Students research, and then try out, ways of detecting analgesic compounds in mixtures:

• Chemical tests for particular organic functional groups.

• Paper and/or thin-layer chromatography to separate and identify analgesic...

In this project students use chromatography to detect forged cheques and other documents and various types of counterfeit goods.  They will also investigate the best solvents to extract the inks and run TLC plates in order to compare the inks from the same part of a document printed on different models of a printer...

Students devise a procedure for investigating how mass and speed affect the length of a skid. They will need to find out what determines whether a skid leaves a skid mark, and what accident investigators can deduce from skid marks. They may like to find out how an anti-lock braking system (ABS)...

This resource describes an independent research project investigating the strength of jeans.  Students could test the strength of seams in a pair of denim jeans, the tear resistance of denim, or try to work out how easily denim wears down by rubbing it on a rough surface. This will...

This resource describes 30 hours of independent project work for a silver Crest Award on the subject of art restoration.  Students start by carrying out some research about paint pigments:

• What did early artists use? How did they colour their paints? What pigments were available to them?
• ...

In this project students research theme park rides and design and build a model of the pirate ship ride, concentrating on how to support the swinging parts.  Another vital component is the support that holds the gondola and the counterweight. ...

In this project, students will build a simple robot, for example using Lego or Meccano, that they can steer with switches. They could then adapt it to perform a ‘useful’ task.

Traditional fizzy drinks were made by fermentation using yeast. In this project, students make some fermented fizzy drinks investigate the effect of using additives and varying...

In this independent research project students research the causes and consequences of diarrhoea and dehydration. They find out about the different treatments available for dehydration and design some experiments to compare commercial and homemade oral rehydration salts.

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How do the lights and sound at a nightclub coordinate together? The lights appear to flash in time to the beat, and change colour with the pattern of the sound. How is the signal from a sound source such as a CD player or DJ deck converted into a pattern of lights? In this project,...

In this project, students will design and build a simple model catamaran. They will then use their model to test the effectiveness of a range of different types of sail.

Students investigate the best material for a pizza box, with possible tests including:

• Thermal conductivity - Design a test to see which materials keep a pizza the hottest.
• ...

Despite the high rate of growth in rainforests the soil in these forests is poor in nutrients. The nutrients have been washed out of the soils by heavy rainfall. In this project, students are going to investigate how different kinds of compost and fertiliser affect the rate of growth of plants.

In this independent research project, students investigate how cooking pasta affects its properties and see if this is linked to how starch in pasta in altered during cooking. They can investigate the effect of...

In this independent research project students investigate the properties of materials, electric circuits and electronic devices in order to design, build and test a device to measure the steadiness of someone’s hand ...