Science topics for ages 11–12

Living things, materials, forces, energy and Earth — taught as things that happen rather than things to memorise, and pitched at the year the child is actually in.

The step up to secondary thinking — abstraction, formal terms and questions with more than one defensible answer.

20 topics · 120 hands-on stations · 1 free to try

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Inside a Cell

A cell is the smallest unit that can be called alive. Inside it sit tiny working parts called organelles, each doing one job for the whole cell.

The control centre. It holds the DNA — the instruction manual that tells the cell which proteins to build.
The jelly filling where most chemical reactions happen. It is not empty space — it is a crowded chemical workshop.
A thin skin that decides what enters and leaves. Scientists call it partially permeable, meaning some substances pass and others do not.
Where respiration releases energy from glucose. Muscle cells are packed with them because muscles need energy fast.

This is one station of 6 in the trail, and finishing the trail earns an Explorer badge. See the whole trail →

Free printable worksheet

Ten questions from Cells — The Building Blocks on one page, with an answer key at the bottom — a PDF you can print for homework, a car journey or a classroom. No account needed and nothing to sign up for.

⬇️ Download the Cells — The Building Blocks worksheet (PDF)See the whole trail →

A few of the Science topics at this age

🔬
Cells — The Building Blocks
Free

Every living thing is built from cells, and every part of a cell has a job

🧫 Inside a Cell · 🌿 Plant Cell or Any Cell? · 🔎 Turn Up the Magnification · 🔗 Built for the Job · 💥 Cell Myths Busted · 🎯 Practice Zone
❤
Human Body Systems

Cells build tissues, tissues build organs, organs build systems — and none work alone

🏗 Levels of Organisation · 🧗 Climb the Ladder · 🗂️ Which System? · 🎯 System and Purpose · 🔀 Nothing Works Alone · 🎯 Practice Zone
🍽️
Nutrition and Digestion

Enzymes, surface area and the chemistry that turns a thali into you

🛤️ The Route Through You · ✂️ Enzymes — Chemical Scissors · 🌡️ Enzymes and Temperature · 🔗 Enzyme, Food, Product · 🧀 Digestion Traps · 🎯 Practice Zone
💨
Respiration and Circulation

Breathing is not respiration — and knowing the difference changes everything

🔋 What Respiration Really Is · 🔁 The Double Circuit · 📈 Heart Rate Under Load · 🧩 Designed for Exchange · ❓ Where People Go Wrong · 🎯 Practice Zone
🌱
Reproduction and Growing Up

Cells, hormones and the changes that happen to everybody, on their own timetable

📖 The Proper Words · 📅 From One Cell to a Baby · 📈 Changes at Puberty · 🔗 Structure and Role · ✅ Facts, Not Rumours · 🎯 Practice Zone