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.
Find a practical
16 practicals
Science 7–10 · Physics · Forces and motion
Air resistance and terminal speed: dropping stacked paper cake cases
A falling object stops speeding up when air resistance grows to equal its weight, so a heavier stack of the same shape reaches a higher steady speed.
Practical, model not builtLow riskBalanced and unbalanced forces: two newton meters pulling a trolley
When two opposing pulls on an object are equal it stays at rest or keeps its motion, and when they differ the object accelerates in the direction of the larger pull.
Practical, model not builtLow riskFriction: force needed to slide a loaded wooden slider on different surfaces
The friction force between two surfaces depends on the materials and on how hard the surfaces press together, not on the area in contact.
Practical, model not builtLow riskHooke's law: extension of a steel spring against load
A spring stretches by an amount proportional to the force pulling it, until it is stretched past its elastic limit.
Practical, model not builtLow riskLevers: balancing a metre rule to find the law of moments
A lever balances when force times distance on one side of the pivot equals force times distance on the other, so a small force far from the pivot can balance a large force close to it.
Practical, model not builtLow riskPulleys: measuring effort and rope distance for fixed and movable pulleys
A movable pulley halves the force needed to lift a load but doubles the length of rope pulled, so the work done stays the same.
Practical, model not builtLow riskRamps: force needed to pull a trolley up a slope at different angles
A ramp lets a smaller force move a load upward because only part of the load's weight acts along the slope, and the part grows as the slope steepens.
Practical, model not builtLow riskSimple pendulum: what changes the time for one swing
The period of a pendulum depends on its length and on gravity, not on the mass of the bob or the size of a small swing.
Practical, model not builtLow riskWeight and mass: hanging known masses from a newton meter
Weight is the gravitational force on a mass, so the newton-meter reading rises in direct proportion to the mass hung from it and the gradient is the gravitational field strength.
Practical, model not builtLow riskAverage speed of a battery toy car over measured distances
Speed is the distance travelled divided by the time taken, and a car moving at constant speed covers equal distances in equal times.
Practical, model not builtLow riskDistance-time graphs: walking in front of a motion sensor (or along floor marks)
The gradient of a distance-time graph is speed, so walking steadily gives a straight line, standing still gives a flat line and walking back gives a falling line.
Practical, model not builtLow riskGravity acts on every mass alike: dropping a heavy and a light ball together
Objects of different mass fall with the same acceleration when air resistance is negligible, because the gravitational force on each is proportional to its mass, so by a = F / m every mass gains speed at the same rate.
Practical, model not builtLow riskNewton's first law: coin and card, glass on paper, and a passenger on a stopping trolley
An object keeps its state of rest or steady motion unless a net force acts on it, so removing the surface beneath an object quickly lets it stay in place and stopping a trolley suddenly lets its passenger keep moving.
PracticalLow riskNewton's second law: accelerating a trolley with hanging masses
The acceleration of an object is proportional to the net force on it and inversely proportional to its mass, so F = m a can be tested by changing one and measuring the other.
Practical, model not builtLow riskNewton's third law: balloon rocket, paired newton meters and trolleys pushing apart
Forces come in pairs: when one object pushes or pulls on another, the second pushes or pulls back on the first with an equal force in the opposite direction.
PracticalMedium riskTicker-tape analysis: velocity-time graph of a trolley rolling down a ramp
A trolley rolling down a ramp gains speed at a steady rate, which appears as ticker-tape dots spreading out evenly and as a straight rising line on a velocity-time graph whose gradient is the acceleration.
Practical, model not builtLow 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.