CREST Award Schemes

CREST Awards and CREST Star Investigators

The British Science Association CREST Award schemes aim to inspire and engage pupils in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). The nationally recognised CREST award schemes include:

• CREST Awards (11-19 year olds)
• CREST Star Investigators (5-12 years)

CREST Awards (11-19 year olds)

CREST is Britain’s largest national award scheme for project work in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). It gives young people aged 11-19 opportunities to explore real world projects in an exciting way. CREST links closely to the curriculum and is a great way to make STEM creative and engaging – both in and out of the class.

CREST Awards are extremely flexible – they can link into work experience placements, after-schools clubs or several linked schemes. Some projects might be done in one day – others over several months. Students can investigate or design and make, research a subject, or design a science communication project.

There are three levels of CREST Awards: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The differentiated levels enable youngsters of all abilities to experience positive achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and cover many of the required key skills in the process.

For students, CREST Awards are a tangible recognition of success. They can be included in personal records of achievement – and used to enhance applications to universities, colleges and potential employers. To find out more follow this link.

CREST Star Investigators (5-12 years)

CREST Star Investigators is a UK-wide award scheme that enables children to solve scientific problems through practical investigation. The activities focus on thinking about, talking about, and doing science. They are designed to be used primarily outside of class time (e.g. in a science club), though some are suitable for use in the classroom.

CREST Star Investigators has three awards: Star, SuperStar and MegaStar. In addition, interested children are also offered the opportunity to become Young Science Ambassadors (YSAs). To find out more follow this link.

CREST Linked Schemes

Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion

This Challenge, which is for students aged 9 to 16, has been running in schools for 10 years and is probably the biggest schools’ maths challenge in the UK, with an estimated 150,000 students taking part each year.

The project is software based and relies on students, working together in small teams, applying a range of maths, engineering and science skills to set up a ‘virtual’ Grand Prix racing car – STEM by any other name! This car then competes in a race with ‘cars’ set up by their colleagues. Using actual circuit diagrams (this is definitely not a game!); they will need to calculate/measure the lengths of straights and angles of the bends to help them determine their race speeds for each feature.

Just for good measure, throw into the mix work involving aerodynamics, gears, suspension and engine tuning, and then use of the following, and you will have one very exciting project on your hands – and you don’t have to know anything at all about cars.

Students involved in the challenge are eligible for the CREST Bronze Award. This means that provided you register your students with your CREST Local Coordinator, enquiries@see-science.co.uk, at the beginning of the project, and your students complete a CREST Bronze profile form throughout the challenge collating their worksheets and calculations, their hard work can be recognised with the CREST Awards.

If you would like to know how your school can join in the challenge you can contact Cerian Angharad at enquiries@see-science.co.uk.

ARKive educational resources

Some of the resources are accredited by the British Science Association as CREST Star Investigators activities. More information here.

Practical Action – Wind Power Challenge

Suitable for KS2-4, this renewable energy challenge puts students’ competitive spirits to the test.
Students are given minimal materials and asked to design a wind powered machine that can lift a weighted cup off the floor. Teachers instruction sheets, related video clips and even certificates are provided.

This activity is accredited by the British Science Association as suitable to count towards a CREST Star Investigators SuperStar award. More information about the scheme here.

Google Science Fair

The Google Science Fair 2013 will launch on 30th January. 13 to 18-year-olds can enter their CREST projects online for a chance to win trips to America & CERN. Google has a site of information for educators and those who talk to them, including a link to sign up for news of the launch: https://sites.google.com/site/gsf2013educatoroutreachext/.