Our Senior pupils have had an action-packed term, full of research, experiments and learning. Here’s just a glimpse at what they have been getting up to.
Year 7
The year 7 students investigated whether the boiling point of water is indeed 100⁰C and used their results to plot a boiling curve. They also observed all the changes that happen when water boils.
Do try this at home: The ‘Frost in a can experiment’ is a great way to explore states of matter at home.
Year 8
The year 8s particularly enjoyed making their own glue by adding bases to milk and vinegar when learning about Polymerisation. They investigated whether the type of milk or the type of base would affect the strength of their glue. They then had a ‘glue off’ to figure out which milk and base combination made the strongest glue.
Do try this at home: As you get ready for the festive season, read about the amazing science behind ‘Why Jelly wobbles’. What does the pineapple tree have to do with jelly?
The year 7s and 8s have also been attempting their progress tasks with growing confidence. Here is Olof’s particularly impressive submission describing the forces experienced by the astronauts of the Apollo 11 Mission to the moon.
Year 9
The year 9 students have begun their GCSE course learning about the building blocks of matter and life. During their Biology lessons, they have been learning about the scientists who contributed to the cell theory. They have made their own slides and viewed stained onion specimens under the microscope.
They have also been learning about the fundamentals of matter including elements, compounds and mixtures. They particularly enjoyed a demonstration of ‘Ink Distillation’.
Do try this at home: Take the ‘Mycoscope explore challenge’ to guess what the microscopic image is depicting. How many did you get right? This is the time of the year when the year 9s make their option choices. If your child is confused about which GCSE Science course is more suited to their needs ‘this article’ is a good start.
Year 10
The year 10s have had a busy term and are now well into their GCSE Course. A few practical activities they enjoyed this term include dissecting hearts in Biology when they studied about the circulatory system and Making Silver in Chemistry when they learnt about reacting masses in chemical reactions.
Do try this at home: Scientists have been studying how our habits as children and teenagers affect our health as adults. This article shares what they have found.
Year 11
The year 11s have done some incredible work over the term and are now busy preparing to sit their mock exams. They did have some fun in the laboratory along the way from looking at how force and mass affects acceleration in physics to exploding methane bubbles in chemistry when they learn about fuels.
Do try this at home: Sir David Attenborough’s breath-taking docuseries ‘Our Planet’ is a must watch over the festive break.
