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.

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Bronze Silver Gold Partner resources

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Plant nutrients

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 How do nutrients affect plant growth? In this project you will investigate how the nutrients in compost affect the rate of growth of seedlings. Many types of seed will work, but radish or lettuces are often chosen because they grow quickly. Getting started Despite the high rate of growth in rainforests the soil is poor in nutrients. The nutrients have been washed out of the soils by heavy rainfall. Plant your seeds in seed trays (following the instructions on the packet), water them, and place them in a well- lit location. You can help the seedlings to grow by using a propagator lid to maintain humidity. Alternatively, you could use makeshift propagators such as a simple polythene bag inflated around the seed tray or a plastic bottle cut in half to provide a close-fitting lid. You need to make sure that the soil/compost in the seed trays remains moist – trays without covers will need regular watering. Remember that you want your tests to be fair so make sure all your seeds are in the same conditions of light, temperature moisture etc. Things to think about Did the results agree with what you expected? Was there a pattern to your results? Were your results consistent enough for you to be able to make a conclusion? Which of the different ways of measuring plant growth do you think was the most suitable? Why? Useful resources Talk to a person at your local garden centre about the right type of seed to use for this experiment Keep a daily record of the number of seeds that have germinated, plant growth, and observations about plant health such as colour, height etc. You will need to decide what measurements to use as indicators of plant growth, for example, plant height or number and size of leaves. You will need to make your measurements daily for about three to four weeks. Click to edit project description Presentation of results: Choose at least two of your indicators of plant growth to plot as graphs to show how the different combinations of compost and soil affect plant growth. You will need to comment on your results.