ISBNs
This set of Cre8ate maths activities requires students to think about place value, divisibility and remainders. It also requires logical thinking. Computer codes with check digits are widely used in the retail and banking sector. This activity focuses on one long-established code – the International Standard Book Number…
Running a Club
These Cre8ate maths activities draw on the mathematics of combinatorial thinking and involve a set of functional maths activities.
4/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Experiment
Magic Melting Ice Cubes
Simon Quinnell, from the National Science Learning Centre, shows how to carry out some ‘magic’ at the Christmas dinner table using ice cubes, a plastic chopping board and a frying pan. When asked to feel the plastic and the metal, people usually describe the plastic as warmer to the touch. They are then surprised…
Marvellous Microbes I: the Pasteurs
These materials, from the Society for General Microbiology (SGM) look at the work of Louis Pasteur and helps students to understand the growth of yeast. There are three resources that can be used together or separately and are suitable for Key Stage Two or Three students. Marvellous microbes This comic strip follows Louis and…
Magic Gas
Simon Quinnell, from the National Science Learning Centre, demonstrates the properties of gases in this surprising Christmas table experiment. He drops an effervescent digestion tablet into a wine glass containing some water to generate carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is heavier than air, and can be poured over a candle flame.…
Investigating the Hardness of Materials
This activity, from BLOODHOUND SCC, allows students to explore ways to measure the hardness of surfaces. It can lead on to further discussion such as considering the influence of surfaces in sports like tennis, rugby and netball. The activity is useful for developing investigative and measurement skills and representing data graphically…
Flying Tinsel
Simon Quinnell, from the National Science Learning Centre, demonstrates static electricity and charge using a balloon and a piece of plastic tinsel. Rubbing the balloon on a jumper builds up a negative charge on its surface. When the positively charged tinsel is dropped onto the surface of the balloon it is first attracted to…
Jumping Candle Flame
Simon Quinnell, from the National Science Learning Centre, shows how to carry out some ‘magic’ at the Christmas dinner table using a candle and a match. After letting the candle burn for a minute, Simon blows the flame out so that the smoke continues to rise above it. Then when a match is placed near the wick, the…
Primary: Microbe Investigations
Produced by the Health Protection Agency and e-Bug, these practical investigations use readily available resources and will help students to understand the topic of microbes and their growth. The investigations include: • Kitchen investigators - where can you find the most microbes in your kitchen? • Microbe garden…
Marvellous Microbes III: Dental Plaque
Produced by the Society for General Microbiology (SGM), these activities explore the microbes that cause dental plaque and tooth decay. Marvellous Microbes issue three This comic strip shows a dentist explaining how plaque forms on teeth from saliva, food and bacteria. The dentist shows how a disclosing tablet can stain the…
Demonstrations for the Christmas Dinner Table
In this Science Learning Centre video, Simon Quinnell demonstrates four experiments, with the theme of Christmas, that teachers can do in the school laboratory. These are: • Tea bag convection - see how a burning teabag mysteriously rises on convection currents in the air around it. • The candle demonstration - generate…
Jelly Liquidiser
In this Christmas table experiment, Simon Quinnell, from the National Science Learning Centre, demonstrates why pineapple should not be added to jelly. When he adds pineapple to a bowl of jelly, the jelly liquefies due to the action of an enzyme in the fruit which breaks down the gelatin. This is an example of a defence…
The Chemedian: Starting Secondary School
This resource contains a colourful comic, aimed at Key Stage Two, where children learn about the properties of materials and then design an investigation on dissolving. It promotes enquiry skills in a context, looking at how to create a fair test by changing one variable to see how it affects the rate that salt dissolves in water.…
Newton Wheel
This activity, from Solar Spark, allows students to investigate light and the eye. A template is provided that students can colour to produce a Newton Wheel. White light is made up of lots of different colours and by spinning the colours on the disc, the eye combines the spinning colours and sees the disc as if it were white. The…
Primary Science Activities for Winter
In this National Science Learning Centre video, Zoe Crompton shows two activities that primary teachers can use in the winter. Each one involves using snow or ice. The first activity is inspired by the question "Why do we put salt on the roads?" It demonstrates a fair test to compare the effectiveness of table salt and…
Balloon Powered Car
An interactive activity from BLOODHOUND SCC in which students build their own balloon-powered car and then explore ways to make it go faster and further. Building a balloon-powered rocket car provides opportunities for investigation, team work and developing design skills. As well as focusing on science and technology, the activity…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Experiment
Helicopter Seeds
This Cre8ate maths flight testing activity requires students to work in groups and, having made their own helicopter seed model from a template, record the landing positions and distances from a central point when the model is dropped from a standard height of one metre. The experiment is repeated ten times and involves the students…
- 5/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Open-ended task
Make Your Own Spectrometer
From Solar Spark, this simple activity allows students to make a spectrometer using a card box and a compact disc. The compact disc acts as a diffraction grating and splits the light being observed into its constituent wavelengths. This gives the colours of the rainbow when viewing white light. This type of analysis is applied in…
Designing Logos
In this activity from Cre8ate maths students are encouraged to experiment with different kinds of symmetry to create a suitable logo. There is an exercise in using symmetrical properties to reproduce previously designed logos and this activity is complemented by Creating a logo, which gives students a free hand in using line…
Building Silos
This rich task from Cre8ate offers pupils the opportunity to develop their personal learning and thinking skills. It involves using recycled materials to construct a scale model of a silo and is well suited to group work. The task can be extended for more able students by investigating the resizing of their model to accommodate an…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Experiment
Tiling Patterns
Cre8ate maths provides these activities which investigate the tessellation of regular polygons and its application in construction. Initially students identify which regular polygons tessellate, providing the opportunity to discuss the interior angles of polygons and the sum of angles at a point, before looking at patterns formed…
Selenia in the Dead Sea Adventure
Learn about the properties of solids and liquids and dissolving in this colourful comic aimed at students in Key Stage Two. Written to promote enquiry skills in a context, it focuses on planning investigative work and evaluating evidence before carrying out an investigation on the different densities of salt and fresh water. This…
Selenia and the Crazy Football Game
Learn about the cooling down of liquids and thermal insulators in this colourful comic aimed at students in Key Stage Two. Written to promote enquiry skills in a context, it focuses on making predictions before carrying out an investigation on how quickly a hot liquid cools down. This comic, produced by the University of the…
Bridges and Structures
These activities from Cre8ate maths sets challenges which require pupils to be constructive, creative and think strategically about simple structures. Working in groups of 3 or 4, students create structures from a single sheet of A4 paper, the tallest free-standing tower and the longest possible span between two end supports.…
Selenia in Escaping From Dinosaurs
Learn about the properties of solids, liquids and gases in this colourful comic aimed at students in Key Stage Two. Written to promote enquiry skills, it contains a linked investigation which focuses on planning and evaluating evidence when investigating how to create the best geyser. This comic which has been produced by the…
Bricks and Tiles
This activity from Cre8ate maths investigates the lines of horizontal and vertical weakness in walls. Initially students are shown four walls and have to identify the lines of weakness in them, before finding the smallest rectangular solution which has no lines of weakness. Students should record their designs as they work and use…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Experiment
Pit Stop
The Pit stop activities from Cre8ate maths are designed to motivate students to investigate the performance of model solar cars through a series of racing challenges. To do this activity you will need a set of model solar racing cars which are often shared between design technology and science departments. Students first work…
Supermarket Car Parks
These activities from Cre8ate maths explore the efficient use of space in car parks. These are two-dimensional ‘best fit’ problems which require logic and a systematic approach to find effective solutions. They give students the chance to devise and test out strategies using systematic trial-and-improvement techniques.…
- 4/5
- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Group work
Selenia and the Smelly Lunchtime
Learn about the properties of gases in this colourful comic aimed at Key Stage Two. Written to promote scientific enquiry, it contains a linked investigation which focuses on how to plan and carry out an investigation when considering which materials are good at stopping leaks. This comic, produced by the University of the West…
Hand Eye Coordination
This hand eye co-ordination activity from Cre8ate maths involves the collection of real data, hypothesis testing and scatter graphs. The extensions may also include the use of a variety of averages. Health professionals often have to assess a wide variety of attributes including hand eye co-ordination. This topic provides a fun…
Selenia: Chase Through Wing City
Learn about the properties of materials and changing state in this colourful comic aimed at students in Key Stage Two. Written to promote enquiry skills, it contains a linked investigation which focuses on planning and recording when finding out how to make the best glue. This comic, produced by the University of the West of…
Selenia and the Victorian Adventure
Learn about the forces of air resistance and gravity in this colourful comic aimed at Key Stage Two. Written to promote scientific enquiry, it includes an air resistance investigation to find which is the best shape and size for a parachute. It also focuses on asking questions that can be investigated scientifically. This comic,…