This week in Science Club we had a ’squeaky pop’ contest where the pupils carried out a chemical reaction that produced hydrogen gas.  They then collected the hydrogen gas and tested it with a lit splint to see who had made the ‘best’ hydrogen.

Congratulation to Jonathan Smyth who’s hydrogen gave the most impressive squeaky pop!

Next week will be the last week for Science Club this year - everyone welcome in Sc3 next week!!

This week Science Club moved to Miss Fairley’s room to carry out a chemical reaction that could be eaten.  We mixed sugar and syrup together and watched as the gas produced during the reaction made delicious honeycomb.

The honeycomb is easy to make - but be careful with the hot sugar, please ask an adult to help you.

Recipe: 

You’ll need:

• 100 g sugar
• 2 tablespoons of syrup
• Large, heavy based saucepan
• 1 heaped teaspoon of Bicarbonate of soda
• Tin lined with aluminium foil (to save on washing up!)

N.B. There are LOTS of different recipes for making honeycomb toffee but this is one of the simplest.

What to do:

• Mix the sugar and syrup together with a wooden spoon in the saucepan. Place on the stove on low heat until the sugar is melted i.e. if you drag a wooden spoon over the saucepan base it no longer feels ‘gritty’ - this may take 10-15 minutes.
• Swirl the bubbling contents of the pan around from time to time but constant stirring isn’t necessary. Once the sugar is all melted, take the pan off the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda, stir to mix and watch the mixture froth up.
• Pour the mixture into a tin lined with foil and then put the saucepan IMMEDIATELY into soak (take care, saucepan is hot). Leave toffee to cool then break into chunks and enjoy!

What happens:

The bicarbonate of soda breaks down with heat to release carbon dioxide gas. The gas causes the toffee mixture to froth and the gas becomes trapped in the sugar/syrup mixture.

this recipe comes from:

 http://www.yummyscience.co.uk/ys_pages/ys_toffee.html

Today at Science Club Year 8 pupils made aerodynamic rockets from film canisters.  They added a nose cone and some wings to try and help the rockets reach as high as possible.

They then added an effervescent vitamin C tablet, put the lid on the canister and waited….

Which one will be the first to launch??

Some were more successful than others.  If you want to have a go at home, use the template below to make wings and a nose cone.

There will be no Science Club next week because of school exams.  Next Science Club will be on Monday 14th December in Sc3 - see you there!

Over 30 year 8 pupils came today to discover a whole new thing to do with PVA glue

We’re not sure who had the most fun changing the PVA glue into slime and bouncey balls - the pupils or the teachers!!!

Maybe Mr Mathison should have asked Matthew for some pointers about where to stand when launching a water rocket.

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What makes a ball bounce?  This is the question Year 8’s were asking this week.  It was another fun and ‘messy’ week at Science Club where they got to make their very own bouncy ball.  Some were definately more successful than others.

The Science behind bouncy balls.

The ones we made turned out just as good as the real thing - and that’s what we’re telling everyone!!!

success!!

This week in Science Club we looked at reaction times and tried to dart some sheep!!! (not real sheep of course).

Got it!!!!

Try it yourself on:

www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf

Congratulations to the winners:

Curtis Matthews 8STR and Jonathan Smyth 8SM

All Year 8 pupils welcome next Monday in Sc7 where we will be looking at the Science behind rockets!!!

The Year 8 Science Club got off to a great start this year with pupils coming to have fun and try some great science experiments that wouldn’t normally be done in class.

For the first week we got to play with slime and discover the properties of suspensions - Mr Mathison was smart to stay behind the camera and away from the mess.

Science club meets every Monday during Junior Lunch

Monday Week A - Sc7

Monday Week B - Sc3

All year 8 pupils are very welcome to come and join the fun and excitement.

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Congratulations to Fintan Gargan 8MJR, who designed the best Mars Lander for the Year 8 Science Club Easter Competition.  His design was able to successfully carry a raw egg from the top of the balcony to the ground without breaking.

The winning design

This challenge was the finale to a fun year of Science club, with many Year 8 pupils coming along and having lots of various activities and experiments to be carried out.  A big thank you goes to Mr McCann (Science department) for all his help this year. 

Year 8 pupils with the winning Mars Lander

The Science Club got off to a great start this year, with over 20 Year 8 pupils attending. We have looked at how quick our reactions are and last time we had fun with ‘slime’.

Science Club is at lunchtime on Monday Week A and all Year 8 are welcome, grab a quick lunch and make your way down to Sc7 for 12.55 for experiments and fun.

This week the pupils have been challenged by building ‘marble runs’ with a limited amount of materials. As the pictures show it is not as easy as first thought!

First Stage of buidling

Tricky???