We’re really excited to be celebrating this years’ World Science Day with you and have chosen two of our favourite lesson plans we think you and your class will love. Take a look below at what the YPO science team have put together for you to get inspired – we hope you enjoy the day and everybody gets stuck in!
Lesson Plan 1 – Glowing Magic Potion Station (Includes 3 Different Experiments)
One of our lovely CPD tutors, Sue Gacoyne – Founder and Creative Director of The Sensory Play Company – kindly gave us this fantastic lesson plan and highly recommends it for World Science Day.
[Source: www.playdoughtoplato.com]
Things you’ll need:
• Various cups/beakers
• Plastic storage containers
• Pipettes/droppers
• Squeeze bottles
• Small spoons/teaspoons/tablespoons
• Baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
• Cornflour
• Water
• Vinegar
• Washing up liquid
• Safety goggles
• Neon glitter
• Neon/glow in the dark paints
• Fluorescent UV black light
• 4 x AA batteries
Getting set up:
• Fill one or two squeeze bottles with 8-10 oz. of water, then add ½ tsp of paint
• Repeat the process above but use vinegar instead of water this time
• Place a few tablespoons of bicarb in a small jar and put cornflour, glitter and washing up liquid in their own containers too
• Have several cups/beakers to hand for the experiment, and plastic storage containers for each child to contain and catch any spills
• Set up the UV light so that it won’t interfere with the experiment, but will still shine brightly on the materials
• Make sure the room you’re in can be darkened so you can see the full effects of the magic glow!
Glowing Magic Potion 1 – Classic Bicarbonate of Soda and Vinegar Reaction
Directions:
• Encourage the children to take a cup/beaker each and get them to put a few spoonfuls of bicarb into them
• Point out the squeeze bottle that has the vinegar and paint inside and get them to see what happens when they squeeze vinegar into the bicarb
• Do this a few times with different coloured paints (with the vinegar) to see their reactions as the cups overflow with colourful bubbles! This should look really good under the black light
Glowing Magic Potion 2 – Colour Mixing
Directions:
• Once all the bicarb has been used up, you can move onto the second experiment of colour mixing
• Encourage them to pour 2 different squeeze bottles of paint (with the water) together into a cup/beaker
• Try yellow and pink first, then blue and yellow, then blue and pink
• Adding some glitter into the mix is a big hit – it sits on top of the potions and has the best effect under the black light
• Try squirting the coloured paint water into washing up liquid and watch the potion bubble over the top
Glowing Magic Potion 3 – Water and Cornflour Goo
Directions:
• Save this experiment till last once all the other ingredients have been used up
• There should be a good amount of paint water that overflowed into the plastic containers from the previous experiments, so all you need to do now is add cornflour
• When the liquid and cornflour are mixed together the chemical change produces a substance that can be poured like a liquid, but acts as a solid when force is applied
• This will keep the children busy for hours!
Lesson Plan 2 – Volcano Making Kit
Why not take inspiration from Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine and create a classroom of inventors with our ready-made volcano making kit?
Included in the kit:
• Paints
• Brushes
• Plaster mix
• Volcano shell
• Funnel for pouring baking soda and vinegar
What else you’ll need:
• Water
• Vinegar
• Baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
• A mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
Competition time!
Follow us on twitter and tweet us a picture of your concoctions from the two lesson plans above, using our twitter handle and the hashtag below.
We'll pick our favourite and the lucky winner will receive a science hamper to the value of £300. Good luck!
@ypoinfo #YPOWSD
*Please tweet your entries to us by Monday 13 November*