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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Insulating fabrics

  • Text
  • Properties
  • Insulating
  • Fabrics
  • Devise
  • Thermal
  • Reduce
  • Duvets
  • Suitable
  • Fabric
  • Measuring
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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Click to edit project description www.crestawards.org

Page 1 of 2 Which fabrics are the best insulators? Heat is transferred from hot places to cold places. Hot things cool down and the heat is transferred to something else, which warms up. Outside on a cold winter’s day we usually try to reduce our heat loss by wearing extra layers of clothing. In this activity, you will compare the insulating (thermal) properties of different materials. Getting started Do a little research into clothing and other items such as sleeping bags and duvets to find out how their heat insulating properties are achieved. You might also want to find out what terms such as ‘thermal insulation’ and ‘thermal conductance’ mean. Next, you should obtain some suitable samples. Devise an experiment to compare the insulating properties of your samples. For example, you could devise a test procedure that involves wrapping a layer of fabric around a 250 ml beaker of hot water and measuring with a thermometer and stop-clock how long the hot water takes to cool down. Do this for each fabric, but make sure your tests are fair and that they enable you to make a comparison of the thermal properties of your sample fabrics. You will need to do trial experiments before you can make your final plans. Things to think about Consider: whether you should have the same volume of water in each beaker; if you need a lid on the beaker; what start and finish temperatures you are going to use for measuring the cooling time. Alternatively, you could measure the temperature drop in a certain time interval. Useful resources Contact a manufacturer of fabrics designed to be thermal insulators or manufacturers of sleeping bags, duvets, fleece jackets or other clothing designed to keep the wearer warm. Hopefully you will be able to get some free samples of fabric! You’ll need to present your results as suitable graphs or charts and discuss any patterns you find in the results. Try to relate what you find in your tests to what the manufacturers claim about the thermal properties of their fabrics. Click to edit project description

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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