Year 6

Water Filtration

This excellent presentation very clearly explains the use of filtration in the water treatment and purification. CLICK HERE

To remind yourself about the water cycle, watch the video below.

The Science of Water Purification

Remember Thirstin’s water cycle from Year 5? Well if not , then CLICK HERE to remind yourselves about the journey of water through the watercycle.

During the water cycle some of the water is removed to be cleaned and purified so that we can use it safely in our homes.

We are going to look at all the scientific processes involves in this water treatment. How many of the processes can you list? CLICK HERE or CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE to work your way through the water treatment plant.

Energy

Watch this excellent Brain Pop movie to get some ideas about your energy conversion machine! Click Here or click on the picture above.

Brilliant microbe video

You will ‘enjoy’ watching this! How germs are spread.

Microbes

Our new topic is the fascinating world of microbes. Visit this excellent site from the Children’s University of Manchester to find out more. CLICK HERE or CLICK ON THE PICTURE

Good Luck in your Exams Year Six!

Let’s Do Something!

Year 6, your task for science over the ‘holiday’ period is to :

Watch news regularly, making a note of any scientific news which interests you;
Look out for any news on Climate Change;
Draft a letter to Gordon Brown expressing your concerns regarding our future unless we all do something;
Give the PM some solutions to the problem of Climate Change.

I’ll be thinking of you Year 6.
Best Wishes from Mrs Mannan.

Climate Change

What can you tell me about this picture?

(Picture courtesy of Reuters)

We have begun to look at the causes and effects of climate change. We will watch the highly acclaimed documentary featuring AL Gore, An Inconvenient Truth in class and discuss the issues.

Investigating Rusting

We are comparing how different metals rust. Over the last week we left some metals, copper, aluminium, zinc, iron, and lead in different solutions. We will look at our results this week to see if ay of the metals have changed in appearance.

CLICK HERE to go to the BBC site which has lots of information about comparing Aluminium and Iron rusting.

The Story of Chocolate

We really enjoyed melting and solidifying chocolate today! It was all done in the name of science as we are looking at reversible changes.

Solid chocolate —————–>—– Liquid chocolate
On heating , the solid chocolate melts to form liquid chocolate.

Liquid chocolate ————————>——- Solid chocolate
On cooling , the liquid chocolate solidifies to form solid chocolate.

These are both changes of state and both are reversible.

As another treat, visit this delicious site to explore the story of chocolate! CLICK HERE

No Exam Skills Club on Wednesday November 5th !

Year 6, please note that the after school club for Wednesday 5th November has been cancelled. Please remind your parents and guardians to pick you up at the normal time of 3.30pm.

Farida Mannan

Chromatography Detectives

Try this at home on an unsuspecting brother or sister. You need:

4 black pens ( not the same make , containing water soluble ink)
5 strips of coffee filter paper , equal size
a transparent plastic container
a pencil
some water

Give them a choice of black pens . Ask them to draw a line at the base of a coffee filter strip using one of the pens without telling you which one they chose. You will now astound them by going back to your forensic lab ( the kitchen) and carrying out some fiendishly clever experiments.

You need another four strips of coffee filter paper. Use one pen on each strip to draw a line similar to the one the suspect has drawn. Write the name or identification label for the pen IN PENCIL on the filter paper . Place the five strips vertically in 1cm depth of water in the colourless plastic container. Watch and wait.

After about 10 minutes you will see that all the inks have separated out to form a unique pattern on the filter paper. Match your suspect’s pen to one of the four being tested. You can now break the news gently to your suspect. You Have solved the mystery of the used pen!!

VISIT THIS SITE TO GET MORE DETAILS.

Dissolving

Welcome Back Year 6!
We will be making solutions in class when you get back. Have a look at the activity below to find out more.

Click here to see how salt dissolves

Year 6 Party!

Where? In The Science/Art Room
When? Thursday July 3rd 12pm
Theme? St Trinians!

Acids and Alkalis

We have begun to look at acids and alkalis in school. These are substances which have certain characteristic properties.

First of all we have to identify if a substance is an acid, an alkali or neutral. We use the pH scale and universal indicator paper to measure how acid or alkaline a substance is. CLICK HERE to go to a clear animation about acids and alkalis.

Cells

Visit the Cells Alive site for a truly interactive experience with cells. Click here to go onto their animation about cell size.

Famous Scientists

Click here to find out more about your particular scientist!
Remember to prepare your A4 page biography on your chosen scientist who achieved something important in medical sciences.

Invitation to a Picnic Lunch

Year 6 are invited to a picnic lunch with Mrs Mannan in the Science Room on Wednesday 5th March. All the food provided will be linked to microbes in some way. Can you guess what might be on the menu?

Homework To do some research on scientists involved with medicine. To choose one particular scientist who is of interest to you . Please bring their name along to the Picnic and the reason why you have chosen them.

Microbes

Year 6, can you find out the names of the diseases caused by these microbes? (Hint: Go to this link)

The Carbon Cycle Game

Hi Year 6,
We are having a great time preparing posters about the challenges facing our planet in the future. We have looked at climate change, energy resources and recycling. We are now looking more closely at global warming; what causes it and what does it mean? The word “carbon” is mentioned frequently in our discussions.

I would like you to find out more about the carbon cycle by clicking on the picture below and taking on the carbon challenge!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE to play the Carbon Cycle Game.

We will look at how the carbon cycle is involved in global warming next week.

The Nuclear Power Debate

Today we discussed the recent news about the British Government giving the go ahead for a new, improved and safer generation of nuclear reactors to be the answer to the energy crisis of the future when fossil fuels run out. It also gives Britain some independence from other countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, incase they cut off their fuel supply of gas and oil to Britain. In general, having nuclear power increases the diversity of energy resources available to the UK. Some countries in Europe, such as France are almost totally powered by nuclear energy.

Below is a picture of a typical nuclear power station: the chimneys are producing steam , not carbon dioxide gas which is produced when fossil fuels ( oil, natural gas and coal) are burnt in power stations. In this respect, nuclear power is a cleaner fuel. Click on the picture to find out more.

The main reaction in the reactor is irreversible and exothermic: the products cannot change back into the reactants easily and thermal energy is produced and given off as heat. Radioactive uranium or plutonium is bombarded with very small particles , causing nuclear fission to take place. This releases enormous amounts of thermal energy which is used to heat vast amounts of water. The steam formed as the water boils is pumped through turbines which then turn and generate electrical power.

The main disadvantage of nuclear power is the radioactive waste which is produced. It is very difficult to dispose of it safely as it stays radioactive for hundreds of years. The challenge for future generation of scientists, I mean you year six, is to find a way to harness this amazing energy source and keep it safe!

Other forms of Power Generation:

We also looked at alternative methods of producing electricity today. These include, hydroelectric power, wave energy, tidal energy,solar power, wind turbines and geothermal energy. Using biofuels such as alcohol made from sugar canes and biodiesel made from oils from different plants , is a good way of using renewable energy. However the disadvantages include too much use of land to grow crops for fuel rather than for food.

Instead of fossil fuels we can use other renewable resources to make fuel such as compost and wood but it takes much larger quantities of fuel to produce the same amount of heat as that produced by fossil fuels.

You should visit the Year 4 page to remind yourselves of the power generation process.

Spiderman Demonstrates Forces!

Year Six Science Revision for Christmas 2007

This is ONLY for the girls doing science papers in January

You will have the following tasks over the “holiday” period:

• To complete all of the CGP practice papers.
• To check each paper using the answers given.
• To make a note of the weak points or topics you need to revise.
• To revise those topics from the CGP “ The Important bits”
• To make a note of any questions you still don’t understand.
• To meet up with Mrs Mannan from 9.00am-12pm on Friday 28th December 2007 for one science workshop.

That’s all folks!

Revision Notes for Science

Hi Year 6,

Don’t Panic! For all the girls who want to review their science notes before 11+ exams, check out this site. Click on the picture and download any topics you want to revise!

Go for it!

Climate Change

Please watch this promotional video about the film documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, to remind yourselves of some of the issues before you come to class on Wednesday!

Homework Task: Camels

Due in on Thursday 29th November.

1. Read all FOUR pages of the activity.
2. Jot down bullet points on the last page to help you sort out all the data.
3. On lined paper write a peruasive essay or letter to me, a supermarket manager, trying to persuade me to stock Camel’s milk.

Click on the camel picture to find out more about camels!

Good Luck!

Results for Factors which effect Solubility

Lucy B and Yasmin

Lucy and Yasmin investigated the effect of temperature on solubility. They dissolved one spatula of salt in hot and one spatula of salt in cold water. They kept the volume of water, amount of salt and amount of stirring constant to make the test FAIR. The looked to see in which beaker did the salt disappear first.

Result. The salt disappeared in hot water first.

Conclusion: Salt is more soluble in hot water.

Sophie and Emelia
Sophie and Emelia also investigated the effect of temperature on solubility.
They used sugar as the solute instead of salt. They also kept all other factors such as amount of sugar, crystal size, volume of water and amount of stirring constant to make the test FAIR.

Conclusion : sugar dissolves fastest in hot water.

Georgie and Caoimhe
Georgie and Caoimhe investigated the size of sugar (solute) crystals being dissolved. They dissolved large crystals of sugar in one beaker of water and they dissolved smaller sugar crystals in another beaker of water. They made certain that the volume and the temperature of water was the same in both beakers to make the test FAIR. They measured the amount of sugar in each beaker by taking a level spatula full each time. They could IMPROVE their method by weighing the sugar next time to be be more accurate. They counted the number of stirs needed for the crystals to disappear completely.

Result : The larger crystals needed more stirring to dissolve completely. The smaller crystals dissolved with less stirring.

Conclusion: The smaller the crystal size the faster the sugar dissolves.

Annabel, Celine and Charlotte
Annabel, Celine and Charlotte also investigated the size of sugar crystals being dissolved. They kept all the temperatures and volumes constant to make the experiment FAIR. They stirred each mixture for the same amount of time and checked how much of the solid dissolved.

Result: More spatulas of the smaller sugar crystals dissolved than the larger sugar crystals in the same time.

Conclusion: Smaller crystals dissolve better than larger crystals.

Lucy M and Amy
Lucy M and Amy investigated the effect of volume of water( solvent) on the solubility of salt ( solute). They kept the amount of solute the same and the temperature of the solvent the same in both beakers to keep the test FAIR. They added the salt to both beakers at the same time and stirred the same amount. one beaker had 20ml of water ; the other beaker had 50cc of water.

Result. The salt disappeared in both beakers at the same time.

Conclusion: For small amounts of solute, the amount of water does not effect solubility.

Kaya and Felicity
Kaya and Felicity investigated the effect of stirring on solubility.
They used the same amount of salt in equal amounts of water in each beaker. They measured the temperature of the water in both containers to check that it was the same and so the experiment was FAIR. They stirred one beaker only twice whereas the other beaker was stirred more times.

Result: The salt remained at the bottom of the beaker with less stirring. It dissolved completely in the other beaker.

Conclusion: Solids dissolve better in solvents when they are stirred.

All you need is Love!

If revision and all the hard work is getting you down, watch this and cheer up!

Don’t try this at home!

This will help to remind you of the properties of gases: hot air expands and rises: cool air contracts and sinks. This is the principle behind hot air balloons, convector heaters and most of our weather patterns.

Farida Mannan

Thank you year 6 for working so hard this year. Remember to have some rest and a COMPLETE break for a few days over the holidays so you come back to school fully charged. If you are anxious about not knowing something, the best way to makes yourself stress free is to go and find out how to solve the problem. Don’t waste energy on fretting; use that energy to work and SORT IT OUT. Remember all the teachers and parents are here for you. We would love to help you out.

Farida Mannan

BBC Bitesize Revision

Well girls, I hope that Pluto comprehension is truly taxing your brains! If you want to go and sharpen your wits and test your faculties, then try the activities on this site KS2Biesize Revision. Good Luck!

Solutions and Solubility

Test yourself on solutions

If you think you know it all then go to this site to see what happens at a microscopic level when salt dissolves.

Comparing the Solubility of two Solutes

In class today we compared the solubility of salt and sugar. The crucial points of the investigation were how to keep the comparison fair?

We have to think about:
the amount of water being used as the solvent;
the the temperature of the solvent;
the level of the heaped spatula used to measure the solute;
how vigourous the stirring is;
the size of the solute crystals;
what exactly are you measuring ( time, mass, volume, change in appearance);
how do you check the accuracy of the experiment?

There is lots to think about but It was great to see that it was YOU who came up with all these things which have to be kept constant. The VARIABLE in this experiment is the actual SOLUTE being used as we are COMPARING the two substances, salt and sugar, whilst keeping EVERYTHING ELSE CONSTANT. This should make the experiment FAIR.

Factors which effect Solubility

Tomorrow you will carry out your own investigation into ONE FACTOR which may effect the solubility of any solute such as sugar or salt in a solvent such as water. You could investigate any one of the following FACTORS:

temperature of solvent ;
volume of solvent;
crystal size of solute;
amount of stirring.

Once you have chosen the ONE factor which you will be investigating, it is important that ALL OTHER factors remain constant, including which solute you choose.

I hope that you are all ready for the experiment tomorrow!

Good Luck!

Farida Mannan

Sharks!

This week your science comprehension is on sharks! Such loveable creatures! Actually they have always been held in awe due to their size and shape , not forgetting their very sharp teeth! I would like you to get to know sharks better-from a distance. If you click on the beautiful picture above it will take you to an interactive site devoted to sharks. Explore all the options; go for a virtual dive for instance. I am sure that it will inspire you into completing your task immediately.

Homewok Task:

Read pages 1-4 of the Shark Attack!

Make notes to self from pages 2, 3 and 4.

Use these notes and the graph to answer the two questions on page 1.

Good Luck!

Farida Mannan