Our KS3 and KS4 students have been studying the three separate sciences; Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Year 11 have looked Newtons Three Laws of Physics, year 10 have studied states of matter including density, and year 9 have been studying forces. Students took part in a range of practical sessions to support their understanding of tricky concepts and ideas.
Year 10 pupils were studying density, looking at density between different states of matter. Before using the density equation- we wanted to physically see what density meant. Each different liquid sat on top of one another depending on density.
Year 9 have been exploring forces this half term, including balancing forces, measuring air resistance, investigating ‘streamlining’ and also reducing or increasing friction. Some of the practical tasks have included balancing a moving Malteaser competition, creating different paper aeroplanes, using a hair dryer and toy cars to measure air resistance and racing toy cars down different materials in order to create or reduce friction.
Every object will remain at rest or in motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. To understand the first law further, we tried some practical activities to demonstrate this. A coin would sit at rest until an external force acted upon it. We placed a coin on a playing card on top of a cup and then whipped the card away trying to exert no force on the coin. We saw that the coin stayed in its starting position and fell directly into the cup! We had lots of fun experimenting with these laws!
Year 10 also really loved looking at plant cells down a microscope! They said they felt like real scientists looking to make discoveries! They were very sensible and worked really hard!