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.


To browse the resources, 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

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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