1. Planet Picks - New Quiz!
Hey! Wimbledon has started and we’ve got a great new quiz for you:
The Tennis Teaser
There’s more science to tennis than meets the eagle-eye. Ten tennis testers, then there’s a Wimbledon Beach Towel and beach tennis set to be won if you score straight sets. Are you game?
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2. Battle for Planet Science
Episode 6 - Emergency in the Engineering Sector
The engineers use science, maths and technology to solve problems and create new products and services for the benefit of Planet Science. They've used their creativity and logic to invent new robots, but need your help programming them. Next week Superheroes to the Rescue and Preparing for Battle...
Play Battle for Planet Science right here
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3. Gear Giveaway - You’ve got to be in it to win it...
The BBC Walking With Dinosaurs Exhibition has arrived at Thinktank in Birmingham.
Get up close to some monsters of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous period in this amazing exhibition, not to be missed!
For more details visit www.thinktank.ac
Lucky you! Those nice bods at Thinktank have given us a family pass to give away. Don’t be a diplodocus - enter the draw asap!
If you’d like to win it then send us an email with your name and address, and the words
‘THINK DINOSAUR’ in the subject line, to randomised.news@nesta.org.uk
The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 1 July.
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4. Over 2U! - - Science experiments for you to try at home...
Tennis Ball Popper
New balls please! We’ve just used one of them in our activity!
May need adult supervision
You will need
· A tennis ball
· A sharp pair of scissors
· A smaller bouncy ball or table tennis ball
What to do
1. Pierce the tennis ball in the middle with the scissors and cut the tennis ball in half. (Might need an adult to help with this)
2. Trim the edges of one of the halves so you are left with just slightly less than a hemisphere.
3. Using your thumbs, push the tennis ball hemisphere inside out.
4. Once it is inside out, put it on a table yellow fuzzy side up. Put the smaller ball on top, stand back and wait...
What's happening?
The tennis ball is an elastic object. When you play tennis the ball is momentarily squashed when it hits the tennis racket or the ground. A combination of the air inside the tennis ball and the elasticity of the ball itself allows the tennis ball to bounce away from the racket or up from the ground.
In this experiment, turning the tennis ball hemisphere inside out takes work: energy that you are putting in. This energy is stored as potential energy in the inside out tennis ball, until, suddenly, it flips back the correct way and the potential energy is released as kinetic energy, shooting the smaller ball into the air.
Special Safety advice
Don't use a hard ball for the smaller ball as it can be thrown quite far, quite fast. And don't stand directly over it or you might be hit in the face.
This activity came from Tennis Ball Popper activity on the Planet SciCast site. Hey - have you sent your film in yet? Go on, give it a go!
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5. Winners - Has your name been picked out of the bag?
Last time we were offering a How to Fossilise Your Hamster book. The lucky winner is Luke Emmerson of Scarborough. Well done Luke, looks like you might be pretty busy with all these experiment ideas! P.S. Luke’s hamster - watch out Hammy! Do NOT - we repeat do NOT - stay too long in one spot.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW
You've been Randomised!
Send any questions, comments, jokes or experiment ideas to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk
Bye for now!
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