Last week was filled with Sciencey things, with Year 5 visiting Abingdon Senior School for a workshop on acids and alkalis, and Year 3 and 4 were given the opportunity to visit the Explorer Dome to learn more about Light and the Body.
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Abingdon School welcomed all of Year 5 to their beautifully equipped labs where they cemented and challenged the children’s knowledge on acids and alkalis. The children really enjoyed testing various solutions for their acidity, neutrality or alkalinity using a spotting tile, pipettes and universal indicator solution or red cabbage solution. In addition, they then observed what happens when vinegar is mixed with bicarbonate of soda and saw how the irreversible reaction produced carbon dioxide. They were able to see this because they cleverly caught the carbon dioxide in a balloon! Finally, they were very brave with the last reaction as they mixed magnesium with some hydrochloric acid. The children trapped the resultant gas in the test tube with their thumbs then used a lighted splint (lit from a Bunsen burner!) to see if the gas was hydrogen. They knew they had made hydrogen when it made a delightful ‘pop’ sound! Thankfully, no fingers were urned in the process! An exciting time was had by all!
In the Explorer Dome, Year 4 were lucky enough to go on a journey as a piece of food through a body! They learned many amazing facts like how an adult has about 9 metres of small and large intestines. They wondered how it all fitted in! They saw footage of a camera passing through an actual oesophagus in to the stomach where they could see the fantastic mucus (likened to snot!) which keeps the stomach lining safe from the acids which break down food. They learned about the passage of the food into the blood and eventually into the cells and how this happens.
Year 3 learnt all about how important light is and how there are many different types including; light from the sun, infrared light and ultraviolet light. They learnt how to split light with a prism and discovered that it is made up of all the different colours of the rainbow. The children were able to have a go at mixing light using the three scientific primary colours of red, blue and green. One child was even heard to say “I thought light was boring, not anymore!” The Explorer Dome team were amazing and answered many questions with skill, empathy and paid little attention to grossness!
Mrs Jane Williams
Head of Science
