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
31 practicals
Physics · Electricity and magnetism
Does a magnet pull through paper, plastic, wood and aluminium?
A magnet exerts a force without touching, the force passes through non-magnetic materials, and it weakens as the distance grows.
PracticalLow riskHow far away does a magnet start to pull? Reach on a ruler
A magnet's pull acts at a distance and gets rapidly stronger as the gap closes, so the distance at which a paper clip jumps is a fair way to compare magnets and to test poles.
PracticalLow riskConductor or insulator? Testing materials in a circuit
Electrical energy is transferred round a circuit only along a complete path of conducting material, so a material placed in a gap in a cell-and-globe circuit sorts itself as a conductor (the globe lights) or an insulator (it stays dark).
PracticalLow riskDesigning a light for a blackout
Electrical energy from cells is transformed into light in a circuit, and a designed light with a switch, a chosen light source and a reflector meets a need only when it is tested against measured criteria.
PracticalLow riskTwo globes, two ways: series and parallel circuits
In a series circuit the energy from the cells is shared along one path, so two globes glow dimly, while in a parallel circuit each globe has its own path to the cells and glows almost as brightly as one alone, drawing more current and emptying the cells faster.
Practical, model not builtLow riskBuilding an electromagnet: how turns of wire and current change its strength
An electric current in a coil produces a magnetic field, and the field grows with more turns of wire and with more current.
PracticalMedium riskHow magnetic pull falls off with distance: paperclips through card spacers
A magnetic force acts without contact and weakens quickly as the gap between magnet and object grows.
PracticalLow riskMapping the field around a bar magnet with iron filings and a plotting compass
A magnet exerts a non-contact force through the space around it, and the pattern of that field can be drawn as lines running from north pole to south pole that are closest where the field is strongest.
PracticalLow riskStatic electricity: charging balloons and rods by rubbing
Rubbing two insulating materials together transfers charge, and charged objects then exert non-contact forces of attraction or repulsion.
PracticalLow riskEnergy audit: power and energy use of household appliances on a plug-in meter
An appliance transforms electrical energy at a rate given by its power, so energy used equals power multiplied by time and can be measured, costed and compared with the rating label.
PracticalMedium riskGenerating electricity: a magnet moving through a coil and a hand-cranked generator
A generator produces electrical energy only while something keeps a magnet and a coil moving past each other, and the mechanical work done turning it is transformed into the electrical energy the circuit uses; power stations produce electricity the same way, with steam, wind or falling water doing the turning.
PracticalLow riskOhm's law: current against voltage for two fixed resistors
For a metal resistor at steady temperature the current is proportional to the voltage across it, and the constant ratio V / I is its resistance, so a larger resistance lets less current through at the same voltage.
Practical, model not builtLow riskResistance of a wire: how it changes with length
The resistance of a uniform wire is proportional to its length, because each extra centimetre adds the same opposition to the flow of charge.
Practical, model not builtLow riskSeries and parallel circuits: measuring current and voltage with one, two and three lamps
Adding lamps in series shares the supply voltage and lowers the current, while adding lamps in parallel gives each the full voltage and raises the total current drawn; the supply gives each unit of charge a fixed amount of energy, which series lamps share and each parallel branch receives in full.
Practical, model not builtLow riskCharging by friction and induction: sticky tape, electroscope and the bending water stream (syllabus practical)
Rubbing transfers electrons between surfaces, like charges repel, unlike charges attract, and a charged object attracts a neutral one by polarising it.
Teacher-led practicalPractical, model not builtMedium riskCurrent-voltage characteristics of a resistor, a filament lamp and a diode
A metallic resistor at constant temperature obeys Ohm's law, while a heating filament and a diode do not, which shows the law's usefulness and its limits.
Practical, model not builtLow riskElectromagnet strength against current and turns: magnetising an iron core
A current in a coil aligns the domains of an iron core so the core becomes a magnet whose strength grows with current and turns until the domains are all aligned.
PracticalLow riskMagnetic field lines of bar magnets with iron filings, compasses and a phone magnetometer
A magnet's field can be mapped by the direction a compass points, and the field is strongest where the lines are closest, at the poles.
PracticalLow riskMagnetic field of a straight wire and a solenoid against current, measured with a phone magnetometer (syllabus practical)
A current produces a magnetic field whose strength grows in proportion to the current and, for a solenoid, to the turns per metre.
Practical, model not builtLow riskMapping electric fields and equipotentials on conductive paper
Field lines run from positive to negative electrodes, cross equipotential lines at right angles, and are closest where the potential changes fastest.
Practical, model not builtLow riskRate of energy conversion in a circuit: heating water with a resistance coil
Electrical power is the product of voltage and current, and in a resistor it appears as heat at the rate I squared R.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskSeries and parallel circuits: current and voltage rules from measurements
Charge is conserved at every junction and energy is conserved around every loop, which gives the current and voltage rules for series and parallel resistors.
Practical, model not builtLow riskArago's disc: a rotating magnetic field dragging an aluminium disc
A magnetic field moving relative to a solid conductor induces closed loops of current in it, and the force on those currents drags the conductor after the field without any contact, which is the principle of the induction motor and of the eddy-current brake.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskBuilding a simple DC motor and running it backwards as a generator
A current loop in a magnetic field feels a torque that turns it, and the same coil turned by hand produces an alternating emf that a commutator can rectify.
Practical, model not builtLow riskCharged particles in a uniform electric field: deflection tube and projectile comparison
A uniform electric field gives a charged particle a constant acceleration, so its path between plates is a parabola like a projectile's, and the work done is q V.
Teacher-led practicalPractical, model not builtHigh riskCharged particles in a uniform magnetic field: circular paths in a fine-beam tube
A magnetic force acts at right angles to a charge's velocity, so it changes direction but not speed and bends the path into a circle of radius m v over q B.
Teacher-led practicalPractical, model not builtHigh riskElectromagnetic induction: magnet and coil, and Lenz's law with a magnet falling through a copper tube
A changing magnetic flux through a coil induces an emf proportional to the rate of change, in a direction that opposes the change producing it.
Practical, model not builtLow riskForce between two parallel current-carrying wires
Each wire sits in the field of the other, so parallel currents attract and antiparallel currents repel with a force per length proportional to the product of the currents over the separation.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskThe motor effect measured on a digital balance: force on a current-carrying wire
A conductor carrying current across a magnetic field feels a force proportional to the current, the field and the length in the field, at right angles to both.
Practical, model not builtLow riskTransformer turns ratio and losses with a demountable transformer
An alternating current in one coil induces an emf in a second coil sharing the same core, in the ratio of their turns, while flux leakage and heating make a real transformer fall short of the ideal.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskOhm’s law as a prediction: resistor against filament lamp
A law earns acceptance by predicting results before they are measured: Ohm’s law predicts the current in a resistor, and a filament lamp shows the conditions under which it stops applying.
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.