1. by Caroline Cuerden crcuerden@gmail.com
Super Science
by Caroline Cuerden

2. This exciting hands-on workshop focuses on ‘working scientifically’ and tackling common misconceptions, delivered through a wealth of experiments and ideas including; walking water, lava lamps, bath bombs, ice cream and many more. The workshop provides a great opportunity to consider some of the key shifts in the primary Science curriculum and grab some great resources for KS1 and 2 to take away.

3. Working Scientifically
What was missing?
What is needed?
Enquiry led
Process orientated
Practical and Engaging
Curriculum changes were to designed to reflect this.

4. 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. ( onex.htm).

5. How we learn… Scientific Process
How will you keep your test fair? (Change one variable per test)
What will you measure, record or count? (RESULTS)
What happened? What do your results tell you?
Why do we think this happened? (CONCLUSION)
Does this answer your question? If not what else could you consider and test now?
What do we want to find out? (QUESTION)
What might be going on? (IDEA or THEORY)
How can you find out? (TESTING IDEAS)
How could you test to find out if your theory is true?
 What variables are there (things you might change)?

6. It is a universal process
In the world of Science.
Brian Cox- Hadron Collider- Cerne.
Why what we have observed in the universe might be happening?
In our classrooms
Why do some things float?

7. For this to happen
Need to have a classroom/school culture where it is ok to cycle through a process- it is not about getting the ‘right’ answer
It takes longer
The purpose of this is about the process and the learning, not the results.
You don’t need to do the scientific process for every bit of science - but when you do make it count.
You don’t have to do the whole process in one go. Break it down and be explicit about the part of the process you are delivering.

8. Pose a problem-How does a tree get the water from it’s roots to the leaves at the top?
Where do you start?
Test the initial premise put a plastic bag over a plant and catch the water.
Observation- cut open some plant stems- celery/rhubarb. What can you see that might help to answer the question?
Observing more closely- digital microscopes. Now what can you see?
Focus on: Generating ideas or theories from observations

9. Experiment 1: What purpose might the ‘tubes’ in the stem have
Experiment 1: What purpose might the ‘tubes’ in the stem have? How can we find out?
What You Need:
Celery stalk with leaves on it ( pale garden leaves, pale flowers )
Butter knife
Food colouring
Water
Two glasses
Instructions First, use the butter knife to carefully trim the end of the celery stalk. Then, fill a glass with water and add a few drops of food colouring. Now put the celery stalk into the glass of coloured water. You'll soon see the water travel up the veins of the celery stalk. 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!
Focus on: Observation

10. Research-Is water sticky?

11. Experiment 2: How does a tree get the water from it’s roots to the leaves at the top?
Walking water: What happened? What does this tell us?
Focus on: using results to draw conclusions

12. 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 clearing up
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!

13. Lava Lamp explanation.
What's happening? (Try using 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?

14. Bath Bomb Gifts (KS1/2) Equipment:
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (sometimes called baking soda)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1-2 drops of food colouring – any colour you like
1-2 drops of food flavouring – any flavour you like, e.g. almond, vanilla, coconut, lemon
Mixing bowl
Spritzer or spray bottle with some water inside (if needed)
Gloves
Ice cube trays or cookie trays for the moulds
Optional: Nice tissue paper, ribbons and labels for wrapping
Instructions:
Step1: Mix the cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda in bowl
Step 2 :Add the food colouring and food flavouring to the bowl and mix using your hands. The mixture may become clumpy.
Step 3: If the mix it too dry to press into the mouldadd a drop or 2 of water .
Step 4: Spoon the mixture into your ice cube tray or cookie moulds and press down with your fingers. Leave to dry somewhere warm and dry overnight.
Step 5 Gently tap them out of the mould and wrap them up nicely using tissue paper, ribbon and bags. Make sure the bath bombs are used within a few weeks, otherwise they will lose their fizz!

15. How does it work?
Simple: When bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar are mixed and are then put in water, they undergo a chemical reaction. The reaction makes lots of bubbles (Carbon dioxide gas), which you see as the bath bomb dissolves in the water.
Web Link to Bath Bombs video and instructions-
ingstodo/bp-bath-bomb-make
These 2 ingredients make up baking powder. It’s the same reaction that gives your cake a lift!

16. Hot experiments- encouraging children to test for the unseen
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.
Focus on : gathering results and drawing conclusions

17. Candle Experiment Where does the candle go? Is it burning or melting?
What do you notice when a candle is left burning? (Observation)
Where does the candle go? (suggest a theory)
How could you test to find out? ( What are the variables? What are you testing for?)
- Melting? Weigh candle before and candle plus drips after?
Burning? Catch soot to show consumption/change
For discussion only- not time to do it.
Focus on: Testing and Fair testing,

18. Cold Experiments: Ice Cream In under 10 minutes!
Instructions:
Combine milk, vanilla, and sugar in the small plastic bag. Seal bag tightly, making sure to press out any air trapped inside the bag.
Mix ice and salt in the gallon-sized plastic bag.
Place the small bag into the large plastic bag and seal tightly.
Shake the bag vigorously for about 5 minutes. You can have fun tossing it around with friends, but you might need to wear winter gloves as the bag will be very cold.
After about 5 minutes, you will see that the liquid inside the smaller bag has hardened. Without opening the bags, let them sit on a plate or towel for another few minutes, rearranging the ice in the larger bag so that it's surrounding the smaller bag.
Open them up and scoop out the ice cream from inside the small bag. Serve immediately.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Equipment:
2–3 cups ice, crushed or cubed
1/3 cup coarse salt
1 small (quart-sized) plastic ziplock bag
1 large (gallon-sized) plastic ziplock freezer bag

19. Ice Cream: How does it work?
One essential ingredient in this method is salt. When you mix salt with ice, it lowers the freezing point of the ice. Water normally freezes at 32°F, but a 20% salt solution freezes at a lower 2°F. That's why we sprinkle salt on icy roads and paths in the winter; the salt causes the ice to melt.
In this vanilla-flavoured recipe, the icy solution is so cold that it quickly and easily freezes your flavoured cream (or milk) into ice cream. You could also use this method to make slushies using your favourite soft drink.

20. I How does it work: The full version
The Science of Ice Cream:
Most ice creams consist of a frozen emulsion of four basic components:
An emulsion is a fine dispersion of minute droplets of one liquid in another in which it is not soluble or miscible.
– Ice crystals
Created when the water-content in the base starts to freeze; they put the “ice” in “ice cream”, giving solidity and body. The size of the ice crystals largely determines how fine, or grainy, the ice cream eventually turns out. The main objective (apart from the freezing itself) is therefore to keep the size of the ice crystals down as much as possible.
– Fat
Often in the form of butter (milk) fat; adds richness, stabilises the base mix, improves density and the smoothness of texture and generally increases flavours.
– Sweeteners 
Generally different sugars, honey or syrups. Adds sweetness but also improves texture and body. Also lowers the freezing point of the mix, ensuring that the ice cream does not freeze rock-solid. In other words, reducing the sweeteners (for health- or dietary reasons, for example) does not only affect sweetness but could also jeopardise the “build” and stability of the ice cream.
– Air
The invisible (and cheapest) ingredient in ice cream. The tiny air cells whipped into the base mix are largely responsible for the general consistency of ice cream, and greatly affect texture and volume. “Over-run” is the technical term used to indicate how much air an ice cream holds; since air is free and increases the volume, non-premium commercial ice creams could well have an overrun sometimes even exceeding 100 %. Having one scoop of ice cream with low over-run could therefore equal the actual content of 2-3 (or more …) scoops of ice cream with high over-run.

21. Assessment
YEAR 1
Working
Scientifically
Ideas and evidence
I can ask simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways.
I can ask relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them.
W S
Planning
Experimental
Work
I can identify and classify. I can perform simple tests using simple equipment, observing closely.
I can set up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests making accurate and careful observations.
Obtaining and
Presenting
Evidence
I can gather and record data to help in answering questions.
I can gather, record, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions.
W S Considering
Evidence and
Evaluating
I can use my observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
I can use results to draw simple conclusions and suggest improvements

22. Other ideas with a Wow factor
Edible putty-
tch?v=Iv--IGlEqkA
Naked eggs-
s/guidance-lessonplan-197- fun-science-with-food.html
Ice cream catch- ticle/26683-science-project- make-homemade-ice-cream
Why not give Science Week a go?
ek.org/plan-your- activities/activity-packs/

23. Lots of lovely freebies
For all those who take the time and trouble to go away and download the presentations there are lots of freebies:
Grannys Biscuits
Magnetic drawing
Mini rockets
Making snot
Mentos geyser
Lots of handy weblinks and helpsheets
All the resources from this workshop!

24. Magnetic Drawing Ingredients A white paper plate A powerful magnet
A pinch iron filings
A plastic glove
Put the magnet inside the finger of the glove- put the glove on.
On a plate put a pinch of iron filings.
Hold your finger to the underside of the plate, the iron filings will be attracted to the magnet.
When you move your finger a rust trace will ‘write’ on the plate.
Simple yet satisfying!
Ideas:
Draw a face on the plate and create ‘hairstyles’ with the magnet and iron filings.
Warning: it’s hard to get the filings off your magnet- hence the glove.
Don’t get iron powder- its toxic when breathed in. See notes on Magnetic supplies for help.

25. Granny’s biscuits: the dunking question?
Testing a range of supermarket biscuits, predicting which will be best ‘dunker’, looking for simple commonalities between the best ones: measuring how long a biscuit can be dunked before going soggy using standard measure: presenting information in a block graph.

26. 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.

27. Exciting subject starters- make your own snot
What you'll need:
Hot (not boiling) water
A dish or cup
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tsp Golden syrup
A teaspoon
Instructions:
Put 1 tsp gelatine into the dish.
Add 2 -3 tsp hot water.
Let it soften before stirring with a spoon.
Add 2 tsp of golden syrup.
Stir the mixture again with your spoon and look at the long strands of gunk that have formed. The mixture changes over time to all forms of snot.
As the mixture cools you can add more water, small amounts at a time to keep your snot runny.
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.

28. Walking Water Experiment
What you need
2 x paper towels
3 x glasses
blue food colouring
yellow food colouring
Activity
Place the three glasses side by side.  Starting on the left hand side, fill that glass with water. Squirt a generous amount of blue food colouring into the water.
Leave the next glass empty.
Now fill the glass on the far right hand side with water and add a generous amount of yellow food colouring.
Fold a paper towel in half lengthways and again so that it will fit into the neck of your glass easily.  Now place one end of the paper towel into the blue water and bend the paper towel over the edge of the glass so that the other end sits in the empty glass in the middle.
Do the same on the other side: place one end of a paper towel into the yellow water, and bend it over so that the other end rests in the empty glass in the middle.
Watch and wait.
In about 30 minutes or so, the water will start ‘walking’ up the paper towels and over into the middle glass.
After about two hours you will have a mix of the two colours in the centre glass.
Hints and tips:
Choose two primary colours that will mix to make a secondary colour.  E.g. red and yellow to make orange or blue and red to make purple.
Why is it so?
The process of water moving along a conduit (the paper towel in this case) is called: capillary action.  This is how flowers and plants move water from the ground beneath them, up through their stems and into their petals and leaves.
The paper towel is very ‘absorbent’: which means there are enough gaps in its fibre for the water to move through easily and quickly. The adhesive force between the water and the paper towel is stronger than the cohesive forces inside the water itself.

29. 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!

30. Mentos Geyser explanation
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.

31. Magnetism Supplies Getting Supplies: (From Amazon)
Rare earth magnets (very strong magnets) : £5.99 for 30
ef=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3TMQB JTRDZE70
Amazon search for: total Element 6.5 x 1.5 mm Neodymium Rare Earth Disc Magnets N48 (30 Pack)
Iron filings powder:
Ajax Scientific Iron Filing, 500g Bottle £4.99

32. Useful web links for Teachers
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
/ Physicists from Cambridge University’s podcasts and experiments
science-with-food.html A series of fun, food based experiments, with lesson plans.
lectures?gclid=CPvMtY7IpLcCFTIQtAodV3EAuQ Royal Institute Christmas lectures, a fantastic programme of lectures aimed at inspiring children.
The link to magnetic putty
slime/

33. Web Games
lash.shtml Fantastic, interactive resource, split by age range, then theme.
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

34. OK just one more…
Put a bottle of purifed water in the freezer for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Remove and carry carefully to classroom.
Hold up, let the children see. Tap the bottle sharply- (if you get it right) it will freeze before your eyes.
Amazing!