Year 5's Science Day

 As part of Science Day, Year 5 took part in experiments all day following the whole school focus on ‘time’.

In Miss Young’s activity, the children were investigating the time it took for different materials to melt.  The children made predictions and set about testing their thoughts by using warm water, boiling water and heat from candles. The children concluded that materials change (melt) at different melting points.  The children tested to see if the material was reversible by placing them over ice to see if the material could return to its former state.

In Mrs Sharma’s activity, the children were investigating the time it took for different liquids to travel down a ramp. The children enjoyed this activity and their predictions were quite accurate.  Within this activity, the children learned a new word ‘viscous’ which means having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid.

In Mrs Grant’s group, the children were given a challenge instead of an experiment. They were given some flowers, a cup, a plate of water, a straw and a candle. Their task was to put the water into the cup without spilling any on the table. Many ideas were tried as some groups tried siphoning water from the plate in the cup. However, one group succeeded at the challenge. They put the candle into the plate of water and lit the candle. When it was lit, the children placed the cup over the flame and waited. As the candle went out, the water was sucked into the bottom of the cup, leaving none of it spilt on the table. This was because of atmospheric pressure, the candle heats the air and the air expands. Some of this expanding air escapes the container and leaves through the water making bubbles. After the fire goes out due to the lack of oxygen in the cup, the air cools and the volume decreases causing the water to rise in the container.