The Really Useful Book of Science Experiments

100 easy ideas for primary school teachers

Tracy-ann Aston

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781317666035
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The Really Useful Book of Science Experiments contains 100 simple-to-do science experiments that can be confidently carried out by any teacher in a primary school classroom with minimal (or no!) specialist equipment needed.

The experiments in this book are broken down into easily manageable sections including:

• It's alive: experiments that explore our living world, including the human body, plants, ecology and disease
• A material world: experiments that explore the materials that make up our world and their properties, including metals, acids and alkalis, water and elements
• Let's get physical: experiments that explore physics concepts and their applications in our world, including electricity, space, engineering and construction
• Something a bit different: experiments that explore interesting and unusual science areas, including forensic science, marine biology and volcanology.

Each experiment is accompanied by a 'subject knowledge guide', filling you in on the key science concepts behind the experiment. There are also suggestions for how to adapt each experiment to increase or decrease the challenge.

The text does not assume a scientific background, making it incredibly accessible, and links to the new National Curriculum programme of study allow easy connections to be made to relevant learning goals. This book is an essential text for any primary school teacher, training teacher or classroom assistant looking to bring the exciting world of science alive in the classroom.

Experiment 1
Reaction times

Learning Objectives:

Measuring our reaction times!

Introduction:

The children investigate their reaction times by catching a ruler as another person drops it. The distance at which it is caught can then be converted into a ‘reaction time’.

Useful Prior Work:

The children do not need to have any particular prior knowledge before completing this investigation.

Background Science:

A reaction time is how long an organism takes to respond to a particular stimulus. This is made up of both ‘thinking time’ (how long it takes your brain to realise that something has happened that it needs to respond to) and the speed of the nervous system in responding to the stimulus. In humans, the nervous system is made up of the brain and neurones (nerve cells). Nervous impulses travel very fast around the body, meaning that we can react to stimuli quickly. This is important for survival, for example moving your hand away when you touch something hot. However your body does not react instantly to stimuli. There is usually some delay between the stimulus and your body’s reaction. This delay is the reaction time. Certain factors can increase or decrease your reaction times. Alcohol, for instance, is a depressant drug that slows down your nervous system, therefore increasing your reaction times. Certain diseases of the nervous system such as multiple sclerosis can also increase reaction times.

National Curriculum Links:

• Year 3 programme of study: Animals, including humans
  • – Identify that humans and some other animals have skele - tons and muscles for support, protection and movement.

Materials Needed:

• Rulers: 30cm or metre rulers

Safety And Technical Notes:

• Use smaller rulers, for example 30cm long, if doing this investigation with younger children. Older children could use metre rulers.
• It is worth demonstrating the technique of dropping and catching the ruler with the children. The child dropping the ruler should not tell the child catching the ruler when they will drop it. The children should try to catch the ruler using just their dominant hand.

Method:

To Be Done In Advance By The Teacher:

Have the ‘calculating your reaction time table’ prepared, either on a worksheet or on a whiteboard.

Children:

1. Stand facing each other.
2. Have your partner hold the ruler out at arm’s length with the number ‘0’ at the bottom end of the ruler.
3. Hold your arm out so that your dominant hand is just below the ruler (but not touching the ruler!)
4. Have your partner let go of the ruler when they are ready. Try to catch it as quickly as you can.
5. When you have caught the ruler, write down the number on the ruler closest to your thumb.
6. Repeat the experiment five times before swapping roles with your partner.

Data Collection Ideas:

	[Name]		[Name]
	Length (cm)	Time (s)	Length (cm)	Time (s)
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Trial 5
Average

Differentiation:

• Decrease the challenge: The children can be helped when reading off where they have caught the ruler.
• Increase the challenge: The children could repeat the investigation with their non-dominant hand and compare the results.

Useful Questions To Ask The Children:

• Do you think there is anything we could do to improve our reaction times?
• Can you think of anything that might slow down our reaction times?
• What jobs need people to have fast reaction times?

Further Work:

The investigation could be repeated regularly over a few weeks to see if the children’s reaction times improve. This could be related to athletes who need to improve their reaction times – for example, runners who need to start as soon as the starting pistol is fired. They usually achieve this by regular practice in order to improve their reaction times.

Experiment 2
Decomposing

Learning Objectives:

Investigating which materials will decompose and how they decompose.

Introduction:

Children investigate which materials decompose and the rate of decay by burying different materials in the ground. The materials will be observed over a period of time to see the changes that occur.

Useful Prior Work:

The children should know what the word ‘decay’ o...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• How to use this book
• 1 Reaction times: Measuring our reaction times!
• 2 Decomposing: Investigating which materials decompose
• 3 Keeping warm: Which materials are best at keeping us warm?
• 4 Heartbeats: How does our heart rate change when we exercise?
• 5 Big feet, big hands? The relationship between different parts of our body
• 6 Taste vs. smell: Using just our sense of taste
• 7 Catch the ball! The effects of having just one eye instead of two!
• 8 How sensitive are you? How sensitive is our skin to touch?
• 9 Time to get sweaty: Investigating how sweat helps us to stay cool
• 10 Food testing: Which foods contain starch and fats?
• 11 All about yeast: What temperature of water does yeast prefer?
• 12 What do plants need to grow? Investigating what plants need in order to grow healthily
• 13 What’s growing where? The plants growing round our school
• 14 Brushing our teeth: What works best?
• 15 Design a seed! Understanding seed dispersal
• 16 Find the stomata: Observing the stomata on leaves
• 17 Chewing food: What effect does it have?
• 18 Green worms! Investigating camouflage
• 19 How varied are we? Investigating variation in our class
• 20 Colourful carnations: Investigating how water travels in plants
• 21 Moving water: How does water ‘move’ in and out of vegetables?
• 22 Bird beaks: Investigating how birds’ beaks are adapted to eat their food
• 23 Mouldy bread! What are the best conditions for mould to grow?
• 24 Germinating seeds: Which surface is best?
• 25 Fertilisers: The effects of fertilisers on plants
• 26 Making an indicator: Using red cabbage to make an indicator!
• 27 M&M chromatography: Which dyes are used to colour M&Ms?
• 28 Time to separate! How to separate different mixtures
• 29 Dissolving sugars: Which dissolves fastest?
• 30 Find the solvent! The right solvent for the right solute
• 31 Let’s get saturated! Investigating the saturation point of water
• 32 Cleaning water: Can we clean dirty water?
• 33 Diffusion rates: Investigating the diffusion rate of water
• 34 The best straw: Investigating capillary action
• 35 Let’s make an emulsion: Making our own emulsion
• 36 Salty water: Can we make objects float?
• 37 Observing melting: How do different substances melt?
• 38 Observing burning: Investigating what happens when different substances burn
• 39 A rusty problem: What are the conditions needed for rusting to happen?
• 40 Conductor or insulator? Testing electrical conductivity
• 41 The strongest thread: Investigating the strength of different fibres
• 42 Design a bag: What’s the best material?
• 43 Keep it dry! Investigating whether materials are waterproof
• 44 Drying the washing: What conditions are best?
• 45 Comparing soils: Investigating the characterstics of different soil samples
• 46 Testing rocks: Similarities and differences
• 47 Acid rain! Investigating the effect of acid rain
• 48 Ice cube challenge: Exploring melting
• 49 Where did the water go? Investigating evaporation
• 50 Make a fossil: How are organisms preserved?
• 51 How strong is your magnet? Investigating the strength of different magnets
• 52 Making an electromagnet: Making a simple electromagnet and investigating its strength
• 53 Let’s make a switch: Investigating the best design for a switch
• 54 Fruit circuits! Can we use fruits as batteries?
• 55 Brighter bulbs: Investigating bulbs in circuits
• 56 Floating and sinking: Which objects float and which sink?
• 57 Density, density: Investigating layers of liquids
• 58 Friction: Investigating how far a car travels along different surfaces
• 59 How much force? Lifting and moving different objects
• 60 Bouncy balls! Investigating how well different balls bounce
• 61 Speedy cars: Factors that affect the speed of a car
• 62 Let’s make a helicopter: Investigating gravity
• 63 Let’s make a parachute: Investigating friction
• 64 Taking the heat: Which material is best at conducting heat?
• 65 Swinging time! Investigating the swing of a pendulum
• 66 Stretching springs: Exploring the effect of weight on a spring
• 67 Making a rainbow: The colours of the spectrum
• 68 Colourful light: Using coloured filters
• 69 Designing curtains: Investigating the best materials for blocking out light
• 70 Mirror, mirror on the wall: How is light reflected?
• 71 In the shadows: Investigating changing the size of a shadow
• 72 Musical water: Making music with bottles of water
• 73 Making an ear trumpet: What’s the best design?
• 74 Soundproofing: Which materials soundproof best?
• 75 Build a steady hand game: Investigating circuits
• 76 Testing urine! Analysing (fake!) urine for glucose and protein
• 77 Volcanic eruption! Creating a volcano using baking soda and vinegar
• 78 Which is the best washing-up liquid? Investigating detergents
• 79 Making a hovercraft: Testing forces
• 80 Conker science: Investigating how to strengthen conkers
• 81 Protect an egg! Investigating forces and properties of materials
• 82 CSI: Crime scene investigation: Learning how to make fingerprints
• 83 Measuring photosynthesis: Observing pondweed
• 84 Fussy woodlice: Investigating habitats
• 85 Gummy bear science: Examining different solutions
• 86 Making waves: Making a beach and seeing how waves are formed
• 87 Call the surgeon! Performing a simple heart dissection
• 88 Making a bouncy ball: Investigating properties of different materials
• 89 Make a mini-rocket: Designing and making a rocket that takes off!
• 90 Extracting DNA: Exploring evolution
• 91 Making lemonade: Investigating substances that dissolve in water
• 92 Making a lava lamp: Investigating densities
• 93 Making slime: Non-Newtonian fluids
• 94 Extracting ‘plastic’ from milk: Investigating polymers
• 95 Cleaning pennies: Can we clean dirty pennies with vinegar and salt?
• 96 Colourful milk: Investigating surface tension
• 97 Homemade ice cream: Making ice cream without a freezer!
• 98 Eating iron for breakfast! Investigating which cereals contain iron
• 99 Compost in a cup: Investigating how plants grow
• 100 Growing crystals: Using Epsom salts to make our own crystals
• Appendix 1: National Curriculum grid: How the Really Useful Science Experiments link to the 2014 National Curriculum
• Appendix 2: Circuit symbols
• Index