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Water pressure is a widely misunderstood scientific concept that students find hard to visualise and understand. Looking at lock design allows a practical investigation into water pressure. It enables students to identify with the concepts of forces and relate them to real-life engineering design examples, focusing on canals. Using real-life examples from along our waterways and developed with support from the Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme, our exciting activities will bring STEM to life in your classroom. Visit the Canal & River Trust STEM Hub for free resources, micro-lessons and career inspiration all in one place.

Canals were a great way of transporting heavy cargo including coal, pottery, grain and limestone but toll clerks needed to know how much tax to charge each boat on the water. In this activity, pupils use a gauging rod to see how Archimedes’ principle of upthrust was applied to life on the canal networks. Using real-life examples from along our waterways and developed with support from the Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme, our exciting activities will bring STEM to life in your classroom. Visit the Canal & River Trust STEM Hub for free STEM resources, micro-lessons and career inspiration all in one place,

Waterways provide incredibly important corridors for people and wildlife but need careful maintenance to manage natural and human impacts on them. This practical activity explains the forces that cause banks to erode, and the impact of erosion and human activities on water quality. Students can then discover scientific and engineering ideas which protect canals and rivers. Using real-life examples from along our waterways and developed with support from the Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme, our exciting activities will bring STEM to life in your classroom. Visit the Canal & River Trust STEM Hub for free resources, microlessons and career inspiration all in one place.

Historically, our waterways have been used to carry coal, food, steel and other heavy items all over the UK. Engineers have used gear systems to enable dock workers to load and unload heavy goods onto boats. In this activity, we examine the use of gears to provide mechanical advantage and demonstrate that the maths is the same for gears as it is for levers (or pulleys or any other form of mechanism). Using real-life examples from along our waterways and developed with support from the Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme, our exciting activities will bring STEM to life in your classroom. Visit the Canal & River Trust STEM Hub for free resources, microlessons and career inspiration all in one place.

Engineers have used simple, yet effective scientific principles to raise or lower boats when we need to move them through big level changes (e.g. up a hill). This activity demonstrates how Pascal’s Principle works by using a syringe model as a hydraulic system. Students are able to see scientific theory applied to real engineering solutions developed on canal networks, such as the Anderton Boat lift and canal cranes. Using real-life examples from along our waterways and developed with support from the Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme, our exciting activities will bring STEM to life in your classroom. Visit the Canal & River Trust STEM hub for free resources, microlessons and career inspiration all in one place.