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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iLEAPS climate science Silver resources

  • Text
  • Palm
  • Crest
  • Pollution
  • Droughts
  • Materials
  • Drought
  • Reduce
  • Ileaps
  • Urban
  • Accidents
  • Template
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/).

Be a H 2 O hero Project

Be a H 2 O hero Project brief With growing populations and climate change, there will be increased pressure on available water, especially during extreme weather events such as droughts. It's important to use water wisely. We can lose a lot of water doing everyday tasks, so it's vital that solutions to water waste are found. By using water sparingly, more will be available for people, animals and plants when droughts hit. In this project, you will look at ways to save water in your home. Imagine you are an engineer tasked with making a prototype water saving device for home use. It's going to be sold in a nationwide department store. It needs to: • Either reduce water waste, use less water or reuse water • Be able to be mass produced First, do some research on the different ways to save water around your home. Use this research to decide how you are going to save water and what you are going to make. Next- draw some sketches of potential designs. Pick which design you think will work best, you could make paper models to check your ideas. Carry out some research about the materials you’d use for your device. It’s important to make sure that it’s waterproof and doesn’t contaminate the water – this is especially important if the water will be drunk or used in food preparation. Make your prototype and then devise a test to ensure it’s up to the job. It’s down to you to decide what is important to test and how you’ll put your device through its paces. Things to think about • What water-saving devices already exist? • What materials will your device require, and how much time and effort will be needed to make it? • Is a single test of your device enough? • What maintenance will your design need? • Will anything need to change when your device is mass produced? Useful resources Check out different water companies’ websites to research ways they advise their customers to save water. Often, they will give devices to their customers to help them save water. You could use these as inspiration. Find an example of a water company's water saving devices here: nwl.co.uk/yourhome/saving-water/watersaving-kit.aspx iLEAPS website: ileaps.org/ Health and safety To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the following health and safety guidelines before getting started: • Find out if any of the materials, equipment or methods are hazardous using science.Cleapss.Org.Uk/resou rces/student-safety-sheets/ • Assess the risks (think about what could go wrong and how serious it might be); • Remember, no eating or drinking in a lab. • 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 your teacher agrees with your plan and risk assessment. 6

Speak out about drought Project brief The availability of water is essential for human food production, human water consumption and ecosystems. It’s important for local communities to know how droughts will affect their surroundings and how best they can prepare for them. Although they can’t make it rain, they can make sure they are ready to respond when water levels become low. In this project you will develop a way to speak out about drought. Imagine you are a Communications Officer for a water charity. You are presenting findings of a recent report to your local community about drought in your area and the impact it could have. Your audience needs to know: • The issues that are caused when droughts happen • What the response to the issues are • What effect it will have on your local area Choose a target audience to share your information with. This could be young people, schools or families, for example. Next, gather the information you need to share. Think about what your audience need to know and structure the information you share in a logical order. You need to make sure you engage your audience while getting the information across. Think of creative ways to show your audience what they need to know. For example, you could: • Make a model showing the impact droughts could have • Create a game that demonstrates the consequences of different levels of water waste • Design a computer simulation of how droughts will affect the food available Things to think about • What does your target audience want to know? • How can you make your communication style suit your target audience? • How can you make sure you don’t unnecessarily worry or cause your audience concern? • How will you structure the information to keep your audience engaged? Useful resources A report on the effects climate change has on water in the UK.: nerc.ukri.org/research/partners hips/ride/lwec/reportcards/water/ Facts on droughts in the UK: water.org.uk/consumers/droug ht The Environment Agency’s drought response plan: gov.uk/government/publication s/drought-management-for- England iLEAPS website: ileaps.org/ Health and safety To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the following health and safety guidelines before getting started: • Find out if any of the materials, equipment or methods are hazardous using science.Cleapss.Org.Uk/resou rces/student-safety-sheets/ • Assess the risks (think about what could go wrong and how serious it might be) • Don’t include identifiable information (like your full name or where you live) on the things you make. • 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 your teacher agrees with your plan and risk assessment. 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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