A Day Of Science At Cheltenham

Published by Davenies on Wednesday 22nd of March 2023

Year 6 scientists were invited to Cheltenham College for an afternoon of Science, where they undertook investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics. Here, Benji and Luke tell us about their exciting afternoon…

The first activity we did was Chemistry, the focus of which was chemical reactions. We performed a variety of experiments, ranging from acids and alkalis, blowing up hydrogen gas to make a ball of fire, mixing liquids until they glow bright green as well as dropping magnesium strips into acids and lighting the gas that is emitted. Afterwards Benji got to hold a metre rule with a flame on the end and when the lights were turned off Benji poked the flame at a balloon filled with hydrogen and it made a mini explosion.

The next activity we did was Biology, which was very fun as we dissected owl pellets and found frog, fish, mice and rat bones. After about ten minutes we were told we could use the microscopes to inspect the bones in further detail. Benji and his partner, Alex, found a whole skull of a field vole! Initially, they thought this was a bit disgusting but it was exciting once they realised that you could see bones and it wasn’t just a smelly lump of fur! We also had a sheet showing us the different bones in the different animals and at the end we shared our findings.

The final topic, Physics, had an abundance of experiments. We had to drop different weighted metal balls in oil and see which one hit the bottom first We measured sound wavelengths, counting how many times a pendulum passed a pole, and fine tuned motors and a strobe light to make it look like the motor is still.

To round off a a challenging and extremely enjoyable Thursday afternoon, we gathered back to where we ate our lunch and had a cupcake each. We were all given a water bottle, a bookmark and a pencil and Benji was awarded a Cheltenham College Rubix Cube for asking lots of questions and showing a particular interest in the subject!

Benji and Luke (Year 6)