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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5 years ago

Make your own tea bag

  • Text
  • Shapes
  • Ideal
  • Properties
  • Suitable
  • Methods
  • Teabags
  • Sizes
  • Teabag
  • Shops
  • Supermarket
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

Make your own tea bag You can buy teabags in all sorts of shapes and sizes, in this project you will design the ideal teabag. You will need to think about what your teabag should be made from, what shape it should be and how much tea it should contain. Getting Started Start by having a look around the shops at all the different types of tea bags that are available. Carry out some research into how tea bags are made. Research what happens between when tea leaves are picked, and when tea bags land on our supermarket shelves. Find out if there are different processes for different types of tea. Designing your bag: Decide how much tea should be in each bag. You could do this by taking the tea from different tea bags and working out the average amount of tea. The material: You need to think about what properties the material should have. You may want to design some tests to check the materials’ suitability. For example: You need something porous so the tea will steep in the water (you could try to actually measure porosity). It shouldn’t disintegrate or break easily when wet. It should be non-toxic. A couple of suitable examples are muslin and cotton. Think about how you will cut and join your materials. You may want to design some tests to check your joining methods work. Click to edit project description The tea tests: You need to think about what properties the material should have. You may want to design some tests to check the materials’ suitability. For example: Make sure you make the tea bags the same size and shape. A simple design will be best at this stage – you don’t want to go sewing fancy shapeddesigns when you’re just checking the material! Things to think about Make sure you use the same amount and temperature of water. Decide whether or not you will stir the tea. How you will decide when the tea has brewed - for example, will you wait until it turns a certain colour? Make sure you use the same type and amount of tea leaf in each tea bag - you could buy a packet of loose tea to make sure you’re using the same type each time. Useful Resources You might also like to visit local universities or other places with suitable equipment to find out if there are more accurate ways of measuring UV. A weather centre, perhaps from the closest regional television station, may be able to help. The shape: The range of shapes you test is up to you. You could test the already available types (square, round, pyramid, for example) or you could make totally new designs. Think about the size of the tea bag - should it be large, so the tea moves around freely inside, or should it be small, so the tea is packed tightly within? When you’ve designed a few bag shapes, about five should be enough, make the tea bags using your chosen material. Then carry out the same tests as when you were testing the materials. Combine your results and you should have the perfect quick brew tea bag!

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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