The Really Useful Book of Science Experiments
100 easy ideas for primary school teachers
- 210 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
The Really Useful Book of Science Experiments
100 easy ideas for primary school teachers
About This Book
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.
Frequently asked questions
Information
Experiment 1
Reaction times
Learning Objectives:
Introduction:
Useful Prior Work:
Background Science:
National Curriculum Links:
- Year 3 programme of study: Animals, including humans
- â 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:
Children:
- Stand facing each other.
- Have your partner hold the ruler out at armâs length with the number â0â at the bottom end of the ruler.
- Hold your arm out so that your dominant hand is just below the ruler (but not touching the ruler!)
- Have your partner let go of the ruler when they are ready. Try to catch it as quickly as you can.
- When you have caught the ruler, write down the number on the ruler closest to your thumb.
- 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:
Experiment 2
Decomposing
Learning Objectives:
Introduction:
Useful Prior Work:
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 Whatâs 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 âmoveâ in and out of vegetables?
- 22 Bird beaks: Investigating how birdsâ 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 Letâs 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 Letâs 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: Whatâs 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 Letâs 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 Letâs make a helicopter: Investigating gravity
- 63 Letâs 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: Whatâs 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 âplasticâ 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