Wednesday 11 October 2017

Sizzling Science in Year 4!

During our science lessons, Year 4 have been learning about solids, liquids and gases.  Today, we examined the effect of heat on solids.  


We decided to investigate bread, chocolate, gummy sweets, pear, marmalade, butter, and the candle wax as an added bonus!  We also tested egg to see what would happen, and in the future we are interested to try a range of liquids.  

First, we discussed the items and made predictions.  We had some particularly "heated" discussions over the egg.  Whilst some felt the egg would become more liquefied, others predicted that the egg would solidify.  It was decided that the ultimate test was for me to tip the metal container above my head.  Thankfully the egg had completely solidified!

The safety implications of our experiment were carefully considered.  We used sand trays, crucibles, candles and candle holders to melt our items on.  We understood the importance of staying at a safe distance and not touching the experiment.

After carefully observing each material, we recorded our findings using scientific diagrams and a short description.  We were very interested to find that our chocolate did not melt, instead it burned.  We discussed this and decided that we may have used too little chocolate or perhaps the temperature was too high.   We were fascinated by all of the items and conducted very effective observations.  



We also discussed which of the materials would return to their original state.  Unfortunately, some of the items hadn't cooled enough to return to their solid state by home time so we will have another look tomorrow.


We had a fantastic lesson, full of curiosity and wonder.  The children all worked really hard and were terrific scientists!

No comments:

Post a Comment

To help ensure anonymity for all our children please don't use surnames when posting comments. Use first names or names such as 'Susie's mum' when commenting. Please make sure all comments are polite and kind.