Caroline Cuerden

Common Misconceptions ‘We saw a number of examples where an initially sound (and often simple) concept became confused after additional information was added through teaching.’ It is commonly suggested that parents, teachers and the media all influence the development of misconceptions in science. ( tm ).

Developing language in Science Be clear and specific with language? Play with meaning and misconceptions. Quality talking in Science creates raised standards. Candle- where does the candle go? Burning or melting?

Talking Pegs in Primary Science Make a talking materials trail for the children to follow. Record buttons to describe sorted groups of materials or animals Make a talking display about what do plants need or organs and their function Make a talking lifecycle Record a criteria for sorting animals fish, insects etc. Make definition buttons for key science vocabulary Narrate images e.g. a bean diary What else could you do?

Adding wow Inspiration can lead to high engagement in Science and scientific concepts and therefore higher attainment. Not every experiment has to fit a specific target e.g snot to start learning about the human body.

Sometimes the bit you can’t see- is the important bit! What you'll need: Steel Wool Vinegar Two beakers Paper or a lid (something to cover the beaker to keep the heat in) Thermometer (Data logger) Instructions: Place the steel wool in a beaker. Pour vinegar on to the steel wool and allow it to soak in the vinegar for around one minute. Remove the steel wool and drain any excess vinegar. Wrap the steel wool around the base of the thermometer and place them both in the second beaker. Cover the beaker with paper or a lid to keep the heat in (make sure you can still read the temperature on the thermometer, having a small hole in the paper or lid for the thermometer to go through is a good idea). Check the initial temperature and then monitor it for around five minutes. What's happening? The temperature inside the beaker should gradually rise, you might even notice the beaker getting foggy. When you soak the steel wool in vinegar it removes the protective coating of the steel wool and allows the iron in the steel to rust. Rusting (or oxidation) is a chemical reaction between iron and oxygen, this chemical reaction creates heat energy which increases the temperature inside the beaker. This experiment is an example of an exothermic reaction, a chemical reaction that releases energy in the form of heat.

Make a Lava Lamp What you'll need: Water A clear plastic bottle Vegetable oil Food colouring Alka-Seltzer (or other tablets that fizz) Paper towel for extension Instructions: Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full (75ml approx)(use a funnel when filling the bottle so you don't spill anything). Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full. (25ml approx) Wait until the oil and water have separated. Add around 5ml of food colouring to the bottle (choose any colour you like). Watch as the food colouring falls through the oil and mixes with the water. 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!

Lava lamp What's happening? Use a talking button to explain your findings. Oil and water don't mix very well. The oil and water you added to the bottle separate from each other, with oil on top because it has a lower density than water. The food colouring falls through the oil and mixes with the water at the bottom. The piece of Alka-Seltzer tablet you drop in after releases small bubbles of carbon dioxide gas that rise to the top and take some of the coloured water along for the ride. The gas escapes when it reaches the top and the coloured water falls back down. The reason Alka-Seltzer fizzes in such a way is because it contains citric acid and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), the two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide gas (those are the bubbles that carry the coloured water to the top of the bottle). Adding more Alka-Seltzer to the bottle keeps the reaction going so you can enjoy your funky lava lamp for longer. If you want to show someone later you can simply screw on a bottle cap and add more Alka-Seltzer when you need to. When you've finished all your Alka-Seltzer, you can take the experiment a step further by tightly screwing on a bottle cap and tipping the bottle back and forth, what happens then?

How does a tree get the water from it’s roots to the leaves at the top? What You Need: Pale flower stem with leaves on it scissors Food colouring Water cup Instructions First, use the butter knife to carefully trim the end of the flower. Then, fill a glass with water and add a few drops of food colouring. Now put the flower into the glass of coloured water. You'll soon see the water travel up the veins of the flower What Happens: Water can defy gravity and travel up the stalk because of adhesion. Adhesion is the force that attracts water to other surfaces. In this case, the water adheres to the inside surface of the veins. Adhesion is what pulls the water up into the celery stalk. When water travels in this way it is known as capillary action. An oak tree moves gallons a day in summer using capillary action! That’s l bottles!

Mini rockets What you need A drinking straw Scissors Post-it note Sticky tape What you do Roll, cut and stick your post it note to make a ‘rocket’. This must fit over the end of your drinking straw. What shape will go furthest? Explain your prediction using a talking button. The thrust will be given to the rocket by blowing down the straw.

Make your Own Snot What you'll need: 2-3 tablespoons hot water A dish Gelatine, a sachet Golden syrup, 1-2 tsp A teaspoon Instructions: Add the gelatine to the hot water. Let it soften before stirring with a spoon. Add the golden syrup. Stir the mixture again with your fork and look at the long strands of gunk that have formed. As the mixture cools slowly add more water, small amounts at a time. What's happening? Mucus is made mostly of sugars and protein. Although different than the ones found in the real thing, this is exactly what you used to make your fake snot. The long, fine strings you could see inside your fake snot when you moved it around are protein strands. These protein strands make snot sticky and capable of stretching.

Mentos Geyser What you'll need: Large bottle of Diet Coke About half a pack of Mentos Geyser tube (optional but makes things much easier) Instructions: Make sure you are doing this experiment in a place where you won't get in trouble for getting Diet Coke everywhere. Outside on some grass is perfect, please don't try this one inside!! Stand the Diet Coke upright and unscrew the lid. Put some sort of funnel or tube on top of it so you can drop the Mentos in at the same time (about half the pack is a good amount). Doing this part can be tricky if you don't have a specially designed geyser tube, I recommend buying one online. E.g. Amazon £3.50 Time for the fun part, drop the Mentos into the Diet Coke and run like mad! If you've done it properly a huge geyser of Diet Coke should come flying out of the bottle, it's a very impressive sight. The record is about 9 metres (29 feet) high!

Mentos Geyser 2 What's happening? Although there are a few different theories around about how this experiment works, the most favoured reason is because of the combination of carbon dioxide in the Diet Coke and the little dimples found on Mentos candy pieces. The thing that makes soda drinks bubbly is the carbon dioxide that is pumped in when they bottle the drink at the factory. It doesn't get released from the liquid until you pour it into a glass and drink it, some also gets released when you open the lid (more if you shake it up beforehand). This means that there is a whole lot of carbon dioxide gas just waiting to escape the liquid in the form of bubbles. Dropping something into the Diet Coke speeds up this process by both breaking the surface tension of the liquid and also allowing bubbles to form on the surface area of the Mentos. Mentos pieces are covered in tiny dimples (a bit like a golf ball), which dramatically increases the surface area and allows a huge amount of bubbles to form. The experiment works better with Diet Coke than other sodas due to its slightly different ingredients and the fact that it isn't so sticky. I also found that Diet Coke that had been bottled more recently worked better than older bottles that might have lost some of their fizz sitting on shop shelves for too long, just check the bottle for the date.

Useful web links for teachers engineering-week/download-activities-competitions-and- quizzes/activity-packs You do need to register your school, but these are great activity packs. National Science week is around middle of March, if you want to take part engineering-week/download-activities-competitions-and- quizzes/activity-packs Physicists from Cambridge University’s podcasts and experiments with-food.html A series of fun, food based experiments, with lesson plans. with-food.html lectures?gclid=CPvMtY7IpLcCFTIQtAodV3EAuQ Royal Institute Christmas lectures, a fantastic programme of lectures aimed at inspiring children. lectures?gclid=CPvMtY7IpLcCFTIQtAodV3EAuQ

Web Games h.shtml Fantastic, interactive resource, split by age range, then theme. h.shtml lovely free physics game, where drawn images have real physics applied to them. Free interactive whiteboard activities for KS1 and KS2 Free interactive games food webs, electricity, day and night and many more