Low-resource or low equipment sharing resources


The resources on this page have been selected to support educators in finding CREST project ideas that require little equipment, can be run outside of a lab or at home, and use equipment that doesn’t require much sharing.

Find out more about the different CREST Award levels here: CREST Awards.

At primary level, our curated home learning packs don’t require many resources so they’re perfect to use either in the classroom or at home. For Primary teachers who have CLEAPSS access, we recommend this piece on doing Practical activities within your bubble.

At secondary level, each project brief has an overall challenge, ideas for getting started and a list of resources you might need. Read the health and safety section carefully before you begin. Young people should create a plan for their project and a risk assessment before they begin any practical activity. You can use the CLEAPSS student safety sheets as well as the rest of the CLEAPSS website to help them.

If you are looking for further advice on how to get started with CREST, visit our help centre and check out our FAQs.

If you are looking for ideas for running CREST at home, many of the below resources are suitable, and you can still access our Star and SuperStar Home Learning packs below. If you need further support, check out the CREST at home section of the Help Centre.


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Bronze Grand Challenges

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/).

Clean Growth Design a

Clean Growth Design a waste free lunch Project brief The idea of this project is to introduce a school lunch programme to your school or college. The programme should encourage pupils to use recycled or re-usable packaging for their lunches. Produce a leaflet and/or poster presentation for the school. You will also carry out some tests on reusable packaging to check it’s suitable. Start by testing alternative packaging. You should think about what alternatives might be used to store packed lunches. Then you should carry out some tests to make sure your ideas still keep food fresh, for example: Crisps usually come in a packet that gets thrown away. So why not buy a bigger bag and bring just enough crisps each day in a different container. When you’ve thought of a few alternatives, carry out a ‘sogginess’ test. Leave different containers of crisps for a day and see which ones remain crunchy. Make sure you use the same type of crisps in each container. Store all the containers in the same place. Leave a normal packet of crisps for a day as well – this will be your benchmark. Drinks often come in cans or plastic bottles that also create waste. Find out what sort of cans are best for recycling. You could also tell people how and where to recycle cans. The other alternative is to buy a big bottle and bring just enough for one day in a reusable container. Again, you could carry out a test to make sure your alternative container keeps the drink fizzy. You should also test your packaging’s strength. Packed lunches can often get bashed around in your school bag, but you don’t want squashed sandwiches or broken biscuits. Design an experiment to see what happens to your packed lunch when it gets bashed about. Work out a way of simulating how much a packed lunch gets bashed around during a school day. This might include dropping the packed lunch to see if anything gets damaged. Finally, design a communication campaign to share your top tips with other students for preparing a waste free lunch. You could use a leaflet or poster to share your ideas. Things to think about • What sorts of packaging people use at the moment to store their packed lunch? • How much of it is reusable? • Which bits of waste from your packed lunch are biodegradable? • How do you think they will be disposed of? • Can any packaging be recycled? If so, how and where? Useful resources • packagingdigest.com/sustain able-packaging • trendhunter.com/slideshow/s ustainable-food 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); • Ensure you complete this experiment in a food tech room, not a lab. Food that has been handled in a lab should never be consumed. • 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); • remember, never consume or taste food or drink in the laboratory or which has been opened in the laboratory; • make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and risk assessment. 18

Ageing Society | AI and Data | Clean Growth | Future Mobility Future jobs Project brief It is difficult to imagine a career sector which won’t be affected by one of the four Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges: Ageing Society, Artificial Intelligence, Clean Growth and Future of Mobility. In this project you will explore how one career sector might be affected by one or all of these global trends. You’ll need to report back and make recommendations about the changes needed in your chosen sector. Begin by selecting a career sector to focus on. Keep it broad rather than a specific job. For example, you could choose healthcare, agriculture, construction, TV and media – whatever you are most interested in. Research your chosen sector; find out what its purpose is, how many people are employed in this area, the latest technology being used and the impact of the sector on the environment. You could focus on a few key jobs and use a careers website to help you. Consider how the Industrial Grand Challenges might impact on jobs. Will some jobs be replaced by machines? What kind of environment will people work in? If people are living longer and there are more older people, what problems and opportunities might there be? Next, search for evidence to support your ideas. You could start by using scientific magazines such as New Scientist and Wired magazine to search for relevant articles. Ask your teacher to help you contact someone in a relevant job to interview. You will need to prepare a list of questions to find out about their current job and how they think it will change in future. Reflect on what you have found out from your research and from your interview. What are the new opportunities and the challenges in this sector? How do you think it will look in ten years’ time? Finally, consider the wider impact of your research. What changes do you think need to happen to help prepare for the future in your chosen sector? Things to think about • Which of the Grand Challenges will have the most impact? • How will artificial intelligence and data make jobs easier? • Will anyone lose out or lose their jobs? • How does your chosen career sector compare with others? • What new technology might be needed to overcome the challenges? Useful resources Volunteers who can help: • stem.org.uk/stemambassadors • inspiringthefuture.org Media sites to research online: • wired.com • newscientist.com 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); • 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. 19

Challenges for ages 5-11


These challenges take about an hour each. Once you have completed eight of them you can get a CREST SuperStar Award. Start by downloading the Passport. Children can use this to record each activity they complete.

Our curated packs for home learning require very little equipment or resources, so are ideal now that you are back in the classroom. They also add flexibility as students can finish their Star or SuperStar Award at home, if needed.

Each challenge has an organiser card and an activity card. All the instructions to set up the activity are in the organiser card. Read the 'watch out' section carefully before you begin. Children can use the activity card or you can read it through together.

Find out more about Star and SuperStar levels here.


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Projects for ages 11-18


Each of these projects take between ten and thirty hours to complete. The project briefs have an overall challenge, ideas for getting started and a list of resources students might need. Before they begin, students should read the health and safety section carefully. Once students have completed their projects, they can get a CREST Discovery, Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. The amount of time spent on the project and how well they met the CREST criteria determines the level students will be awarded.

Start by downloading the relevant Workbook or Profile Form below. Young people can use these to help them complete their project and record their progress.

Young people should create a plan for their project and a risk assessment before they begin any practical activity, which should be checked by a teacher. You can use the CLEAPSS student safety sheets as well as the rest of the CLEAPSS website to help them.

For Bronze projects, once a student has completed their project, you can sign up to assess it and order their personalised certificate here. Bronze assessment is incredibly easy and can also be adapted for at-home learning if needed due to unexpected lockdowns, meaning parents can always assess when teachers cannot. Check out how to assess a Bronze project here

For Silver and Gold projects student work will need to be submitted online and will be assessed by a CREST assessor. Learn more about assessment for Silver Awards here

Find out more about Bronze level here.

Find out more about Silver level here.

Find out more about Gold level here.


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