Tag archives for science

Making Ice-cream (Energy In = Energy Out)

In our last lesson about Solids, Liquids and Gases we talked about Energy In = Energy Out.  When we change particles (matter) from one state to another we add energy and when the particles change back they release that energy. For example: We can take water and add a lot of cold energy to make [...]

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Solid or Liquid (Cornflour slime)

With just two simple ingredients, you can make a slime that is so complicated even the most powerful supercomputers can not model it.
Procedure: How to make Cornflour Slime
[PARENT SUPERVISION REQUIRED AND ENCOURAGED]
To do this experiment you will need:

cornflour
food colouring
a small mixing bowl
water
muscles

What to do
1. Take the mixing bowl and add a cup of water.
2. [...]

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What’s the big idea?

If you can pour solids like flour or sugar and liquids like water or oil, what’s the difference between them?
Well, if you look closely at the flour or the sugar, you will see that it is made up of tiny pieces – solid pieces – just as solid as a lump of metal or a [...]

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States of Matter (BBC Schools)

Below are some fun  BBC Science activities that will give you a better understanding about the States of Matter (Solids, Liquids and Gases). They don’t take long, though you should play them in order from first to last.

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Creating a Bouncy Ball (Solid) from water (liquid) and a catalyst

Today in class we discussed that solids, liquids and gases are made of little particles (see Raspberry Spider post). We looked at how these particles can change from one state to another and that this change requires heat, cold or some form of catalyst. A simple example of a catalyst would be jelly crystals, add them to water and the jelly will turn from a [...]

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Holiday Fun: Raspberry Spider

When I was growing up my favourite drink was a raspberry float (raspberry spider), not because I wanted to do science, it just tasted great. Next term our Science unit is going to be ‘Solids, Liquids and Gases’ and a fun way to get started is to create one of these drinks at home.
Creating a gas (or [...]

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Taking our pulse at different times of the day

The human heart really doesnÕt look much like the
heart on a ValentineÕs Day card. Actually, it looks
more like an upside-down pear.
The human heart really doesn’t look much like the heart on a Valentine’s Day card. Actually, it looks more like an upside-down pear. The pulse you feel when you put your fingers on the pulse points in your [...]

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How can we measure the volume of air in our lungs?

In class this week we did an experiment about the volume of air in your lungs and how we can measure it. We will continue the experiment next week so everyone can find out their lung capacity. If you would like to have a go at home you can follow the instructions below.
What you’ll need:

Clean plastic tubing
A large plastic bottle
Water
Kitchen [...]

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Holiday Fun: Pringles Pinhole Camera (No Film)

This type of pin hole camera (no film) is called a camera obscura, Latin for “dark chamber”. The first camera obscuras were small rooms that were completely dark except for a tiny hole in a wall that let in a dot of sunlight. People in the room saw a image of the trees and sky [...]

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Web Quest: Light Fantastic

What would our lives be without light? We need it to see everything we do in every moment of the day. We rely on light to read a book, cross the street, admire artwork, watch the sunset, and look into faces. Light plays a role in some of our most sophisticated technology. It enables our [...]

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