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CREST to Support the Secondary Curriculum
Discover how to build practical CREST projects into the science curriculum using this fantastic mapping resource – an essential tool for easy lesson planning!
As secondary students prepare to head back to the classroom, there’s no better time to reconnect them with practical science – a vital and invigorating aspect of STEM learning. To help teachers across the UK to embed interactive STEM learning within lessons after an extended period away, the British Science Association (BSA) is offering a free resource that maps practical CREST projects onto the science curriculum.
Entitled Investigative Practical Science in the Curriculum: Making it Happen, this mapping resource is an essential tool for any secondary science teacher looking to rejuvenate their lessons with open-ended, extended investigative STEM projects.
Stress-free practical lessons
Developed with Gatsby Charitable Foundation and based on a pilot study with schools across England, the secondary curriculum mapping resource includes invaluable tips to help teachers embed investigative practical work into timetabled lessons. As reflected in the case studies, the pilot schools used CREST projects to successfully teach A-level, BTEC and KS3 lessons to students of all learning abilities across Biology, Chemistry and Physics, highlighting the sheer versatility of the CREST programme.
Supporting this guidance are easy-to-use, free-to-download mapping workbooks, which match individual Bronze, Silver and Gold CREST Award projects with each area of the secondary science curricula for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can download and save your own copy of the relevant mapping workbook via the following links:
The CREST advantage
Easy to implement within lessons, CREST is a nationally recognised scheme that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists. CREST Awards encourage independent student work with minimal teacher supervision, easing workloads and providing more time for individualised learner support.
Designed for secondary-level learners, Bronze, Silver and Gold CREST Awards give students the chance to complete STEM investigations on topics of their choosing, opening their minds to the limitless potential of science.
Broader still, the practical nature of CREST helps students to develop multiple transferrable skills of long-term benefit to their lives, whether or not they choose to follow a scientific path. These include:
- independent thinking and communication skills
- an ability to learn and retrieve procedural knowledge
- confidence with practical investigative work
- improved understanding of how real science works.
If you have any questions about secondary-level CREST, or if you are a teacher who can share your experience of running CREST Awards during lesson time, please contact [email protected].
As North West Regional CREST Support Organisation, All About STEM promote CREST Awards across the region and point schools & clubs to the support they need to run this amazing scheme. CREST Awards encourage students to work like scientists, researchers, engineers and designers to investigate and explore their own project ideas.
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