Lab

See the idea. Put it to the test.

956 practicals from Kindergarten to Year 12, in 9 subjects. A practical gives the idea, what you need, the steps, what you should see and a safety card. A teacher-led practical 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 practical 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 practicals 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 practicals 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 practical 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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A practical is carried out at the bench, in the classroom or outdoors. A practical with its model not built stands on its own; the page says where a step mentions the model. A calculation and data practical works from published figures by hand, with a calculator or in a spreadsheet. No Lab page includes an interactive model; the Concept Studio holds the demonstrations.

9 practicals

Science 7–10 · Biology · Plants and energy

  1. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Algal balls and hydrogencarbonate indicator: photosynthesis and respiration in one tube

    Photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from water and respiration adds it, and an indicator that tracks carbon dioxide shows which process dominates under each light condition.

    PracticalLow risk
  2. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Leaf surface temperature: transpiration as evaporative cooling

    Evaporation removes heat from the surface it leaves, so a transpiring leaf runs cooler than one whose stomata are sealed, the same physics that makes sweating cool skin.

    PracticalLow risk
  3. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Pondweed and light: oxygen bubbles against lamp distance

    Photosynthesis in the chloroplasts of a water plant releases oxygen, and the rate of release falls as the lamp moves further away and less light reaches the plant.

    Practical, model not builtLow risk
  4. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Stomatal density: counting pores on the two faces of a leaf

    Stomata are the pores through which a leaf exchanges gases and loses water, and their number per square millimetre can be measured from an impression and a calibrated field of view.

    Practical, model not builtLow risk
  5. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Testing a variegated leaf for starch: where photosynthesis happens

    Starch is made only in the parts of a leaf that hold chloroplasts and have had light, so the iodine test maps where photosynthesis occurred.

    PracticalMedium risk
  6. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Transpiration with a straw potometer: water uptake against air movement

    Water that evaporates from a shoot is replaced by water drawn up the stem, so the rise of the lower end of the water column in a narrow straw measures how fast the shoot takes up water, which closely tracks transpiration.

    PracticalLow risk
  7. Science 7–10 · Year 8

    Water transport in celery: dye rising through the xylem

    Water travels up a celery stalk through xylem vessels, and the rate depends on how fast the leaves lose water.

    PracticalLow risk
  8. Science 7–10 · Year 9

    Flower dissection: male and female parts and the ovules inside

    A flower is a reproductive organ whose parts are arranged for pollen transfer and fertilisation, and its structure can be read from the outside in.

    PracticalLow risk
  9. Science 7–10 · Year 9

    Pollen tube growth on a slide: watching the step before fertilisation

    A pollen grain grows a tube toward the ovule when it lands on a suitable surface, and that growth can be watched and measured on a slide within a double lesson.

    PracticalLow risk

For tutors and administrators

The materials and steps of every teacher-led practical are on the learning platform, with the safety card first. Sign in with a tutor or administrator account to read them.

Open the teacher-led practicals