 |
 |
|
 |
1. Get Outside! Materials
|
 |
|
 This is a good ‘Get Outside!’ for the up coming winter months because you could have just as much fun with it if you Stay Inside! It tackles the world of, well, you know, stuff. In particular the stuff you make stuff out of. It also taps into that most universal of all childhood impulses – to stuff ‘stuff’ in your pockets and collect it. So for all you parents and teachers of the young, we are very proud to present the beautiful and informative ‘Get Outside! Materials’. You get to go diamond hunting, see what happens when you raise and lower the temperature of water, run around collecting stuff, tap rubber, pop into space for a bit and generally explore the world of materials. We’ve even got labels you can print up, so start saving up those pickled onion jars …
Now, you’d think the lavishly illustrated interactive experience would be fun enough, but wait…
WE HAVE PURCHASED SOME AEROGEL as a prize for a collector’s cabinet competition. Look at the ‘Get Outside! Materials’ and find out just how very ultra-cool this stuff is. 99.8% air – whoa! Tie that baby down!
We have secured an expensive little chunk to send as a prize, to enter (and you have about five weeks) please send a photo of your materials collection cabinet, shelf, box or other to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with COLLECTOR’S CABINET in the subject line. ‘Get Outside!’ artist Pia Östlund and her Materials sidekick science teacher and writer Ian Francis will judge the winner. Your deadline is the end of November.
(Hint: a picture of your misused spare room entitled ‘collection of stuff’ will not win.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. SciCast Tip of the Week
 Apology number one coming up – we featured the rather comprehensive and brilliant feature from Jonathan Sanderson about how to use music with your film but (sin of sins) didn’t make the link to it. Durr! (as Jonathan himself rightly said.) Here is the link now, very sorry!
This week Jonathan has rounded up all you would wish to know about getting hold of a camera for SciCast purposes. It need not be expensive, it need not even be a camera apparently, so there is much here to get you thinking conventionally and unconventionally about what might work for your film.
There’s one SciCast Seminar left – in Southampton on the 31st October – if you would like to come please write to scicast@nesta.org.uk with Southampton in the subject line. It’s not too late and the seminars are great fun, practical and free for you.
|
|
<<< Back to Top |
|
|
3. Agri-Culture – Baaa! – we got the wrong picture
|
|
|
Apologies to both Guy Smith and also Tom Keogh who the picture was of, who wanted to be hooked up with anyone else attempting to make bio-fuel for the school mini bus out of school dinner chip fat. Planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with Chip Fat School Fuel in the subject line if you would like to get in touch with Tom).
Just for the record this (top-right) is Guy Smith and this (top-left) is a sheep and you can read the unexpectedly hectic annual schedule of a sheep here.
Apposite Material 1: Worsted
Spun from longer wool fibres - longer than three inches in length , spun from fibres of fine fibres are washed, scoured, carded, combed and drawn.
In short, woollens are shaggy and worsteds are smooth. Source:www.kswpa.com
|
|
|
|
|
4. Activity of the Week: Water Droplets
|
|
|
 There’s something very mesmerising about this demo. You might have noticed the phenomenon already on your own hotplates at home, but here is it in “glorious Technicolor”.
What you need
- A hotplate
- Beakers of water, both clear and coloured (with a few drops of food colouring)
- Droppers
What you do
- Turn the temperature up on the hotplate so that it sits at about 100C.
- Drop some water onto the hot plate and watch it boil away.
- Turn the hotplate up to a temperature in excess of about 160C.
- Drop a few drops of coloured water onto the very hot surface and watch them skitter around.
What's going on?
This is an example of what is called the Leidenfrost effect.
A drop of water on a hot plate at 100C flattens into a splat as the water boils away.
When the hot plate is much hotter the first part of the water droplet begins to evaporate before the droplet starts to deform. This water vapour cushions the rest of the droplet and insulates it from the hotplate. The result is a drop of liquid sitting on the hotplate in much the same way as the drop would sit on a cool table. The layer of insulating vapour makes the droplet float around on the hotplate like a hovercraft.
At much lower temperatures you can see the same effect with liquid nitrogen dropped on a table - the drops move in the same way.
Special Safety advice
Protect eyes and hands from the boiling drops of water and be aware that the hotplate needs to be very hot in this experiment.
You can see this demonstration on Planet SciCast.
Apposite Material 2: Breathable Membranes
All breathable microporous membranes comprise an extremely thin man-made film whose physical structure contains microscopic pores that are large enough for water vapour (perspiration) to pass through but small enough not to let water droplets through. Source: www.fieldandtrek.com |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The Scrabilicious Quiz
L,Y,M,P,I,C,O oooh if only lympico was a word! Learn new and useful scrabble words in our quiz for Ctobero and if you get all the questions right you could win a fantastic Scrabble Deluxe complete with rotating base and velvet tile bag. Nice.
Ready, steady... grabble!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Make Your Mark in Fashion!
Remember Make Your Mark with a Tenner? Well this is the next thing from the same organisation, a national competition encouraging networks of young people to create, make and sell a range of sustainable fashion for an existing label. They’d like every young person in the UK to be given the opportunity to ‘opt in’ should they have an idea they’d like to make happen. Sounds fabulous darling!
www.makeyourmarkinfashion.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rolls-Royce Science Prize
The 2007–08 Rolls-Royce Science Prize is now open for entry by all teachers of science. In its fourth year, the Science Prize rewards innovation in teaching in recognition of the growing need to excite and inspire children about science. A prize fund of £120,000 is awarded every year to help selected schools develop their ideas for improving science learning in their schools.
Entering is simple, register and submit any science-teaching proposal that addresses a need in your school or college by 29th February 2008.
Look at previously submitted projects.
For more information call the Science Prize helpline on 0800 028 0759 or email Vaughan.Lewis@Rolls-Royce.com .
|
|
|
|
|
|
Because our energy future is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK today The Royal Academy of Engineering, the Energy Institute and CREATE are aiming these workshops at science, technology, engineering, maths and careers teachers. They are to help you get young people to engage with energy issues and help them find out about potential careers in the industry.
They are all day workshops and there are 10 dates and venues all around the UK starting on the 16th of November ‘til 30th April 2008.
For the full info and contact details go to the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Channel 4 and Cancer Research are looking for young people to make films about why smoking is a really bad idea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6. Mouses at the Ready
|
|
|
We thought this week we’d get something rather serious and educational but that seemed like a really bad idea when we found Mr Bonyhead! Although our Halloween special was last week Mr Bonyhead is a spooky electronic skull, who keeps his spare bones in his head, a bit like the newsletter team did last week (sorry again)…for Halloween fun, try not to disturb Mr Bonyhead when you remove those bones!
If you’d like to win him then email us with your name and address, and the words BONE ZONE in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.
The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 31st October.
|
|
|
|
|
7. Stump the Scientist
|
|
|
 Last week Craig Brown of Chew Valley School, Somerset asked:
“This week, we were doing the reactions of carbonates with acid with my Year 9 class. We 'poured' the gas into limewater as I explained that carbon dioxide was denser than air. Then the question came - if carbon dioxide falls downwards, how can it be gathering in the outer atmosphere and be responsible for global warming? I was stumped - any help?”
Indeed Craig – there is help…from Dr Roy Lowry MRSC CChem, who replied:
“Ah, yes, the old “why do heavy gases end up at the top of the atmosphere” question . . . . .
Pure carbon dioxide is much more dense than the mixture know as air, which is why you can pour it. However, all gases are made of individual molecules which dash about and hence the carbon dioxide will become mixed up with the air. Now we have air which contains a little bit more carbon dioxide than it used to and hence its density is virtually the same as normal air. All it needs is a little heating from the sun, or a gentle breeze and it will soon waft up towards the sky.
Of course, in time all the extra CO2 mixes with all the air and we end up with the entire atmosphere being CO2 rich. Which is the real problem because there isn’t a single layer that is responsible for global warming, but the entire atmosphere! This is different to the ozone problem where it is a particular layer that’s needed.”
Thanks Roy, and another answer from Simon Lampitt:
“Quite right, Carbon dioxide does contribute to global greenhouse effect. However, it does not collect in the outer atmosphere. Quite right it is one of the denser gases in the air. Global warming is caused by the gas reflecting and absorbing radiation from the Earth. Just like a green house in Summer, the re-radiated energy cannot escape from the Earth thus increase in temperature. There is some Carbon dioxide in the upper atmosphere, but this is a very small amount, this is caused by the turbulence of the atmosphere and the convection currents.
The point is that even water vapour is a greenhouse gas, all gases in the atmosphere contribute to the global warming effect.”
Not stumped then – excellent.
The thorny question of icing sugar still stands though, one more week and we are going to have to consider scientists stumped! Here’s the question again from John Mapperly:
“We have just been investigating dissolving and want to know what’s happening with icing sugar – soluble, insoluble or both!!!”
Any answers?
And here’s another question from Jenny in Herts:
“We have been learning about the circulation system with my Year 5 class. On discussing the components of blood, one lad observed that blood looked blue inside his body (seen at his wrist). On explaining that blood looks so red when it is outside the body as the red blood cells have absorbed oxygen from the air, he asked whether, if you were an astronaut and cut yourself in outer space would your blood still look bright red as there was no oxygen in the atmosphere to absorb or would it be more blue?
I said I would find out!!
Can you help?”
There may a range of issues for discussion there: if you can help or have a burning question of your own then send us an email with STUMP THE SCIENTIST in the subject line to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk
|
|
|
|
|
8. Recommended websites of the week – Xperimania!
|
|
|
 Here’s a brand new hot out of the moulding machine website, all about Materials for students aged 10 and up. Perfect if you like polymers as it’s from EU Schoolnet in collaboration with the European petrochemicals industry.
It’s called "Xperimania", and it’s all about the science behind man-made materials, with a particularly practical slant. It has a bunch of practical activities to try, but also invites you to explore the man-made materials time line which is quite cute, and come up with your own practicals then share them with the rest of Europe.
They’ve also got webchats with European scientists who are actually working at the forefront of the petrochemicals industry; and international competitions.
They claim it’s great for the new GCSE chemistry syllabus, so if you want to perk up your petrochemical pedagogical practices, peruse periodically.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rosettes and a light spraying of champagne for the winners of two family tickets for THINK TANK: Tina Hancocks of Kidderminster and Julie Jerrard-Dinn of Warwickshire.
Apposite Material 3: Horsehair
Refers to hair taken from the mane or tail of horses. It has various uses including brushes and the bows of musical instruments. The word is also used to refer to haircloth, a hard-wearing fabric made from horsehair. Also made into jewellery and upholstery stuffing. Source: Wikipedia and other websites.
|
|
|
|
|
|
10. Joke of the week
|
|
|
Apposite Material 4: Comedy Material
This week’s Joke comes from Anne McNaught who used to be the Planet Science Newsletter Editor (so knows a thing or two about our general joke standard…) Thanks!
What do you get if you cross an insomniac, an agnostic and a dyslexic?
Someone who stays up all night wondering if there really is a dog….
|
|
|
|
|
