Science Week Activity 1
We warmed up our brains by trying to work out the phrases or expressions from the clues – we managed to work out more than the teachers!

Then we moved onto naming animals. This started off simple by just looking at the picture and the matching name underneath and reading the word aloud. Then we were given the same pictures but with different animal names underneath which tricked our brains. The science behind this is that due to the interference of different information, our brains find it trickier to identify the animal. Also, we learnt that most people can read quicker than they can name a picture which is why we were making mistakes!

Science Week Activity 2 – Hanging Crystals

First, we had to carefully add bicarbonate of soda to hot water and stir into it dissolved. Next we attached two pieces of paper clips to each end of a piece of sting and put them in the jars of water. We’ve left them on the windowsills to see if we can create crystals! We have had some success but the weather needed to be warmer for it to work fully – it is something that we can easily try at home as the weather gets warmer.

The science behind this experiment is that the wool soaks up the mixture. When the water evaporates, all that’s left are bicarbonate of soda crystals. The hanging crystals are formed when the mixture starts to drip from the wool and evaporate.

Activity 3 – Foaming Dragon

We created bottle dinosaurs and added vinegar, washing-up liquid and food colouring. Then we gave it a gentle stir to mix the ingredients together. Next, we put bicarbonate of soda into a tissue pouch and dropped it into our bottles. With a bit of encouragement, we noticed that the liquid was changing into a frothy, red bubbly mixture! This is another experiment which could easily be done at home – for a bigger eruption, try filling the bottle half-way with vinegar and see what happens!

The science behind this experiment is when you mix vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, it makes a gas called carbon dioxide. This forms bubbles in the vinegar. The bubbles of gas react with the washing-up liquid to make foam. The whole combination reacts so much that foam pours out of the monster’s mouth. Bicarbonate of soda was originally developed to help make bread and cakes rise. A similar reaction occurs in cake mix. The carbon dioxide bubbles make the mixture expand and rise!