Discuss How do you think fingerprints are collected? Look at your fingerprints with a hand lens or microscope. What do your own fingerprints look like? Are they the same as your partner’s prints?

Getting started You either need to rub pencil onto a piece of paper or you can sprinkle a small amount of dust on a table. Now put your thumb in the dust or on the pencil rubbing. Place your thumb firmly on the sticky side of a piece of sellotape. Now stick your sellotape onto a piece of paper. You may need to experiment to get clear prints. Test your ideas Look at the prints, do you have any of these patterns? ARCH LOOP WHORL Compare your prints with other people. Are they all different? Can you find other ways to collect fingerprints? Share your ideas Share all the fingerprints. Can you work out which are yours? You could let Mrs Teachem have copies or drawings of fingerprints. Extra things to do Look for fingerprints on surfaces such as glass. Can you identify who made them? Some people think children’s fingerprints should not be used as records in schools. What do you think? Can you find out other ways of identifying individuals? British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236