Concept Studio
See the idea. Put it to the test.
956 activities from Kindergarten to Year 12, in 13 subject areas. A practical gives the idea, what you need, the steps, what you should see and a safety card. A teacher-led demonstration gives the idea and its hazards; its method is for tutors on the learning platform.
Review
Reviewed before publication (owner’s confirmation, 24 September 2026). That covers every activity here, and a practical’s page lists the sources its author read.
A safety card on every page
The risk, who supervises and the hazards. The 38 teacher-led demonstrations show their idea and hazards here; their materials, steps and sources, and any result, control or note that states a number or an amount, are for tutors and administrators on the learning platform.
School laboratory, not for home
207 activities are medium or high risk. Each says so on its page: In a school laboratory, with a teacher supervising, under the school's risk assessment. Not for home.
Curriculum references
Each activity lists the NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes it supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.
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956 activities
Every subject and year · page 20 of 20
Why systems store password hashes, not passwords
A cryptographic hash turns any password into a fixed-length digest that cannot be reversed, and a one-letter change alters about half the digest's bits, so a system can check passwords without storing them.
Practical, model not builtLow riskBicarbonate of soda as a raising agent: gas from heat and from acid
Sodium hydrogencarbonate (bicarbonate of soda) works as a raising agent because it produces carbon dioxide gas when it is heated or mixed with an acid; the gas turns limewater milky, a sign that a new substance has formed, and the mixture loses mass as the gas escapes.
PracticalMedium riskChecking a food thermometer and the temperature danger zone
Food-poisoning bacteria can multiply between 5 °C and 60 °C, so potentially hazardous food is kept at 5 °C or colder or at 60 °C or hotter, checked with a probe thermometer proven in an ice slurry.
PracticalLow riskGerminating seeds at three temperatures, in light and in darkness
A seed needs water, oxygen and a suitable temperature to germinate but does not need light, so temperature changes the rate of germination far more than darkness does.
PracticalLow riskGrowing bean seedlings in light and in darkness
Seedlings in darkness still germinate but grow tall, pale and weak on their seed reserves, while seedlings in light stay short, turn green and keep gaining dry mass by photosynthesis.
PracticalLow riskMeasuring humidity with wet and dry bulb thermometers
Evaporation cools a wet thermometer bulb, and the difference between wet and dry bulb readings measures relative humidity, one of the growing conditions that affect plants and animals.
Practical, model not builtLow riskSoil in a jar: settling out sand, silt and clay
Soil particles of different sizes settle through water at different speeds, so a shaken soil sample separates into layers, coarse sand at the bottom and fine clay on top, and particle size is what separates this mixture.
PracticalMedium riskTesting foods for starch with iodine (microscale)
Iodine forms a blue-black complex with starch, so a drop test on small food samples shows which foods store carbohydrate as starch and which do not.
PracticalLow riskWhy cut apple turns brown, and how acid dips and blanching stop it
Cutting fruit lets an enzyme (polyphenol oxidase) use oxygen to turn natural phenolic compounds into brown pigments, so acid and antioxidant dips, cold, or heat that denatures the enzyme slow or stop the browning.
PracticalLow riskYeast and the rise of bread dough at 20, 30 and 37 °C
Yeast ferments sugar to carbon dioxide, and the gas trapped by gluten makes dough rise faster in warm conditions than in cool ones.
PracticalLow riskBlanching and enzymes: a catalase test on raw and blanched vegetables
Enzymes in raw vegetables keep working after harvest and in the freezer, and blanching in boiling water denatures them, which a catalase test with hydrogen peroxide makes visible.
PracticalMedium riskCalculating the energy on a nutrition information panel
The energy on a nutrition information panel is calculated, not burned: each gram of protein, fat, carbohydrate and dietary fibre is multiplied by a fixed energy factor and the results are added.
Calculation and dataLow riskCooling cooked rice safely: the two-stage cooling rule
Cooked rice is a potentially hazardous food, so it must cool from 60 °C to 21 °C within 2 hours and from 21 °C to 5 °C within a further 4 hours, and a shallow tray cools far faster than a deep pot.
Practical, model not builtLow riskCounting stomata with leaf surface impressions
Stomata are the pores that let carbon dioxide in and water vapour out, and in most dicot leaves they are more numerous on the lower surface than the upper, while monocot leaves have them more evenly spread.
Practical, model not builtLow riskEgg quality: Haugh units, air cell depth and storage temperature
As an egg ages its thick white thins and its air cell deepens, so measuring albumen height against egg mass gives the Haugh unit, the interior-quality measure used in United States grading and in egg research. Australian egg quality assurance instead runs under Egg Standards of Australia, a certification based on HACCP principles that sets no albumen grade, so the class measures interior quality by one scheme and compares it with the way the Australian industry assures quality.
Practical, model not builtLow riskEmulsifiers: keeping oil and vinegar mixed
Oil and water separate into layers after shaking, but an emulsifier such as egg yolk or mustard keeps oil droplets dispersed so the mixture stays uniform.
PracticalLow riskEnergy content of foods by burning them under a can of water
Burning a food releases its chemical energy as heat, and the temperature rise of a known mass of water gives a measured energy that can be compared with the nutrition information panel.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskField soil texture by the bolus and ribbon test
How a moist ball of soil holds together and how long a ribbon it forms between thumb and finger estimates its clay content, and clay content controls how much water and nutrient a soil holds.
PracticalLow riskGermination test, thousand grain weight and the sowing rate
The mass of seed to sow per hectare depends on the target plant density, the seed size (thousand grain weight) and the fraction of seeds that germinate and establish, so a germination count changes the sowing rate.
Practical, model not builtLow riskIncubating fertile eggs and candling the developing embryo
A fertile egg develops into a chick over 19 to 21 days only while it is kept warm, humid and turned, and candling shows the embryo, its blood vessels and the growing air cell without opening the egg.
PracticalMedium riskMeasuring transpiration with a bubble potometer on a balance
Water evaporating from leaves pulls water up through the stem, so the rate a shoot takes up water rises with wind, warmth and light and falls in still, humid air.
Practical, model not builtLow riskRadish dry mass at five fertiliser levels
Plants make sugars by photosynthesis but need nitrogen from the soil to build proteins, phosphorus to build nucleic acids and ATP, and potassium for growth, so dry mass rises with nutrient supply until something else limits growth.
PracticalLow riskSalt tolerance of crops at germination
Salt in soil water makes it harder for seeds and roots to take up water, and crops differ in salt tolerance, which is why barley can be grown on land where faba beans fail.
PracticalLow riskSoil aggregate stability: the slaking and dispersion test
Soil crumbs that fall apart in water (slaking) or cloud it with clay (dispersion) have poor structural stability, which leads to surface crusting, slow infiltration and erosion.
PracticalLow riskSoil pH in water and in calcium chloride
Soil pH measured in 0.01 mol/L calcium chloride reads lower than in water because the salt releases acidity held on soil particles, and the calcium chloride figure is the standard used to decide on liming.
PracticalLow riskWashing out gluten from bread, plain and cake flours
Wheat flour proteins (glutenins and gliadins) join into an elastic gluten network when wetted and kneaded, and how much gluten a flour forms depends on its protein content.
PracticalLow riskAsexual propagation: rooting cuttings with and without auxin
A stem cutting grows new roots and becomes a clone of its parent, and the auxin in rooting powder speeds root formation, which growers use to propagate plants true to type.
PracticalLow riskCoagulating milk protein with rennet enzymes and with acid
Milk proteins coagulate into curd when enzymes such as chymosin act on casein at about 37 °C or when acid is added, the functional property behind cheese making, and temperature changes the rate.
PracticalLow riskDesigning a fair plant trial: replication, randomisation and a test of significance
A difference between treatment means counts only when it is large compared with the variation between replicates, which replication and randomisation let the trial measure and a t-test judges.
Calculation and dataLow riskEffect of light on plant growth under shade cloth
Plant dry matter comes from photosynthesis, so plants under heavier shade gain less dry mass, even when they grow taller.
PracticalLow riskEthanol from sugar: following fermentation by mass loss
Yeast ferments glucose to ethanol and carbon dioxide in a fixed ratio, so the mass of carbon dioxide lost from a fermenting flask tells how much ethanol, a biofuel, has been made.
Practical, model not builtLow riskExtracting DNA from split peas
DNA, the material genetic engineering works on, can be released from plant cells with detergent, salt and a protein-digesting enzyme and seen as white strands when it precipitates in cold alcohol.
PracticalMedium riskFormulating a meat chicken ration for protein and energy (Pearson square)
Mixing a low-protein energy grain with a high-protein meal in the right proportions meets a protein target, and checking the mixture's energy shows whether the ration also meets the energy requirement for that stage of growth.
Calculation and dataLow riskGelation and protease enzymes: fresh and canned pineapple in jelly
Gelatine sets because its protein chains form a network that traps water, and protein-digesting enzymes in fresh pineapple and kiwi fruit cut those chains so the jelly stays liquid unless heat has denatured the enzymes.
PracticalLow riskGrowing-season rainfall and wheat yield potential
In southern Australia wheat yield is limited mainly by water, so the rain from April to October, plus some stored summer rain, sets an upper limit on yield that growers compare with what they harvest.
Practical, model not builtLow riskJam and jelly setting point: sugar, pectin, acid and temperature
Jam sets when enough water has boiled off for sugar, pectin and acid to form a gel, which happens at 8 °F (4.4 °C) above the local boiling point of water, so the setting temperature falls with altitude.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskLegume root nodules: counting, cutting open and inoculation
Rhizobia bacteria in legume root nodules fix nitrogen from the air, and nodules that are fixing are pink to red inside, so inspecting nodules shows whether a legume is supplying its own nitrogen.
PracticalLow riskMeat chicken growth and feed conversion trial
Weighing meat chickens and their feed each week gives a growth curve and the feed conversion ratio, the kilograms of feed eaten for each kilogram of liveweight gained.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskMonocot and dicot seeds and seedlings: wheat and faba bean
A wheat grain (monocot) has one seed leaf inside the grain and sends up a sheathed shoot, while a faba bean (dicot) stores food in two large seed leaves, and the differences carry through to the roots and leaves of the crop.
PracticalLow riskPlanting density and yield per plant and per area
Plants in a crop compete for light, water and nutrients, so as density rises the yield of each plant falls while the yield per unit area rises and then levels off.
PracticalLow riskPreserving apple by drying: mass loss and pretreatment
Drying preserves food by removing the water that microbes and enzymes need, and weighing slices as they dry shows how much of fresh fruit is water.
Practical, model not builtLow riskSoil bulk density, porosity and water content from intact cores
Bulk density is the dry mass of soil in a known volume; compaction raises it and shrinks the pore space that roots, air and water need.
Practical, model not builtLow riskSoil pH profile and the liming decision
Soil acidity changes with depth, so measuring pH in calcium chloride in the 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm layers shows whether a paddock needs maintenance or recovery liming before aluminium toxicity restricts roots.
PracticalLow riskVitamin C in juice and its loss on heating (microscale iodine titration)
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) reacts one to one with iodine, so a titration measures how much a juice contains and shows how heating and storage destroy it.
Practical, model not builtLow risk
For tutors and administrators
The materials and steps of every teacher-led demonstration are on the learning platform, with the safety card first. Sign in with a tutor or administrator account to read them.