British Science Week 2025

This year’s theme for British Science Week is change and adapt, with two of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s easy-to-prepare resources featuring in the activity packs. For primary learners, investigate water purification as desert island survivors. And if you teach secondary science, experiment with salts to help students observe evaporation in action.

Primary resources 

Our primary science activity – Be a desert island survivor on page 26 of the primary activity pack – is suitable for 7–11 year-old learners or young people working at this level. It uses only equipment found in a kitchen, making it accessible to all. The experiment should take 10 minutes to set up and you’ll need about a week to observe the changes. Use the activity when teaching learners about safe drinking water, separation techniques and the water cycle.

Download the primary pack

The Steps into Science website also has lots more resources, such as: 

• Nine other From kitchen to classroom experiments
• 20 sustainability topic webs, available in English, Irish and Welsh 
• 12 hands-on investigations.

Secondary resources 

For 11–14 learners, the British Science Week secondary activity pack includes Evaporation in action on page 23. This resource is perfect for lessons on solutes, solvents and solutions, and encourages learners to think about evaporation in their everyday lives. It will also take 10 minutes to set up and around a week to observe the salt dissolving and water evaporating. You can build on the knowledge learners gain through the experiment with our infographics on evaporation and the water cycle. Explore UN Sustainable development goal 6: ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, with teaching tips and cross-curricular opportunities, too.

Download the secondary pack

Our website also has a wide range of ideas to help you plan lessons and extracurricular clubs for 11–18 during British Science Week and beyond. Find: 

• activities suitable for outreach, such as non-Newtonian fluids which change their behaviour 
• articles and resources on Climate change and sustainability 
• investigations you can link to careers, including changes in air pollution and the principal air quality consultant video job profile. 

Careers resources

For more on careers, explore the A Future in Chemistry website where you will find lots of materials for you and your students. To link British Science Week’s theme of change and adapt to potential jobs, show the video profiles of Joseph – a laboratory analysist and higher degree apprentice at Thames Water – and Taryn, a scientist in food and pharmaceuticals. And display their posters to remind learners of the various roles in the chemical sciences where they can make a difference and change lives.