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 Virtual

Teacher guide Virtual water Climate change and food supply More water is consumed in producing food than in any other economic or social activity. Many countries regularly import food from other countries. Importing food from other countries enables us to have cheaper food, and to have foods that do not grow where we live, or that are out of season. However, when that food is imported, in a sense the water used to grow that food is also imported – this is known as virtual water. For example, 1kg of rice takes 2497 litres of water to grow. If a country imports rice, it is saving the water that would have been needed to grow the rice. But the flip side is that the country exporting that rice is also exporting that water, meaning that water is not available for local vegetation (nature), or to grow crops that are eaten domestically. By importing food, we export the environmental and social risks associated with water shortages, such as drought, famine, access to clean water for drinking and sanitation, and so on. And what’s more, in the UK much of our food comes from countries like Spain, Morocco and Egypt, where there are already frequent water shortages. By importing food, and by extension water, we are exacerbating those risks. In this project, students will investigate how much virtual water is in our food, and explore the impact of increasing imports during droughts in the UK on water stress in food exporting countries. Prompts • How might the concept of virtual water and data surrounding virtual water imports/exports be useful to decision-makers? • Are all sources of water of equal value? • If a country stopped exporting food, what impact would that have in terms of water supply for the exporting country? Could that water be used for other things? How much of it? • How would you go about calculating how much water can be sustainably exported? 6

Student brief Virtual water Climate change and food supply (Physics, economics, data, computing, water) Have you ever wondered how much water is in our food and where it comes from? In the UK, much of our food comes from countries like Spain, Morocco and Egypt, where there are already frequent water shortages. By importing food, we export these environmental and social risks to other countries. Imagine you work at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. You need to investigate how much virtual water is in our imported food, and explore the impact of increasing imports during droughts in the UK on water stress in food exporting countries. Getting started Start by looking into the concept of virtual water and how it is calculated. See if you can find out how much virtual water we import and export from the UK every year. Where does this water come from? What would be the consequence if this water was coming from domestic water reserves? Useful resources • Virtual water trade https://waterfootprint.org/en/waterfootprint/national-water-footprint/virtual-watertrade/ • Future changes in the trading of virtual water https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020- 17400-4 • UK Water Footprint: the impact of the UK’s food and fibre consumption on global water resources https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Orr_a nd_Chapagain_2008_UK_waterfootprint-vol1.pdf • UK's 'virtual water' reliance leaves international footprint https://www.raeng.org.uk/news/newsreleases/2010/April/uks-virtual-water-relianceleaves-footprint • Virtual Water: Tackling the Threat to Our Planet’s Most Precious Resource https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/virtual-water- 9781845119843/ Things to think about • How might the concept of virtual water and data surrounding virtual water imports/exports be useful to decision-makers? • Are all sources of water of equal value? • How would you go about calculating how much water can be sustainably exported? 7

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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