Todays Solar Power 'Revolution' - Helena

Todays Solar Power 'Revolution'

This video is about the revolution of solar power which is becoming more and more common,which is meaning the price of solar panels are going down.

 'Apple' have created a one the largest solar powered farm to run its data centre in North Carolina. Buildings are starting to become more and more energy efficient they are creating there own power by using solar panels

I think this video is very fascinating, and full of information

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Maths Challenge - Throwing A Dice

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Heat Transfer Investigation

Today in Science the challenge is to identify the best insulator and the best conductors from a range of items, using this investigation process...

Here are some shots of the challenge in action...

Questions for students to reflect on (and record ideas to in the comments below...):

1. What is the difference between an insulator and a conductor?
2. How might you improve the investigation?
3. Why do you think scientists sometimes investigate the same issue using a range of different approaches and methods?
4. Anything else you can think of... ;-)

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Investigating a mystery substance

As part 2 of our investigation into various substances, today we spent time investigating mystery substances found on a 'crime scene'. This involved the class using the diagnostic tests they conducted last week to collaborate and deduce what the mystery substance was. Here are some photos of them working:

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Science - testing various solutions

Today we conducted a number of diagnostic tests on everyday solutions. These tests were: melting, solubility, acid, acidity. This experiment is part 1 of a 2 part series.

Here is a movie of Jenny conducting the acid reaction, using vinegar:

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Archimedes' Principle

Today in science the students were given their first science challenge - to explore Achimedes' Principle. the good thing about this experiment is that it can be conducted in a wide variety of ways and it can be done in many places - at home for example.

Science Challenge - Archimedes' Principle

Design an experiment to investigate and show Archimedes’ Principle. This will involve you showing what you’ve learned about the scientific process so far.

The Challenge:

Show how much mass an object has and measure it using correct units. Illustrate the science behind this.

Process:

1. Find out what Archimedes’ Principle is…
2. Decide on the process you will use, writing this up in a Google Doc. You may do a draft in your Science book if you wish.
3. Share this document in the Science folder inside Totara Shared Folder, naming it as follows: Science Challenge 1 - Rob Clarke 10 April 2014
4. Conduct your experiment next week, ensuring you have your data table ready to go.
5. Write the experiment up, along with hypothesis, method and results.

This is the movie we viewed to help with our research and formation of the first experiment:

Vocabulary explored: bouyancy, floatation, principle, perplex, mass, density, displaced, immersed, eureka, 

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Science Investigation - Water Boiling Experiment

During the last two weeks we've been practising our practical science skills and measuring/recording the rate at which water boils. Click the tabs at the bottom of this embedded spreadsheet to view each students' data table and resulting graph.

Today the students were introduced to using a spreadsheet for graphing their results. Next steps are figuring out how to graph accurately, as well as why results are different and link this to the scientific process.

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Divisibility Investigation

• Find a way of telling if a number is divisible by 3. Hint: Add up the digits.

• Find a way of telling if a number is divisible by 4. Hint: Look at the last two digits

• Find a way of telling if a number is divisible by 6.

• Find a way of telling if a number is divisible by 8. Hint: Look at the last 3 digits.

• Find a way of telling if a number is divisible by 9.

• Find a way of telling if a number is divisible by 11. Hint: Pair up the digits from the right. Add the numbers made together.

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The Stairs Problem

How many steps will he run on the super stairs? How long will it take him to run them?

Write down an estimate and share it with your classmates. 

1. What information would you need to solve this problem?
2. Write down your thoughts as comments to this blog post.
3. Extra for Experts: If someone wanted to run 1,000,000 steps, what kind of super staircase would that require?

Put your thoughts as comments to this post - post anonymously but please put your name to your ideas.

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Science - figuring out the scientific process

Below is a video showing Team Totara working as a group to figure out the flow chart of the scientific process - some meanie had mixed it up! This was harder than we expected but we managed to figure it out in the end.

Next steps - practise different aspects of the scientific process. For example: recording and measuring during an experiment.

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