Year 7
The Year 7s have been learning about the musculoskeletal system in Biology and Neutralisation in Chemistry this term. Here are some snapshots of all the fantastic work they have been doing in Science.
Do try this at home: The ‘Virutali-Tee’ is a fantastic way to explore basic human anatomy with your child. Our homes are filled with acids and bases. You do not need laboratory equipment to figure out what sort of chemical is in your laundry detergent. All you need is a red cabbage! This website gives you further information.
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- Investigating how the structures in a chicken wing are organised
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- Investigating pH
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- Practical science needs extreme focus
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- Specimen tubes are really hard to open!
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- Even an injured hand cannot stop me from participating!
Year 8
The Year 8s have been learning about the respiratory and digestive systems in Biology, the reactions of metals and non-metals in Chemistry and all about electromagnets in Physics this term. Here are some snapshots of all the fantastic work they have been doing in Science.
Do try this at home: Watch this lecture about the ‘Chemistry of Fireworks’ to learn about chemical reactions. The ‘Get body Smart’ website provides a lot of easy to access information about human anatomy and organisation.
The year 7s and 8s have also successfully completed their second exam style assessment and have made much progress since their previous tests. Keep up the excellent enthusiasm and effort!
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- The end product of ‘digestion’
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- What ‘chewed up’ food looks like
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- Modelling chewing
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- Studying combustion
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- Testing common foods for Protein
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- Testing common foods for Sugar
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- Testing electromagnets
Year 9
The year 9 students have begun their GCSE course learning about the building blocks of matter and life. This term, they began learning about energy in Physics, went on the study Cell division in Biology and finally ended the term learning about the Periodic Table in Chemistry.
Do try this at home: This lecture and demonstration about ‘Investigating the periodic table with experiments’ is an excellent watch.
Year 10
The year 10s have had a busy term and are now well into their GCSE Course. A few practical activities that were highlights this term included learning about Reactions in Chemistry, where the students followed several complex methods independently and dissecting an eyeball during their triple science lessons.
Do try this at home: The students will have their first taste of the GCSE examinations when they sit their end of year examinations soon after the holidays; These videos about ‘Revision in y13 vs y10’ and ‘How to best choose your A level Subjects’ are good starting points to begin to consider next steps in year 11 and beyond.
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- Krish Learning about Displacement Reactions
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- Margarida Dissecting an Eyeball
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- Finley and Hudson Making salt
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- Kian, Chioke, Farrell and Atilla Following a complex method independently
Year 11
The year 11s have now reached the end of their Normanhurst Science journey and are gearing up for their GCSE examinations. They did have some fun in the laboratory learning about waves and on their GCSE Biology Fieldtrip to the Epping Forest Field Studies Council.
Do try this at home: This exam survival guide is an excellent resource to help your children prepare for the upcoming examinations.
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- Rovan and Harrison investigating species in a quadrat
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- Salah and Charlie braving the elements on the Science trip
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- The sun did finally come out!
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- Using Quadrats
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- Diyar, Salah and Yusuf investigating Reflection
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- Imogen finding the angle of reflection
STEM Fortnight Assemblies Part One- Science
This year’s Stem Fortnight coincided with Bristish Science week and the Science department had the privileged opportunity to lead a ‘Connections’ themed assembly. Ms Sellen and her form 9S participated wholeheartedly and treated the whole school to an impressive display of practical demonstrations, all centred around the theme of ‘Connections’. Here are some memorable moments from the senior assembly.
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- Joseph introducing this year’s theme
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- Joshua letting the ‘ghost in the bottle’ out
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- Nathan performing some static magic!
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- Numa instructing volunteers
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- Aarvin helping volunteers Bobby and Junayd out
Year 7 and 8 Trip to the Field Studies Council
As part of their Stem Fortnight activities, the year 7 and 8 students braved the sleet and snow on their visit to the Field studies Council in High Beech to learn about Terrestrial and Aquatic invertebrates. As part of their activities, they captured-marked-released and recaptured numerous woodlice, did some pond dipping and learnt about how to draw biological specimen diagrams accurately.
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- Kayden doing some pond dipping
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- Looking for woodlice
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- Orson’s beautiful diagram of microhabitats in a pond
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- Callan releasing specimens found
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- Cold but Happy!
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- Felix and Will identifying invertebrates using a key
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- Identifying invertebrates
RSC Funded KS2 Teacher training event
This was an opportunity for Year 5 and 6 teachers from feeder schools to liaise with the Science department at Normanhurst School to help ease student’s transition from primary to secondary school. It was a lively and informative evening with all the teachers incredibly passionate about teaching Science and making it as accessible and practical to all students as they possible could. Principal issues addressed ranged from ‘what an ideal year 7 science student would be’ to ‘common science misconceptions’ and ‘how to ensure curriculum continuity’. The teachers were introduced to the activities demonstrated in the Science assembly and other curriculum linked resources.
