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


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Hydrology - Gold pack

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/).

Teacher guide Turning

Teacher guide Turning air into water Drought In many parts of the world, droughts and an increasingly dry, arid climate have led to water scarcity and this in turn can lead to food scarcity. But even where there is no obvious source of water, water vapour, from water evaporating from bodies of water or transpiration from plants, is in the environment. At night the air cools and it cannot hold as much water vapour, so water condenses on exposed objects like grass and leaves and on man-made objects like cars. Dew occurs when the water vapour condenses faster than it evaporates. Humans have collected dew for hundreds of years in dew traps, shallow holes lined with material that funnels the droplets to the centre. In many places, people continue to use low-tech solutions to collect this moisture from the air to help farmers grow food and to act as a source of clean drinking water. With water becoming an increasingly precious resource, more and more versions of dew traps are emerging as people study how to make these more efficient. In this project, students will investigate how people in arid regions can collect water, and they will design, make and test their own dew traps. Prompts • What is the definition of ‘dew point’? • Find examples of plants that collect water from dew. What characteristics do these plants have that enable them to harvest dew? Encourage students to use these in their designs. • What alternative materials could you explore to try and improve the efficiency of your dew trap? • If you change the shape of your dew trap will that affect the amount of water it collects? How does the diameter and/or surface area of the dew trap affect the amount of water collected? • Where will you put your dew trap? How might the location affect the efficiency of the trap? • Is the amount of moisture in the air likely to change with climate change? Students might like to do some research on how this is predicted to change in different areas. How might this affect the efficiency of your product? 14

Student brief Turning air into water Drought (Engineering, water, drought, climate change) Have you ever wondered if we can capture and use water vapour? Imagine you are a farmer in an arid area. You currently spend a lot of money on water in order to grow your crops, and sometimes your crops do not grow well because they do not have enough water. You have heard about dew traps and want to investigate if you could incorporate dew traps on your farm to help decrease the amount you need to spend on water. Find examples of plants that collect water from dew. What characteristics do these plants have that enable them to harvest dew? Is there a way you could integrate some of these features in your design? Getting started Start by researching different types of dew traps – both traditional and more modern techniques. Find out how they work and use these ideas to inform and influence your own designs. Have a look at the UKCEH CHESS app to find out potential evapotranspiration in different parts of the UK: https://eip.ceh.ac.uk/apps/chess/ Things to think about • What materials will you use? Why? • How will you test out the efficiency of your dew trap? How many times will you test it? • How does the shape and size of your dew trap affect how much water is collected? • How does the amount of sunlight the trap receives affect the amount of water it collects? If you place the trap in a shady location, will it still collect water? • Try making dew traps out of different materials and using slightly different designs. Can you improve the efficiency of your dew trap? • How many of your dew traps would you need to have enough water for one day? Useful resources • Dew-harvesting 'web' conjures water out of thin air https://newscientist.com/article/dn12923-dewharvesting-web-conjures-water-out-of-thin-air/ • Review of sustainable methods for atmospheric water harvesting https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/15/2/253/57 18410 • A review: dew water collection from radiative passive collectors to recent developments of active collectors https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40899- 015-0038-z • The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water From Thin Air https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/03/07/the-fogcollectors-harvesting-water-from-thin-air/ Health and safety To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the following health and safety guidelines before getting started: • Do not drink the water you collect from your dew trap – it may not be safe to consume. • Find out if any of the materials, equipment or methods are hazardous using http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/Student- Safety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what could go wrong and how serious it might be.) • Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks (such as wearing personal protective equipment, knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on). • Make sure there is plenty of space to work. • Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly. • Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and risk assessment. 15

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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