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
17 practicals
Technologies K–10 · Technologies · Digital systems, networks and security
Digital system or not: sorting classroom objects
A digital system takes an input, follows instructions stored inside it and gives an output, so a tablet or a calculator is a digital system while a pencil, a wind-up timer or a torch with a plain on-off switch is not.
PracticalLow riskMy data or not: sorting information cards
Some information belongs to a child, such as their name, photo, birthday and home address, and is only shared online with a trusted adult's agreement, while other information, such as today's weather, is not about them.
PracticalLow riskInside a digital kitchen scale: input, processing and output
A digital kitchen scale is a digital system: a sensor feels the load (input), a chip turns it into a number (processing) and the display shows grams (output).
PracticalLow riskHow long would guessing take: combination locks and passwords
Each extra dial or character multiplies the number of possible combinations, which is why a password should be easy for its owner to remember but take far too long for anyone else to guess.
Practical, model not builtLow riskInput, output or both: testing computer peripherals
A peripheral is an input device if data goes from it into the computer, an output device if data comes out of the computer to it, and both if data goes both ways.
PracticalLow riskSending numbers between two micro:bits by radio
Two digital systems can transmit data to each other by radio, and a shared group number keeps each pair's messages apart from the rest of the class.
PracticalLow riskDice passphrases: why four random words beat one clever password
A passphrase of words chosen by rolling dice is easy to remember yet has so many possible combinations that guessing it takes far longer than guessing a short password, and reusing it anywhere undoes that protection.
Practical, model not builtLow riskInside a desktop computer: naming the main components
A computer's main internal components each have one job: the processor (CPU) follows instructions, memory (RAM) holds what is being worked on, storage keeps files when the power is off, and the power supply feeds them all.
PracticalMedium riskSending a message in packets across the classroom
Networks send data in small numbered packets that may travel by different paths and arrive out of order, and the numbers let the receiver rebuild the message and spot a lost packet.
Practical, model not builtLow riskWhat a photo file records: metadata and the digital footprint
A digital photo file stores hidden data (metadata) such as the date, the device and, when location is on, the exact place it was taken, which becomes part of a person's digital footprint when the photo is shared.
PracticalLow riskHardware specifications: timing a file copy over USB 2.0 and USB 3
A hardware specification sets a ceiling on performance: a 1 GB copy cannot be faster than its size divided by the port's data rate, and the slowest part of the system sets the real time.
Practical, model not builtLow riskHow fast is the network: ping times and the speed of light in fibre
Data crosses long distances as light in optical fibre, which travels about 204 km every millisecond, so the distance to a server sets a minimum round-trip time that no network can beat.
Practical, model not builtLow riskThe Caesar cipher: encrypting, then breaking it by trying every key
Encryption turns data into a form only the key-holder can read, and a cipher with only 25 useful keys is broken by trying them all, which is why network encryption uses keys with an astronomically large number of possibilities.
Practical, model not builtLow riskWhat an app collects: auditing permissions and the digital footprint
Every app asks for permissions and declares the data it collects, and comparing each item with what the app needs to work shows which data is essential and which only adds to the user's digital footprint.
PracticalLow riskWhy a second factor helps: guessing a six-digit code
Multi-factor authentication asks for something you have as well as something you know, so a leaked password alone does not open the account: an attacker also needs a six-digit code that changes every 30 seconds.
Practical, model not builtLow riskA threat model for a school login: online and offline guessing
A threat model lists what an attacker could do and how long it would take, and the numbers show that guessing through the login page is slowed by lockouts while guessing against a stolen hash file is limited only by the password's size.
Practical, model not builtLow riskWhy 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 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.