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'Making the everyday exciting' Science Week in Prep School

'Making the everyday exciting' Science Week in Prep School

PUBLISHED 30 April 2021

By Mr Worthington, Science Co-ordinator

‘Making the everyday exciting’ has been the theme for the Prep Science Week this week.

I am thrilled with how much effort everyone has put into each of their experiments:

Monday: biscuit dunking!

In the Early Years classes, we read and watched the story of the Gingerbread Man. We investigated to see if he was made from a different type of biscuit whether he could have swum across the river without the help of the fox. 'Chocolate Digestive Man' would have made it across the river! Years 1 and 2 compared chocolate and plain digestives to see which lasted for more dunks - chocolate was the clear winner. Years 3 and 4 answered the question, does the thickness of a biscuit affect how many times it can be dunked before it breaks? Yes, it does. Shortbread won, with some children in Year 4 managing to get to 50 dunks! Finally, Years 5 and 6 compared the sugar content of biscuits and if that impacted the number of dunks before a biscuit broke. They concluded that when the biscuit was comprised of a greater amount of sugar, the fewer the number of dunks could be done because sugar dissolves in liquid.

Tuesday: double-bubbles

On Tuesday, the children were tasked with creating a double bubble. They created their own bubble solution and then spread it onto a flat surface to create a base on which to blow bubbles. There were some fantastic bubbles blown across the whole school, including Sadie and Alyssa (Year 4) who managed not only to blow bubbles, but catch them in their hands!

Wednesday: optical illusions

On Wednesday we explored optical illusions and how our minds can play tricks on us. In EYFS, we drew two pictures on either side of a piece of paper and stuck this to a straw. We spun the straw in our hands and it made the two pictures become one. Years 1 and 2 showed depth perception within their illusions, whilst Years 3 and 4 drew 3D hands. Finally, Years 5 and 6 drew 3D floating letters.

Thursday: paper aeroplanes

Thursday's challenge allowed us to create some flying inventions, paper aeroplanes! The Early Years classes, Year 1 and 2 created hoop gliders and compared different builds to see which type of plane would fly furthest. We found that having one smaller hoop and one larger hoop allowed for the best flight. Years 3-6 created four different paper aeroplanes (Rocket, Falcon, Bulldog Dart and Super Glider) and compared which of them flew the furthest distance.

Friday: changes

The final day of experiments was all about changes. The first experiment involved everyone holding a piece of chocolate in their hands for five minutes and seeing if it changed at all. Some people ended up with a pile of melted chocolate whereas others managed to still have a perfect piece of chocolate at the end of the experiment. In our second experiment, the Early Years classes and Years 5 and 6 both created their own versions of homemade ice cream. Years 1 and 2 made Oobleck, which is a form of slimy goop. This is a fascinating mixture as when you apply pressure, it will feel solid and when the pressure is released, it will go into a liquid form. The last experiment for Years 3 and 4 was to create their own drinks dispenser using a plastic bottle, a straw and a balloon.

My highlight of the week was hearing from Mrs Smith that five children in Year 1 want to be scientists when they grow up after having so much fun this week – music to my ears!

Well done everyone, I am extremely proud of you all!

AUTHOR: Alex Brown
CATEGORIES: News
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