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Key Stage 2

Slime Page 2

Exploding Bags (Fair Test) Page 3

Oobleck Page 4

Gas Balloons Page 5

Rockets Page 6

Garden in a Glove Page 7

Apple Oxidization Page 8

Tornado in a bottle Page 9

Volcano Page 10

Tsunami Simulation Page 11

Oil spill Page 12

Key Stage 3

Potato Battery Page 13

Build a simple electric motor Page 14

Elephant Toothpaste Page 15

Heart Simulation Page 16

Egg in a bottle Page 17

Egg Drop Page 18

Eggs vs Vinegar Page 19

Barn Owl Pellets Page 20

Lava Lamps Page 21

Exploding Pumpkin Page 22

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Slime

In this experiment it will tell you how to make slime this can be used when

talking about how different materials react together to make something new,

and is also a fun way to introduce science into your class.

Equipment Needed Plastic cup Stirring Stick Bausch and Lomb contact lens solution (Boots) PVA Glue Water Baking soda Food dye Measuring cup Tablespoon Gillette shaving foam (green) Sandwich bags

Method

1) First you should set out a cup and stirring stick for each child (we use a

lollipop stick), Then you should use a separate cup to mix together 1

teaspoon of baking soda and 5ml of water.

2) Give each child ½ cup or 8 tablespoons of PVA glue in there cup, then

add 1 ml of the baking soda and water solution to each child’s cup and

tell them to mix gently.

3) Now ask the children to choose a food dye colour and add 2 drops of the

food dye colour and mix.

4) Now add in 1 cup or 18 tablespoons of shaving foam (Gillette green

bottle is best) and mix ensuring you get all the bottom glue mixed in.

5) Now add 10 drops of the Bausch and Lomb contact lens solution and mix

quickly, at this point if the slime comes away from the sides of the cup

and sticks to itself it is ready if it is still runny add in 5 more drops and

mix again.

6) When the slime is ready empty out onto your hands and roll quickly

between your palms to ensure it binds together.

7) You should now have a ball of slime.

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Exploding Bags

In this experiment you can show the children how vinegar and baking soda

react together, but what happens when the gas they give of is trapped inside a

bag.

Equipment Needed Sealable sandwich bags Vinegar 50ml per student Baking soda Toilet paper Measuring cup Teaspoon Large CLEAR storage container Newspaper for the floor

Method

1) Set up the newspaper in a square to protect the floor from the “explosion”

and set the storage container on top of the newspaper upside down.

2) Give each child a sealable bag, and a measuring cup, ask them to pour 50

ml of vinegar into their measuring cup and then into their bag and seal it.

3) Now set the bag to the side and give each student a piece of toilet paper

(one square) and one teaspoon, ask each student to take one teaspoon

of baking soda and pour it in the middle of the toilet paper square.

4) Now the students should lift the edges of the paper over top of the

baking soda to wrap it up like a “present”.

5) Open the bag of vinegar again and one at a time ask each student to

bring his or her bag and there “present” up to the storage container area

and set the vinegar bag onto the newspaper. In one quick movement

place the “present” into the bag seal it and shake it, the teacher will

then place the storage container over the top of the bag and watch what

happens.

6) The students should get down at eye level and observe their bag begin

to expand as the reaction continues. This happens because the vinegar

and baking soda give of carbon dioxide and it is trying to escape from

the bag.

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7) Eventually the bag will pop under the pressure and you begin again with

the next student.

Oobleck

In this experiment I will show you how to make a substance called

Oobleck this is another great experiment for materials and how they

change and act differently in different environments.

Equipment Needed Corn Flour (425ml) Water (250ml) Lunch Box Aprons Food dye Jug x 2

Method

1) The students should put on aprons and tie long hair back as this

experiment can be very messy.

2) Each student should have a lunch box and add 425ml of cornflour to the

lunch box using the measuring jug.

3) Next, the student should get 250ml of water and add 2 drops of a food

dye of their choice into it in the jug.

4) Next, add the coloured water to the lunchbox with the cornflour in it

and begin mixing with your hands.

5) To show the different changes in state of the Oobleck let your hands

slowly sink into the mixture and then try to pull them out very hard, it

should hold your hands and create a vacuum.

6) Allow the students to lift it up in their hands and see can they hold it

firmly and then weakly and observe.

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Gas Balloons

Equipment Needed Plastic drinks bottle Balloons x 2 Vinegar 50ml Baking soda

Method

1) Fill the bottle with 50ml of vinegar; fill one balloon with 1

tablespoon of baking soda.

2) Blow up the other balloon with “air” and tie it closed

3) For the second balloon place the end of it over the top of the

bottle being careful not to let any of the baking soda in the

bottle spill in yet.

4) When this is secure, lift the end of the balloon to allow the

baking soda to flow into the bottle with the vinegar, a reaction

should start.

5) The balloon on the bottle should catch the gas given of which is

carbon dioxide, when they reaction stops remove the balloon

carefully and tie closed.

6) Then get your first balloon with air in it, hold the two at a

height, and let them fall and observe with the class that carbon

dioxide is much heavier the air as it falls straight to the ground.

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Rockets

Do this in a room with a tall ceiling or outdoors, ensure there is a washable

floor (Do not do this on carpet)

Equipment Needed Film canister Water Jug Vitamin C tablets 10ml Syringe

Method

1) Give each student a syringe and ask him or her to draw up 10ml of water

in their syringe and keep it beside them.

2) Now each student should take a large vitamin C tablet and ask them to

break it in half.

3) Now give each student a film canister and ask him or her to syringe the

water into it, and then gather in a circle on the floor with his or her

tablets.

4) Now in one quick movement add the table to the film canister place the

lid on, turn it upside on the floor (lid side down), and take a step back.

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Garden in a Glove

This experiment will fit in with the eco schools topics or

environmental topics and show children how plants can grow in

different mediums.

Equipment Needed

Clear unsterile gloves Sharpie Cotton wool balls Jugs Water Seeds Tape

Method

1) Give each student a clear glove and a sharpie, explain to them we are

going to use our gloves to make a simulation of a greenhouse, and plant

our seeds to begin our garden in each finger.

2) Set out water in jugs at each table for the students to dip their cotton

wool balls into.

3) Give each student out 5 cotton wool balls and ask them to pull them in

half so they have 10 pieces.

4) Then ask them to soak their 10 pieces in water. When this is done they

can then, place 2 seeds on one piece of cotton wool and place another

piece on top to form a sandwich.

5) They can then place this completed cotton wool seed ball into a finger of

the glove.

6) When all gloves are completed, they can hang them on a window to

allow sunlight in.

7) Give the gloves 2 weeks to sprout their leaves and then transplant them

in a small pot with compost and water daily.

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Apple Oxidization

In simple terms, oxidation is a loss of electrons in an element or a

compound in contact with the oxygen in the air. This experiment will

show what happens to an apple when this occurs.

Equipment Needed Apple Lemon Cup Brush Knife

Method

1) Take a half of the lemon and squeeze it into a cup

2) Cut an apple in half, so you have 2 halves

3) Take a brush, dip it into the lemon juice and spread it over one-half of an

apple.

4) Leave it like that for a few hours. Check it out every hour you should

notice the first differences after an hour.

5) Check the state of your apple halves after 1, 2 and 3 hours and talk with

your child about observed effects.

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Tornado in a bottle

This is a nice experiment to replicate an actual tornado so it will show the

children when a force is applied in a circular motion a whirlpool can be created

in the bottle.

Equipment Needed

2 plastic bottles Jug Water Knife Scissors Duct tape

Method

1) Start with two empty, plastic bottles. Smaller size bottles work well for

smaller hands, but the Twister Tube works on most sizes of plastic

bottles. Make sure the bottles are the same size.

2) Fill one bottle 2/3 full with water, removed both lids of the bottles and

drill a hole the width of the lid, so you are just left with the outer edges

of the lids.

3) Attach the lids to both bottles again and get some duct tape to stick the

two lids and bottles together to look like the photo above. Make sure

that the bottles are screwed on securely so that the water does not leak.

4) Quickly turn the bottle over and set it on a table or desk so it’s standing

vertically. A few drops of water might fall into the lower bottle, but not

much. Start moving the Twister Tube in a circle, as if you were stirring

something on the stove. At some point, a twister (called a vortex) will

form and water will start spiraling into the lower bottle. It looks just like

a tornado!

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Volcano

This can be used when talking about natural disasters and the weather unit

in key stage 2.

Equipment Needed Paper plate Paper or plastic cup Tin foil tape scissors large baking sheet 2 TBLS water red food colouring 2 TBLS Baking soda 4 TBLS Vinegar Jug

Method

1) Tape the cup to the centre of the paper plate. 2) Cover the cup and plate with a piece of foil and fold the foil around all of

the edges of the plate. 3) Cut an X in the top of the foil, fold down the tabs, and tape them to the

inside of the cup. 4) Put your volcano in the centre of a large cookie sheet and add the water,

baking soda and several drops of red food colouring into the cup. 5) Slowly pour in the vinegar. 6) Watch your volcano erupt again and again.

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Tsunami Simulation When discussing weather and climate this is a nice experiment to demonstrate what a tsunami is and how underwater earthquakes (plate tectonics) cause it, and the after effects.

Equipment Needed

Lunch box (clear) Sand Water Mini houses

Method

1) Give each child a lunch box to use (the bigger the better) 2) Ask the children to build a sloping beach at one end of the lunch box and

leave one end clear for water. 3) Now add in water to the clear end to act as the sea, ensuring the water

does not come to far up their sloping beach at the other side. 4) Then give each child out some houses to add to their beach, as holiday

homes at the seaside. 5) Then explain to the children how a tsunami happens and ask them what

do they think will happen to our holiday homes on the sloping beach if there was a tsunami in our lunch boxes.

6) Then ask each child to gently push their box back and forward getting faster and faster like an earthquake and observe what happened to their houses and the beach.

7) Finish of with an explanation of where this can happen (where plates meet and where underwater earthquakes can occur)

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Oil Spill

This is a nice experiment to show children how pollution can affect

wildlife; this would lead nicely into their eco-schools topics and also

the world around us.

Equipment Needed

Feathers Oil Plate Sponges Cloth Spoons Fairy liquid Plastic cup Aprons

Method 1) Give each child a plate with a few feathers on it covered in oil and

explain that today we are going to simulate an oil spill on these feathers, which represent a baby bird in the ocean.

2) Tell the children you have 3 different methods to remove the oil from the feathers and it’s their job to decide which one works best and why.

3) First, ask the children to lift a spoon only and use that to scoop the oil from the feathers, put 2 minutes on the clock. Wgen they have trialled this ask them what they observed.

4) Now add 2 more minutes and tell them to use only a sponge this repeatedly ask them what they observed.

5) Finally use the cloth and fairy liquid to scrub the feathers and ask them what they observed.

6) If the experiment went, will it will show they all worked to some degree however the fairy liquid worked the best.

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Potato Battery

Equipment Needed

4 potatoes 6 pieces of copper wire 4 pennys (not rusted) 4 Zinc nails (not rusted) 1 led 2.0 v or lower Knife

Method

1) Put the students into groups if four and give each person in the

group one potatoes, 1 penny and one zinc nail.

2) Next, ask the members of the group to push the penny and nail

into their potato half way in a horizontal fashion.

3) Next give out the 6 pieces of wire and one LED to the group and

explain to them that they need to connect them all in a circuit.

Positive to negative.

4) Therefore, the first student will wrap on wire around the nail

and then pass the end of it onto the next student in the group

and he will wrap the end of the wire around the penny, then

this student will lift another wire, wrap it around the nail, and

pass it to the next student.

5) Do this for three potatoes but instead of connect the last wire

to the last penny you want to connect it to one of the LED legs

and then connect the other leg to the final nail and your LED

should light up as a closed circuit.

6) If it does not light up check all your ports are correct or try,

flipping the LED legs over.

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Build a simple electric motor

Equipment Needed

One AA Battery Copper Wire A neodymium (rare earth) magnet wire cutters Needle nosed pliers Ruler

Method

1) First, cut a section of wire 7 inches long. Bend a small loop in the wire in the center as shown in the picture.

2) Then bend both sides down. Attach your magnets to the negative end of a AA battery.

3) Now bend each of the ends as shown in the picture above. You need the both ends of the copper wire to gently touch the magnets at the bottom of the battery.

4) It will take a little bit of work to adjust the copper wire so that it touches the top of the battery and both ends touch the magnet. The copper wire once you have it just right, the wire will begin to spin!

5) Try flipping the magnets over and watch what happens to the direction of the motor. When you reverse the poles of the magnets, the motor will spin the other way! So cool.

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Elephant Toothpaste

Equipment Needed A clean plastic bottle 250ml cup 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid (20-volume is a 6% solution, ask an adult to get this from a beauty supply store or hair salon) 1 Tablespoon of dry yeast 3 Tablespoons of warm water Liquid dish soap Food coloring Small cup Safety goggles

Method

1) Hydrogen peroxide can irritate skin and eyes, so put on those safety goggles and carefully pour the hydrogen peroxide into the bottle.

2) Add 8 drops of your favorite food colouring into the bottle and mix by swishing.

3) Add about 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap into the bottle and swish the bottle around a bit to mix it.

4) In a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast together and mix for about 30 seconds, leave this to stand for 5 minutes and then mix again.

5) Now the adventure starts! Pour the yeast water mixture into the bottle (a funnel helps here) and watch the foaminess begin!

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Heart Simulation

Equipment Needed 1. beaker or wide mouth jar 2. large balloon 3. 2 flexible drinking straws 4. wooden skewer 5. scissors 6. water 7. tape 8. large pan or sink

Method

1) Fill the jar half full of water. 2) Cut the neck of the balloon off at the part where it starts to widen

into a balloon. Set the neck part aside.

3) Stretch the balloon over the opening of the jar, pulling it down as

tightly as you can. The flatter you can get the surface of the

balloon, the better.

4) Carefully use the tip of a skewer to poke two holes in the surface

of the balloon. Make them about an inch apart from each other

and near opposite edges of the jar.

5) Stick the long part of a straw into each hole. The straws should fit

securely in the holes so no air can get through around the straws.

6) Slide the uncut end of the balloon neck onto one of the straws

and tape it around the straw.

7) Set your pump in a large pan or the sink to catch the pumped

water. Bend the straws downward. Gently press in the center of

the stretched balloon and watch what happens to the water in the

jar.

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Egg in a bottle

Equipment Needed Egg hard boiled Wide-mouth glass drink bottle (beaker) Vegetable oil Matches Strips of paper folded a couple times length-wise (slightly shorter than the bottle)

Method

1. Peel the eggs. 2. Use a paper towel to coat the inside edge of the bottle mouth with a

little bit of vegetable oil for lubrication. 3. Dip the egg in water and set it with the small end down in the mouth of

the glass bottle. It should be slightly larger than the mouth of the bottle, so it does not fit inside.

4. Use a match to light the end of a strip of paper on fire. Lift the egg off the bottle, drop the paper inside with the flame down, and quickly replace the egg. Watch the egg wiggle a little in the bottle mouth, and then be sucked inside!

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Egg Drop

Equipment Needed Eggs Craft items such as: Cardboard Foam board Bubble wrap Elastic bands Flour Boxes Scissors

Method

1. Give each child an egg and explain the challenge. We are going to make a safety device to protect our egg if it falls from the top of a height (fire escape).

2. List the craft items available to use and allow them to design a safety device for their egg and then select the items they need to make it.

3. Allow them 30 minutes to make their device and then test them.

4. The winner is the egg that makes it safely to the ground 5. This is great for teaching about different materials and their “fit

for purpose”

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Eggs vs Vinegar

Equipment Needed

Raw egg White vinegar A clear jar or tall glass A big spoon

Method

1. Place the egg in the jar or glass such that it does not touch the walls of the container.

2. Pour vinegar to cover the egg completely. 3. Watch the egg closely. You should see bubbles forming on its

surface. Note down your observations. 4. Let the egg soak in the vinegar for one day. 5. Use the spoon to scoop out the egg from the vinegar. You need

to be very careful while doing this as the shell should already be partially dissolved by this time, leaving the egg tender.

6. Now pour out the old vinegar, put the egg back in the container and cover it with fresh vinegar.

7. Let the arrangement sit for another week. 8. Scoop out the egg and rinse it carefully. 9. Now you are left with an egg without a shell. Though it still

looks like an egg, it has a translucent covering membrane that flexes when you squeeze it. If you shake it, you can see the egg yolk sloshing about in the egg white. You can even bounce it gently over hard surfaces.

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Barn Owl Pellets

These are a great dissection tool as they allow you to see what

animals the barn owls ate in the weeks leading up to the pellet

deposit. These can be accrued for a small fee from the barn owl trust

and the RSPB.

Equipment Needed Fine tweezers or forceps Small pot A few drops of antiseptic or disinfectant Newspaper. A hand lens or other suitable magnifier A shallow dish or a tray Card and glue for mounting your finds. Gloves Dissection sheet- Barn owl trust online

Method

1. Soak them first. Half fill the pot with water and add a few drops of disinfectant. Place the pellets in the pot. Soak them for about half an hour until they sink. Take them out and blot off excess water.

2. Tease each pellet apart very carefully using tweezers, Search carefully as you go so that nothing is missed.

3. As you find any bones or other items, remove them from the pellet. Clean them up and place them on the newspaper to dry.

4. As you search, take note of the basic material of the pellet. Is it mainly fur or feathers, or something else? It will give you a good idea of what to expect.

5. The remains of small creatures such as insects are often found in pellets and in little owl and kestrel Pellets these can be particularly abundant. To find and identify them often requires a dissecting microscope.

6. When you are ready to identify all your bones lay them on the pieces of card and use the dissecting owl pellet sheet from the barn owl website to identify what you have found.

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Lava lamps

Equipment Needed Water A clear plastic bottle Vegetable oil Food colouring Alka-Seltzer/ Vitamin C (or other tablets that fizz)

Method

1. Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full (you might want to use a funnel when filling the bottle so you do not spill anything).

2. Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full. 3. Wait until the oil and water have separated. 4. Add around a dozen drops of food colouring to the bottle (choose any

colour you like). 5. Watch as the food colouring falls through the oil and mixes with the

water. 6. Cut an Alka-Seltzer tablet into smaller pieces (around 5 or 6) and drop

one of them into the bottle, things should start getting a little crazy, just like a real lava lamp!

When the bubbling stops, add another piece of Alka-Seltzer and enjoy the

show!

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Exploding Pumpkin

Equipment Needed 20 ml water 7 pea-sized chips of calcium carbide (CaC2) Plastic container small oven mitt (to avoid getting burned) Oven Lighter

Method

1. Carve a medium pumpkin with a simple face. Triangles, circles, squares and ovals are good choices. Re-insert the face pieces, making sure they can move easily out of the pumpkin. If the pumpkin has thick flesh, you may wish to cut away the back of the pieces so they are lighter/weaker.

2. Poke or drill a small hole in the back of the pumpkin so you can insert the oven lighter. Insert the lighter to test it to make sure it works.

3. Put the water in the container and set in the pumpkin. 4. Drop the calcium carbide chips into the water and replace the lid of the

pumpkin. Allow about a minute for the acetylene gas to build up. 5. Be sure the face of the pumpkin is facing away from you and that your

audience is a safe distance from the demonstration. You may wish to wear ear protection. Goggles and a lab coat are recommended. While holding down the lid of the pumpkin (with an oven-mitted hand), spark the oven lighter in the drilled hole.