Science Fair

In the Sience Fair there were many projects done by classes.

We learned new things about sience that we never knew.

It was very interesting and entertaining to watch the experiments.

Room 8 1st class

First Class Room 8

Science: Investigating sounds

Introduction:

We tested a variety of materials to see which one was most effective in keeping sound out.

We tested sand and water by placing each material into two zip lock bags and placing them up to our ears as loud sounds played.

Result: The sand was much more effective for keeping sound out.

Investigation 1:

Using our hands and coats/scarves to keep sound out.

Materials: Sound source, coats/scarves, ourselves!

Procedure:

To begin this investigation we discussed the meaning of the word ‘sound’.

We then listened to a variety of sounds on the IWB.

Children then places their hands over their ears whilst the sounds played.

Then, they either used their scarves or put up their hoods in their coats to block out the sound.

We then discussed which worked better, our hands or fabric.

The result was varied as some fabrics are thicker than others. It was a 50/50 result.

Investigation 2:

What material keeps sound out the most effectively?

Materials:

Zip lock bags x4, sand, water, sound source, volunteers.

Procedure:

To begin this investigation, we discussed the previous sound related investigation. This time we were using two different materials, bags of sand and bags of water.

I played a sound from the sound source.

Each child got the opportunity to go up close to the sound source whilst holding bags of water up to their ears and then bags of sand up to their ears.

They took steps back from the sound source and counted the amount of steps that they took until they could no longer hear the sound.

The result was, when using the sand bags to conceal the sound the children had to take less steps away from the sound source.  When using the water bags to block out the sound, the children had to take many more steps away from the sound source as the water bags proved weaker than the sand for keeping the sound out.

Use of I.T and linkage to Maths:

We then wrote up our experiment and showcased it at the Science Fair.

There were many elements of maths in our experiment for example, we used non standard units (steps) to measure the distance at which the sound faded out when using the sand and water. There was a linkage to capacity as each bag needed to be filled with the same amount of sand and water  in order for the experiment to be fair.

I.T was used as we used our IWB as our sound source for the experiment.

We really enjoyed this experience and we now feel that we are better scientists as a result of all our hard work.

Forces in Room 2

As part of Science week in our school Room 2 decided to do an experiment based on the concept of forces. We spoke about forces at first, discussing what items we need to push to move and what items we need to pull to move.

Teacher then told us that we were going to test how far cars travel down certain types of ramps. We had smooth ramps, hard ramps, bumpy ramps, and even fluffy ramps. We all had to guess how far the car would travel on each ramp before we tested it out. We used straws to measure how far each car travelled. Here are some pictures of us carrying out the experiment in our classroom.

To make it a fair test we had to start the car from the same place in the ramp and all the ramps and to be placed at the same height.

                           

                          

                           

                            

We all got a turn to either put the car down the ramp or measure how far it travelled by placing straws along the track. We came to the conclusion that the ramps that were rough and bumpy made the cars slow down and therefore didn't travel as far a long the ground. The ramps that were smooth allowed the cars to travel father along the ground. 

We used the IWB to show how far all the cars travelled.

Room 9 explored with Forces and Catapults

First Class in Room 9 have been exploring forces the last while.

We discovered the difference between pushing and pulling and tested ourselves with quizzes on the interactive whiteboard. Try them by clicking the picture.

We explored the feeling of pushing and pulling using clay. We made big bad wolves by pulling out the nose, pushing in the neck, pulling out the ears and tails, pushing in the shape for the eyes and more!

We chatted about catapults. Some of us had a turn using a very simple catapult... a dustpan!

We talked about how catapults use force. A catapult is a lever and we apply force to it. When we release our force the load flies off!

We split up into groups of four. Each group got 2 large lollipop sticks and 8 smaller ones. We got three elastics also. Teacher told us to make a catapult.
Hmm... that was interesting! We came up with some good ideas but only one group made one that worked! They showed the rest of us how they made it!

We all made a catapult and checked for accuracy and distance.

We measured how far the load travelled using lollipop sticks.

We wrote about our investigation afterwards.

We showcased our knowledge at the science fair in February.