Science Open Evening

19th January 2017

Our science open evening proved to be a hit with parents and children. Parents were invited to come and look at a range of experiments the children had been conducting in class.

In Lower Juniors the children had been studying the digestive system. The children were able to show how food breaks down in the stomach. They ‘squished up’ bits of banana, carrot and bread then added some ‘stomach’ acid (vinegar and cola) to show how the food is broken down into one ‘gooey gloop’. The also children demonstrated using some bread and a pair of tights!

The Reception and Infants classes joined forces to show a range of fun experiments to do with the five senses. The children made lava lamps using vegetable oil, water, food colouring and seltzer tablets. This was part of a sight experiment. The children were observing what happens when you use different size containers.  There was also a smell test where participants were invited to smell the mystery smell inside eight different boxes and write down what they thought it was. The answers were: perfume, coffee, curry, mint, orange, vinegar, cheesy crisps and washing powder.  The children also had the opportunity to make a telephone (hearing test) using paper cups and a piece of string.  The taste test was one of the most popular experiments which involved being blindfolded, tasting a wine gum while holding your nose and trying to tell which flavour it was. Apparently, you can only tell the flavour if you can smell it. There was also a feel test where children had to guess what object they were feeling inside the super dark den.

There was information in each class to show what children in each year group and key stage learn. For example, younger children need to be able to ask simple questions such as ‘what would happen if….’  They need to use observation skills and gather and record data.

Useful websites for Key stage 1 children include…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/science

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1science.html

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities.html

In Upper Juniors, the children have been studying Properties of Materials. The demonstrations were varied, tasty, interesting and a little messy in places! Children showed visitors how to separate magnetic and non-magnetic materials. Children showed parents and visitors how to separate sand and water using filtering techniques and discovered that when you add water to Skittles, the solution produces the most amazing coloured designs.  The children were also learning that some changes are reversible, while others are irreversible and showed parents how a new material is made (irreversible change) when you mix vinegar and sodium bicarbonate. The balloons were inflated by the carbon dioxide produced! The children were seeing what happened if you shook cream (it became butter!) and discovered this was a reversible change because you could get the cream back if the butter was remixed with buttermilk — in theory!  Children also made bread at school and learned about the raising effect produced by yeast (an irreversible change). They then used their butter on the bread for a snack.  Other children were testing materials for electrical conductivity—did the light come on or the buzzer sound when they put different materials in the circuit? The children were able to demonstrate all the changes of state for water when they filled a bowl with hot water, placed cling film over the top of the bowl and placed pieces of ice on top of the cling film. They could see the ice melting on top of the cling film; hot water evaporated as steam (water vapour); the water vapour condensed when it hit the cold ice and condensation could be seen beneath the cling film.

For those who wanted a quieter moment, we had online games about Properties of Materials to play on our computers.  If you want to have a look at those, here are the links:  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/characteristics_materials.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/rev_irrev_changes.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/science/properties_of_materials/play/

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?b=science/characteristic_material

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/quiz/q89504754

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/materials/keeping_warm/play/