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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Machine learning Silver

  • Text
  • Communication
  • Mentor
  • Encourage
  • Detection
  • Vehicles
  • Healthcare
  • Tasks
  • Assistants
  • Virtual
  • Crest
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 Personal

Teacher guide Personal assistant Many of us already have virtual personal assistants in our homes. Some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond via synthesised voices. Users can ask their assistants questions, control home automation devices and media playback via voice, and manage other basic tasks such as email, to-do lists, and calendars with verbal commands. More and more new developments and bespoke products are emerging to meet specific needs, including personal assistants for older people. Current products can perform tasks or services like health monitoring, wearable biometric tracking (such as fitbits), slip, trip and fall detection, and provide virtual companionship. Moreover, companies are continuously working on new developments to meet the needs of older people. In this project, students will design their own personal assistant for an older person. They will need to research what the needs of older people are, and come up with innovative solutions to meet those needs. Prompts • What routine challenges do elderly people face? Find out what kinds of task(s) might present older people with difficulties. • What tasks might digital devices be well suited to help with? What tasks need a human touch? • How would you manage concerns about privacy or dignity? • How will you control your assistant? Remember, it needs to be easy to use. • Try experimenting with using existing virtual assistants and connecting them to devices to perform tasks in the home. 10

Student brief Personal assistant Many of us already have virtual personal assistants in our homes. Some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond to questions, control other electronic and home automation devices, and manage some basic tasks. More and more new developments and bespoke products are emerging to meet specific needs, including health monitoring, wearable biometric tracking (like fitbits), slip, trip and fall detection, and virtual companionship. Imagine you are a carer that visits elderly people in their homes. You know that, for some of them, you are the only help they have, and that for a large part of the day they are alone in the house. Design your own personal assistant specifically for the needs of older people. Getting started Start by researching what the needs of older people are. You could interview some older people that you know, or contact an organisation that works with older people in your area. Think about how a virtual assistant and smart devices might be able to meet those needs. Useful resources • A virtual assistant helping older people stay active https://ec.europa.eu/digital-singlemarket/en/news/alfred-virtual-assistanthelping-older-people-stay-active • Virtal agents as daily assistants https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978- 3-642-40415-3_7 • Connecting roomba to Google assistant https://hackernoon.com/how-i-set-up-roomcleaning-automation-with-google-home-homeassistant-and-xiaomi-vacuum-cleaner- 9149e0267e6d • Compatible commands for a wifi enabled robot and a Google Assistant enabled device https://homesupport.irobot.com/app/answers/ detail/a_id/1509/~/compatible-commands-fora-wi-fi-connected-robot-and-a-googleassistant-enabled • Building chatbot with and without coding skills https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/buildi ng-chatbot-with-and-without-coding-skillsbc181d3bb025 • Chatterbot https://chatterbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/ 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/S tudent-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. 11

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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