|
 |
 |
||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
01. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: FEEL THE FORCE!
This week another gem from the Little Book of Experiments, which demonstrates that candles need oxygen to burn, and that hot air expands... The experiment is suitable for kids from 6 - 14, but as there are matches and a naked flame involved please make sure that young children are supervised by an adult at all times. You will need: * A nightlight * A small jar with diameter larger than nightlight * A shallow dish * Matches * A jug of water What to do: Put your nightlight in the centre of the shallow dish and light it. Carefully, pour some water into the dish until the nightlight is floating in the water. Quickly, turn the jar upside down over the candle and let it rest on the bottom of the bowl. What happens? Lift up the jar, dry it out, tip out any water from the nightlight and dry that as well. Put the nightlight back in the dish and try again. This time, look out for any bubbles coming out from underneath the jar. Dry out everything and try again. This time, do you see any condensation forming on the sides of the jar? See if you can write a list of everything that happens, in the right order, and work out why it happens. This is what we can see each time we do this experiment, plus a little explanation of what is going on: 1. Air bubbles escape from under the glass jar. This is because the candle is heating up the air above it, so it is expanding. There isn't enough space inside the jar for the expanded air and some escapes into the water. 2. Some condensation may form on the side of the jar. The warm air inside the jar contains water vapour, and the cool side of the jar is a good place for this water vapour to condense. 3. The candle goes out when there isn't enough oxygen for it to burn any more. 4. The water level rises in the jar. When the candle stops burning, the air inside the jar cools down. The cold air inside the jar isn't pushing as hard on the water below it (it exerts less pressure). So the water level rises up until the pressure balances out again. You could try the experiment with different shapes and sizes of jar, to see if these affect the length of time the candle takes to go out, and how far up the water rises. Want more activities? Check out the whole lot at: http://www.planet-science.com/experiment.  |
|||||
|
|||||
| 02. UPD8 - TOPICAL SCIENCE RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS The Association for Science Education would like all science teachers to know about their 'Upd8' service - and to sign up if you'd like to receive it. Upd8 (pronounced 'update') is a weekly service which has been jointly created by the ASE and the Centre for Science Education, to provide teachers with science-related activities that are bang up to date, KS3 Strategy-friendly, and specially devised to mesh in with events that are dominating the popular news. In August for example, a data analysis activity was on offer which enabled students to analyse the evidence and work out for themselves whether August really was, as the headlines claimed, the hottest/driest/sunniest August ever. Another resource looked at the biology and ethical issues surrounding conjoined twins and decisions to attempt to separate them. If you're a teacher and this sounds like something that would be useful to you, you can sign up online at http://www.ase.org.uk (scroll right down - it's on the bottom lefthandside of the page) or email your name to upd8@ase.org.uk. You can even subscribe and receive the alerts by text message - send a text with your name to 07764 793313 and the ASE will do the rest. |
|||||
|
|||||
| 03. GCSE CONFERENCE - WESSEX, OCTOBER 22ND - FREEBIES AVAILABLE! And... more for teachers. The Institute of Biology, Wessex Branch, has been in touch to alert you to its forthcoming 'Biology Focus' conference for GCSE science students, which takes place on Wednesday 22nd October 2003. The venue is Ferneham Hall in Fareham, and the organisers have assembled a starry line-up of speakers and topics for the day which is designed to enthrall, amuse and inform students of all sorts, shapes and levels of interest in biology! The speakers include Professor Steve Jones of UCL talking about 'Nature and Nurture', and TV presenter Chris Packham explaining why science is sexy-not-stuffy. There will also be several exhibitions for students to peruse during break and lunchtime, altogether a packed day of learning about the wide world of biology... The registration fee is £4.00 per person BUT one lucky teacher can six free passes straightaway - if you're quick! Fancy them? Then send an email asap to Dr Linda Garratt on lgarratt@stvincent.ac.uk and tell her you're interested. First out the hat will win. |
|||||
|
|||||
| 04. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY Blood transfusions are commonplace nowadays and save lives by the minute... Take a guess when the first transfusion was attempted? It's way earlier than you might imagine. And did you know that soon they may not even be necessary, due to developments in technology? Read all about the history - and future - of blood transfusion, and check out the links for extra information at: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/onthisdayinscience/0903/2509.html (Specially recommended is the game on the Nobel E-museum site - the last address in the list given - in which you have to give all the patients the correct blood donation or it all goes horribly wrong... Have fun!) |
|||||
|
|||||
| 05. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK And talking of great science websites, if you've not discovered the EXPLORE SCIENCE site, it's time you did. It's full of great demos and explanations - so great in fact that they've decided to start charging a fee to use it later in the year, so hurry hurry hurry to have a look before that happens! As you can see, there's a slightly scary (?!) looking list down the righthandside, but if you scroll down, underneath 'Gizmos by Category' you'll find some friendlier-looking titles like 'Optics' and 'Life Sciences'. If you click on those, you'll find all the favourite Planet Science multimedia activities, like the fabulous 'create your own 6-sided snowflake' (for kids and immature adults of all ages!), the additive and subtracktive colour demos and '2D collisions' - which is basically a bit like playing snooker under the ideal control conditions but will also teach you about momentum and angles through practical trial and error. And there are LOADS of other fully-interactive demos, all beautifully presented too - in fact it's hardly surprising they're going to start charging for all that effort. The url is: http://www.explorescience.com. NB you will need Shockload to use the activities, but you can download this free via the Explorescience site when you need to. Meanwhile, 'wicked screensaver' anyone? If that phrase is all too annoyingly familiar to you, commiserations, you're probably one of the millions who were hit by a computer virus over the summer. They've been rampant of late, and if you'd like to learn more about what they are and how they %$£!&^! well operate, the BBC's Hot Topics site has a special feature all about them. It's from last year, so doesn't have specific information about the recent baddies, but has lots of general information and can be viewed at: www.bbc.co.uk/go/science/news3/-/science/hottopics/computerviruses/ |
|||||
|
|||||
| 06. TECHNIQUEST WINNERS Last week's winners of the free passes to Techniquest are as follows: Jane Morse of Marden in Hereford, Andy Rees of Shotton in Deeside, S. Driver of Pershore in Worcestershire, Amy Compton of Dene Magna School, Mitcheldean in Gloucestershire and Sue Howarth of the Royal High School in Bath. Strangely there were no winners actually living in Wales, but the load of entries from England just proves that Techniquest is indeed an international visitor spot... Look out for another hot freebie-giveaway next week. |
|||||
|
|||||
| 07. JOKE OF THE WEEK Thank heavens all those chickens have crossed the road now and gone away. A couple of non-RSPCA-friendly hedgehog jokes have rolled in, however, thanks to Mary Blanchard. Here they are: Why did the hedgehog cross the road? To see his flat-mate. Why couldn't the hedgehog wash his hair? Because he'd left his head and shoulders on the road. AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Quick quick - here's a nice non-yucky joke to finish on: A polar bear goes into a bar and asks for a pint of............................................beer. And the barman says: "certainly, but why the big pause?" Thank you Simon Cochrane! (Got any more?) That's all for this week, but the waiter will be back next week to serve up another mouthwatering feast of science en croute. If you have any contributions, please send them through to Anne McNaught at anne@planet-science.com. Have a great week! |
|||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
