Science Camp

This week we went to a Science Camp at Imperial College London, EVERY day from 9am-3.30.  We got to explore biology, anatomy, chemistry, physics and engineering & design.


We don't have lots of photos but below is a summary of some of the things we did each day.

Monday (Ecology)

• We dissected a fish and learnt about the swim bladder and gills and removed the heart, eyes, and intestines.

• We made our own Natron salt from baking soda and salt (sodium chloride) and mummified an apple.

• We learnt about neutral and acidic pH levels and put a flower in water and vinegar (a weak acid) to see how they affected it.  Then we learnt about acid rain and how it damages the different parts of the ecosystem.

• We made a clay island and tested the effects of an oil spill.  We learnt lots about how oil spills affect the environment and animals in real life.

• We filtered dirty water using different things such as coffee filter paper, tights, newspaper, a funnel, and cotton buds.  We learnt about the process of filtration.

• We made trees out of sponges, pipe cleaners and kebab stick and tested them against a blow-dryer to mimic the wind.  We learnt about buttress roots and how they keep the trees stable.

Tuesday (Biology)

 

• We looked at an ox's heart and dissected a lamb's heart and learnt about all the chambers.

• We made stethoscopes with balloons, paper cups and strings.  We learned that the covering on the stethoscope works the same way as the skin on a drum.

• We dissected a lamb's kidney and learnt how they work.

• We used candy to make a neuron and learnt how neurons work in our brain to send signals.

• We learnt all about the human digestive system and how it works. 

• We made fake poo from coffee, chocolate, bread, oats, dishwashing liquid and water.

Wednesday (Chemistry)

• We learnt about endothermic and exothermic reactions.  Then we made a hand-warmer with iron filings, silicon beads and vinegar.  

• We went outside to see a demonstration of putting a mentos lolly in a bottle of soda.  We learnt that the carbon dioxide built  up on the surface of the mentos because it was bumpy. We had been learning about solids, liquids and gases at home, so Isaac explained that Carbon dioxide is a gas so it would fill up all the space it could.  Then we made our own mini version in a cup but it didn't explode.   This is because there was a wider space for the gas to escape.

• We learnt about pH levels.

• We used vinegar, food colouring and oil to create a lava lamp.  We learnt that oil and water separate because they are different densities.

Thursday (Physics)

• We learned that you can't make or destroy energy you can only transfer it.  First we made Ping Pong Ball Shooters.  When you pull the balloon back the electrical energy in your arm transfers into elastic potential energy in the balloon.  Then when the balloon hits the ping pong ball, the energy is transferred into the ball and it fires forward.   Then when the ball hits another surface (a face, or the floor for example) the energy goes into that surface.

• Then we made marshmallow blow-pipes.  They didn't work because they were too long and so we couldn't blow it out.  Then when we made them too short they just fell out.  The hole had to be just bigger than the marshmallow so the air couldn't escape out the side, but instead the energy from your breath was supposed to transfer into the marshmallow and blow it out.  Sometimes experiments don't work the way they're supposed to! 

• Next we put raisins in two cups - one with lemonade and one with water.  In the water there is a little bit of carbon dioxide which got attracted to the raisins because of their bumpy surace and When we put them in the lemonade so many carbon dioxide bubbles attached to their bumpy surface that they move to the top of the liquid.

• We learned about friction.  We had a race with jelly and you had to use two chopsticks to get the jelly cubes from one plate to the next.  Then we had a harder race when the teachers had poured oil on the jelly.  It was harder because the oil meant the jelly cubes were more slippery so there was less friction to help us hold on.

• We tied string around a spoon and put the ends of the string in our ears.   We hit the spoon which sounded really loud.  We learned sound travels best through solids.

Friday (Design and Engineering)

• We were challenged to make weatherproof houses out of a cardboard box, sugar cubes, clay, lego and tape.  Then the teacher sprayed them with water, sprinkled flour for snow and used a blow dryer for wind to see how strong our houses were.  Our team were winners!  Yay!

• We discussed how the tunnels were made for trains through mountains and then we made our own tunnels for pedestrians and cars with clay and toothpicks.  

• We made a model airport considering where to put the runway, control tower and carpark.

Reading a PIE (#yum!)

We're learning about PIE!!!  Not the kind you eat though - it's a cool way of remembering the 3 main types of Author's Purpose.    My next step for reading based on the goals set at my school in New Zealand is: 

"Understanding the meaning of the text and why the author has written the text.  Identifying the purpose."  


The parts of PIE are:

Persuade - this is when the author tries to convince you to do something or share their opinion.

Inform - this when the author provides information or facts.

Entertain - this is when the author tries to grip you and make you want to read more.  This is usually fiction.

Sometimes an author can have more than one purpose.  For example if someone tried to inform you about the life of a historical person they could do it as a story.  Or if they wanted to persuade you that a company is bad and you shouldn't buy their products they might write a bunch of facts about why it's bad to help persuade.  They would be informing as well.

Here is a fun video song we found about PIE. 

PIE song by Flowcabulary

We're going on a Pie Hunt

We have just arrived in Aberdeen.  Today is our first day in a new house.  So, my Mum gave us a PIE treasure hunt challenge. We had to find examples in the house of something written to persuade, inform, entertain AND something where the author had more than one purpose.

Isaac and I both managed to find all the slices of our pie.  Yum!  I'm looking forward to learning more about PIE.

The Lost Egyptian City at the Bottom of the Ocean

At the British Museum we also went to see an exhibition called "Sunken Cities: Egypts Lost World". 

Two cities of ancient Egypt have been discovered recently.  They were lost because they were at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea and water levels rose and the cities were flooded.  The exhibition was full of many of the things they had found from the city.  But they have only found about 5% of what is there.  So 95% of the cities remain sunken under the ocean. The cities were called Canopus and Thonis-Heracleion.

The first thing we did was have a look at some objects at a hands-on desk.  Some were seals similar to the ones in the Greek exhibit which we learned about last year.  (They are used to mark property to show who owns it).  There were also some amulets that Mummies would be buried with to protect them in the afterlife. 

This was the statue of the God Hapi who stood at the edge of the city of Thonis-Heracleion.  The thing that the statue is holding is a tray which offerings put on.  This statue was to welcome ships to the port.

This was a tablet with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.  I recognised some of the letters from when I learned about them last year.  I recognised a Pharohs name because it was inside a cartouche (a special oval shape which Pharohs' names would always be carved inside to protect them from evil spirits in the afterlife).  You can read more about this in my blog post from last year about visiting the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology here.

This is a cabinet full of eating utensils and tableware.  My favourite was a spoon that had been entirely covered in coral.

Next I was able draw a picture of something that I saw in the exhibit and I decided to draw the coral spoon.

Something I found interesting was that the cities were Egyptian but lots of Greeks started to visit as they were big trading ports.  So you can see lots of Egyptian and Greek relics and sometimes where the two cultures combine.  This is a map of the city.  I noticed that Temples for Greek Gods were allowed to be built right next to Temples for Egyptian Gods.  It made me think about today and how some people are angry about Mosques being built near Christian Churches.  I wondered if the ancient Egyptians could accept and live in harmony with others beliefs back then, why can't we do it today? 

At this point Mum saw a sign that said no photos - WHOOPS!  So we couldn't take any more, but we saw tons of other amazing relics and learnt lots of cool facts about life and also the beliefs and myths of the Ancient Egyptian Era.  

Here we are on our way home - but as you can see London traffic was a bit crazy that day so it took quite a long time.