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.

Views
5 years ago

Gold Grand Challenges

  • Text
  • Industrial
  • Challenges
  • Reduce
  • Crest
  • Materials
  • Ageing
  • Investigate
  • Assess
  • Aviation
  • Mobility
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/).

Instructions for

Instructions for teachers These resources will help your students explore the four Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges and the impact they have on lives now and in the future: • Ageing Society • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data • Clean Growth • Future of Mobility The resources in this pack have been developed with some of our partners, who have kindly contributed resources on the Grand Challenge topics. In this pack you will also find pages that can be used as a handouts for students. These are indicated in the titles and contents page. Choosing a project We want young people to use their project to explore innovative ideas and solutions. Encourage them to consider local and personal connections with the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges. What do they imagine the future could be like? What problems might arise with new technology and these changes in society? What most interests and excites them? Students can use the project ideas on pages 11-18 as inspiration or use the activity on page 5 to help them design their own project around the theme and topic which most interests them. They could work individually or in small groups on the same project. Resources There are new developments around these areas all the time. The resource links on the project pages give a starting point for students to research but they could also search local and national news articles for more recent developments on each theme. Project outcomes Your students could design and make a new product, carry out a practical investigation, do a research project or create a communication campaign for their target audience. Encourage them to consider the impact of their project on people’s lives now and in the future. Students should record their work in a final project report or presentation. Supporting students to complete their project Each project should involve approximately 70 hours of student work from start to finish. The project should be led by the students. As a teacher or mentor your role is to: • Act as a sounding board for students’ ideas and nurture the students’ work • Check your students’ project plans before they begin the next stage • Help students see mistakes and setbacks as an opportunity for positive learning and lateral thinking (leading to creativity) • Where relevant, support students to access professionals or experts who could support them • Provide access to the Internet, library books and magazines • Help students to complete their project and record their findings • Encourage them to reflect on their own performance and learning Use the tips on page 10 to help students complete their CREST Gold project report. Health and safety Students should be encouraged to make their own risk assessment before they carry out any activity, including surveys. They can use the CLEAPSS student safety sheets to help them science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/Student- Safety-Sheets/. They should write out their project plan, identifying the risks involved in each stage and the control measures and precautions they will take. In all circumstances this must be checked by a competent person. Students using specialised equipment should be supervised at all times. Students may want to set up unorthodox experiments and you may need to seek specialist advice. Contact CLEAPSS directly cleapss.org.uk for advice if you are unsure. Teachers in Scotland should refer to SSERC www.sserc.org.uk. Unless stated, no external links have been checked by CLEAPSS. Safety checked but not trialled by CLEAPSS. Photo credit: Diana Novikova 4

Get your students thinking about the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges 1. What do you know already? Collect 2-3 images relating to each of the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenge themes. Ask students to discuss what words, themes and topics are represented in the images. Ask them to think of other similar examples, encouraging them to consider things which are local and personally relevant to them. You could ask students to collect and add their own images but using examples from their local area, community, interests and hobbies. They should provide an explanation for each one including why they have chosen it. Alternatively, you could use news articles and headlines and ask students to research other examples in the local and national press. Photo credit: Diana Novikova 2. Connecting questions In small groups of 3 or 4, ask students to list the things that are important to them in their everyday lives and write these on cards. Ask them to consider each one in turn and think about how it might be affected by the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges. Challenge them to come up with a question to frame their investigation. E.g. Could an artificially intelligent machine replace my sports coach? 3. Where do you stand? Using some of the questions students have generated, ask students to decide where they stand on the issues and to explain their position. Challenge them to think of other potential dilemmas linked to the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges. 5 4. Selecting a project idea Ask students to create a mind map to show how the four themes link to their lives and interests before deciding which ideas they are most interested in investigating further. They could choose a project from the ideas in this pack or come up with their own idea linked to their interests. Make sure they check through their plan for how they will approach the project with a teacher of mentor before they begin.

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.


Back to top

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.


Back to top

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


Back to top

Gold

Managed by:

Supported by:

British Science Association

Wellcome Wolfson Building,
165 Queen's Gate
London
SW7 5HD

© 2018 British Science Association