Spaghetti bridges

This activity could be used in Key Stage 2 as a stand-alone activity, as a focused task to develop skills in the use of the glue gun, or as part of a structures project investigating bridges.

In this activity, students develop both their skills in using a glue gun and demonstrate their understanding of how...

Perseverance film: activity and discovery pack

Perseverance is a NASA rover that landed on Mars, in February 2021.  The rover is searching for past evidence for life on Mars and collecting samples to be returned to Earth with a planned sample return mission, from NASA and the European Space Agency, ESA.  

This resource activity pack supports the video...

Futurecade

Futurecade was developed as an interactive suite of games allowing students to explore how science and technology impacts on their everyday lives. These resources were developed to accompany the games which were inspired by technology in the fields of robotics, satellites and space junk, geo-engineering...

Student-led STEM Clubs - Handbook 2019

A useful handbook for setting up a student-led STEM club, with exemplars from three schools.

It is increasingly recognised that giving students opportunities to act as ambassadors and mentors for STEM subjects outside of school can be of great benefit to the individual, their institution, and to the broader...

Smart conservation

This SMART conservation STEM activity combines design and technology, biology, geography and zoology to creating technology enabled habitat for a zoo

Manufacturing - technical briefs

These technical briefs focus on manufacturing on a small-scale. It is an important livelihood for many people in the developing world and businesses are usually run by a family or a small group within the same community.

Technical briefs are documents produced by Practical Action which are freely available...

Food processing – Technical knowledge

These technical briefs look at how to store and preserve food in a number of different ways. This is a vital part of food security and enables farmers to provide nutritious food for a longer period to feed their families and to provide an income.

Technical briefs are documents produced by Practical Action...

Energy - technical briefs

These technical briefs focus on energy access as a key element in lifting people out of poverty. In remote locations small-scale renewable...

Squashed tomato STEM challenge

This Practical Action resource presents a fun hands-on and brains-on challenge for Key Stages Two to Five.

The problem:...

Transport - technical briefs

These technical briefs focus on ways to transport goods and people in a relatively low cost way. This is important to people in the...