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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3 years ago

Machine Learning Bronze

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 How can

Teacher guide How can you create a trustworthy machine? Based on the current growth of machine learning and AI technologies across the globe, it is very likely that in the future these tools will be embedded into our everyday lives. In this project, students will investigate the levels of trust people have in machines making decisions about their lives, including which decisions they would be more comfortable with a machine making and how useful it would be. Students will be challenged to develop a survey asking people about their views on this. They will then design a way to communicate their findings to developers who work on artificially intelligent computer systems. Prompts • What do you need to understand about machine learning and AI in order to carry out this project? • What makes systems trustworthy or not? • How much do your audience know about machine learning? • What are people’s main concerns about machine learning? • How important is it to ask the public what they think? 12

Student brief How can you create a trustworthy machine? Project brief In this project you will select a target audience and create a survey to find out what they know & feel about machine learning and what would be needed to create machine learning systems that people trust. You will then use your survey findings to make recommendations to developers to ensure artificially intelligent computer systems are trustworthy. Consider the following questions. How far would you trust a machine to: • Help with your shopping? • Teach you a foreign language? • Diagnose an illness? • Post photos on your social media page? • Drive your car? For each one, consider how useful it would be for a machine to carry out the task and what value or risks there might be in using these systems. You need to find out how other people feel about machine learning and what they would consider a ‘trustworthy’ machine too. Do some research into machine learning to find out what it is, how it relates to people’s lives and what people might have different views about. What might computers be able to do for us in the future? What might the risks or opportunities be? Next you need to create your survey. Make sure your questions are balanced and unbiased. Think of ways you could make your survey interesting and engaging and allow people to express their views on a scale. Once you have collected together the responses you will need to present the results and recommendations in an informative way. Useful resources • What is machine learning? https://royalsociety.org/topicspolicy/projects/machine-learning/what-ismachine-learning-infographic/ • Machine learning in the world around you royalsociety.org/topicspolicy/projects/machine-learning/machinelearning-in-the-world-around-youinfographic/ • How to design a survey https://www.sciencebuddies.org/sciencefair-projects/references/how-to-design-asurvey 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 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. 13

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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