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
24 practicals
Technologies · Structures and engineered systems
Foil boats: designing a boat that carries the most coins
The same square of foil carries far more coins when it is shaped into a boat with walls, because the boat can push aside more water before it floods.
Practical, model not builtLow riskMoving pictures: a split-pin lever card
A lever turns about a pivot, so a point twice as far from the pivot moves twice as far, in the opposite direction, when the lever turns.
Practical, model not builtLow riskBalancing a ruler lever with washers
A lever balances when the number of equal loads times their distance from the pivot is the same on both sides, so a small load far from the pivot balances a big load close to it.
Practical, model not builtLow riskFolded paper beams: flat, channel and tube
Folding or rolling the same sheet of paper moves the paper away from its middle line, which makes a beam that bends far less and carries far more load than the flat sheet.
Practical, model not builtLow riskKeeping cut apple fresh for a lunchbox
Cut apple turns brown when an enzyme in the fruit meets oxygen in the air, and preparation methods that cover the surface or make it acidic slow the browning.
PracticalLow riskWhich fabric makes the best sun hat: testing with UV-sensitive beads
Fabrics differ in how much ultraviolet (UV) radiation they let through, and UV-sensitive beads that change colour in sunlight show which fabric protects skin best.
PracticalLow riskA micro:bit light meter calibrated against a lux meter
A sensor turns light into a number on its own scale (0 to 255 on a micro:bit), and a calibration table made against a lux meter turns those numbers into a judgement such as 'too dark to read'.
Practical, model not builtLow riskA steady-hand game: a circuit that turns a touch into sound
Touching a wire loop to a bare wire course closes a circuit and the buzzer sounds, so a switch can be any two conductors that meet.
PracticalLow riskAiming a solar panel: output and the angle of the light
A solar panel turns light energy into electrical energy, which a fan motor turns into motion, and the panel gives less current when the light strikes it at a slant, because a tilted panel catches less of the beam: at 60° from face-on it catches half as much.
Practical, model not builtLow riskConductor or insulator: choosing materials for a switch
Metals let electric current pass and most non-metals do not, so a designer picks a metal for the parts of a switch that must carry current and an insulator for the parts people touch.
PracticalLow riskDesigning a water filter from gravel, sand and charcoal
Layers of gravel, sand and charcoal remove particles from muddy water, making it clearer, and the layer order and grain size trade clarity against flow speed, but clear water is not necessarily safe water.
PracticalMedium riskGear trains: counting turns to change speed and direction
When two gears mesh, the same number of teeth pass each other, so a small gear turning a gear with 5 times as many teeth turns it 5 times more slowly, in the opposite direction, and with more turning force.
Practical, model not builtLow riskLighting an LED safely: cells, resistor and switch
A circuit transfers energy from the cells to the LED, which transforms it into light, and a resistor in the loop limits the current: the larger the resistance, the smaller the current and the dimmer the LED, which also keeps the LED under its current limit.
Practical, model not builtLow riskTriangles or squares: bracing a straw tower
A square frame with pinned corners folds into a parallelogram under a sideways push, while a triangle cannot change shape without a side changing length, so a diagonal brace makes a frame rigid.
PracticalLow riskWhich wrap keeps a drink warm: testing insulation
Warm water cools towards room temperature fastest at first and then more slowly, and insulating materials that trap air slow the cooling, which a simple cooling model with one number per material describes.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskPaper columns: how length changes the buckling load
A slender column that fails by bowing sideways (buckling) holds a load that falls with the square of its length, so doubling the length of a buckling tube quarters its load, while a short, stocky tube crushes instead at a load set by the strength of the paper.
Practical, model not builtLow riskPulley systems: measuring mechanical advantage and efficiency
A pulley system with n rope strands holding the load needs, ideally, 1/n of the load's weight as effort but n times the rope length, and friction makes the real effort larger.
Practical, model not builtLow riskRubber-band racers: stored energy, wheel size and distance
A wound rubber band stores elastic energy that the axle turns into motion, and each axle turn moves the racer one wheel circumference, so wheel size, winding and friction decide how far it goes.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskSorting plastics for recycling by floating and sinking
Common plastics have different densities, so liquids of known density sort them into groups, the same float–sink idea used to separate mixed plastics for recycling.
PracticalLow riskSyringe hydraulics: trading distance for force
A liquid in a closed system passes pressure on, so a small piston driving a large one multiplies force by the ratio of their areas while the large piston moves less by the same ratio.
Practical, model not builtLow riskWind turbine blades: measuring electrical power and the Betz limit
Wind carries power that rises with the cube of wind speed, and no turbine can capture more than 16/27 of it, so blade design is judged by how much of that power reaches the generator.
Practical, model not builtLow riskA thermistor thermostat with hysteresis
A thermistor's resistance falls as it warms, a voltage divider turns that into a voltage a microcontroller can read, and switching on and off at two different temperatures (hysteresis) stops a fan chattering.
Practical, model not builtLow riskA Warren truss: predicting tension and compression by the method of joints
Each joint of a pin-jointed truss is in equilibrium, so resolving forces at the joints gives every member's tension or compression, and the compression members are the ones most likely to buckle.
Practical, model not builtMedium riskTimber beam deflection: flat against on edge
A beam's sag under a centre load is F L³ ÷ (48 E I), and turning a rectangular section on edge increases I by the square of the depth ratio, so the same timber sags almost 5 times less on edge.
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.