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

How much starch is in a potato

  • Text
  • Starch
  • Varieties
  • Content
  • Affects
  • Investigate
  • Iodine
  • Determine
  • Spuds
  • Rank
  • Detergents
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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Page 1 of 2 All potatoes contain starch; however, some varieties of potato have more starch than others. The amount of starch in a potato affects what it’s used for in terms of cooking and food preparation. In this project, you will investigate the starch content of different varieties of potato and see how this affects their viscosity. Getting Started You should begin this project by finding out how the starch content of foodstuffs affects cooking and food preparation. Which varieties of potatoes are used to prepare certain food products, and why? Things to think about Why not go further when selecting your types of potatoes? Try using them in different forms such as crisps and chips. Select some spuds to test. Try to pick as wide a selection of varieties as possible, for example, new potatoes, white potatoes, red potatoes and baking potatoes. Starch content: Test your potatoes for the presence of starch using iodine as an indicator. Use this method to see if it is possible to produce qualitative data to rank your potato varieties from those having the most to those having the least starch content. Find out how you can use a colorimeter to determine the starch content of your potato selection. This will provide you with quantitative data. Now rank your spuds in order of starch content from highest to lowest. Cleaning the pan: When you boil potatoes some of the potato disintegrates and can get stuck to the saucepan. It usually sticks due to the presence of starch. Design an experiment to investigate which detergents are most effective in the removal of starch from saucepans. See what effect detergent has on the structure of starch by examining slides of boiled potato pulp, stained with iodine with a light microscope. Test different detergents, and different concentrations of the same detergent to determine the most cost effective way of cleaning your saucepan. Click to edit project description Potato starch and viscosity: Potato starch is found in a wide variety of foods, dyes, adhesives, gums and pharmaceuticals. Try finding out how potato starch is made and its uses. One key property of potato starch is its viscosity. Investigate how to use a Marsh funnel to determine the viscosity of your selection of potato varieties. Compare their viscosities and suggest which of the above applications they would be most suitable for. Useful Resources You could link up with someone from the agricultural industry to find out what sorts of potatoes they grow and what they’re used for. Food manufacturers may also be able to provide you with information.

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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