On Monday 16th December, Mrs Schofield from Droylsden Academy came into school to work with Year 5 and 6.  She had 6 experiments set up for the children to rotate around and experience.

Refraction of an object in oil

From the outside, it looked like the beaker was just filled with oil but when reaching in, a smaller beaker could be found!  It could not be seen due to refraction.

Flame thrower orange

Pupils had to heat the orange peel over the candle for a few seconds and then squeeze it over the flame.  Bursts of flame shot from the candle.  This is due to the peel containing an oil called D-Limonene, which is very flammable.

Drops of water on a coin

Children used a pipet to drop water onto the surface of a coin.  They had to see how many droplets would form a dome before gravity overcame surface tension and made the water spill over the side.

Magnets and magnetic fields

Pupils worked with magnets and iron filings to see the effects.

Water bead refraction

The children looked inside a beaker filled with water beads to see if anything else was present.  They could not see anything.  When reaching in, they discovered many paper clips between the water beads.  Due to the refraction of light, these couldn't be seen when looking into the beaker.

How a compass responds to a magnet

Children had to move a magnet around a compass to see the effect it had.