The Solar Physicist
Ask your child: what is a solar physicist?
Today NUSTEM have been into school to do the solar physicist workshop with your child. During the workshop, we supported the children to feel more confident that a career in STEM is for ‘people like them’ by trying some of the activities a solar physicist would do in their job.
We introduced three attributes that the children may already have or can develop.
Solar physicists are: curious, imaginative and communicators
By discussing STEM careers in terms of these attributes, we are encouraging children and young people to see themselves as having the skills to work in STEM.
Ask your child which of the three skills they think they have.
What does a solar physicist do?
An solar physicist is a type of astrophysicist. An astrophysicist is a scientist who researches the principles of light, motion, and natural forces in order to gain an understanding of the cosmos.
A solar physicist specialises in studying the sun. They can take detailed measurements of our nearest star that it is not possible to make of more distant stars. They use satellites and ground based telescopes to make their observations.
Do try this at home: make a star spectrum
The white light we see is made up of the different colours of the spectrum. When we see a rainbow, we see the light split up into the different colours.
A spectrometer is a tool used by astronomers to split the light collected by a telescope into its colour spectrum. This allows astronomers see the details in the light and see the spectrum of a star.
Different chemical elements in stars absorb the certain colours of light which results in these black lines on the spectrum. This tells us which elements are present in the star.
You will need:
A large selection of materials in the colours of the rainbow, at least 8 of each colour (eg, small toys, lego, pencils, scraps of paper, crayons, stones, beads, buttons, ribbons, wool, stationary, fabric, clothes, pipe cleaners, lolly sticks, pom poms or other collage materials)
At least 4 black lines (e.g. strips of black paper or card, shoe laces, black socks or fabric, black pencils or pens).
Step 1
Collect all of the materials that you need from around your house. You can use a mixture of different items to make your spectrum. Sort your materials into piles of the different colours: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and pink.
Step 2
Now sort the materials within your piles. Observe how the colours change from darker to lighter and merge into each other throughout the spectrum. In the picture, you can see how the dark purple merges with the dark blue, then the blue becomes lighter and lighter.
Step 3
Continue sorting all of your colours. Notice how light blue merges into turquoise, turquoise into green, and how the green gets lighter becoming yellow. You can see how the yellow becomes darker and merges into orange, which then becomes more and more red as we move along the spectrum. The red becomes burgundy then lightens into pink.
Step 4
Finally add your black absorption lines to show which elements are present in your star. You can use the absorption lines from the elements present in the Sun, or you can be creative and design your own.
Here are some examples made at home…
Space (Key Stage 2)
This box has a range of interesting and interactive resources to help introduce space to Key Stage 2 children.
Curriculum links
Year 5 Science Earth and Space
- describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the
solar system - describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth
- describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies
- use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent
movement of the sun across the sky.
What’s in the box?
- Inflatable solar system
- Solar system mats
- Earth, Moon and Sun orbiter model
- Microslide viewer and microslides
- Dark and light inflatable Moon
Download the complete contents list here.
Careers links
The Primary Science Teaching Trust has some additional careers links you may like to look at. These are called “A scientist just like me” and introduce children to a diverse range of scientists.
The downloadable power points relevant to this box are space scientists Stephanie Yardley and Dr Karen Aplin.
Astrophysicists Emily Rickman and Vanessa Emeka-Okafor.
Solar scientist Helen Mason.
Investigating static electricity
Overview
Make household objects move without touching them! All you need for these static electricity investigations are a balloon, a sheet of toilet paper or a can, a straw, a toilet roll tube and a running tap.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Blow up a balloon and tie a knot in the bottom. Younger children may need help with this.
Grab your empty can and lie it on its side on a table or other flat surface.
Step 2
If you are using a sheet of toilet paper, peel the two layers apart and tear it into pieces. Spread the pieces out on a table or flat surface.
Step 3
Rub the balloon on your jumper or on your hair for a few seconds to charge the balloon with static electricity. When you rub two different materials against each other, they become electrically charged.
Step 4
If you are using a can, hold the balloon close to, but not touching, the long side of the can and watch the can move!
Step 5
If you are using paper, hold the balloon above the paper and watch it move!
Things to discuss
- Why is the can moving along the table towards the balloon?
- Is there a way to make it move faster?
- Does the surface you are working on impact the experiment?
Try doing the activity on a table then try it again on the carpet. Is there a difference?
How it works
Everything is made up of tiny particles. These particles may have positive or negative charge. Electricity is what we call the movement (flow) of these charged particles.
You have probably made an electrical circuit at school. An electric current is when the negatively charged particles called electrons flow around a circuit. We use electric currents to operate devices like phones, computers and light bulbs.
Static electricity is the build-up of an electrical charge on the surface of an object. It doesn’t easily flow or move to a different place, so it is called static.
When two objects (like the balloon and your jumper) are rubbed together, electrons move from one object to the other. One object becomes positive and the other negative.
Objects with different charges (positive and negative) will attract each other, while items with similar charges (positive and positive) will push away, or repel, each other.
When you bring the negatively charged balloon near the can, the negative electrons on the surface of the metal can are free to move, and are repelled away from the negative balloon. This makes the side of the can nearest the balloon slightly positive, and so the can is attracted towards the balloon.
Other things to try
Moving Straw
You will need: a straw, toilet paper tube and a jumper.
Rub the straw with a jumper in the same direction several times then balance it on the tube.
Bring your hand close to the straw without touching it and watch it follow you.
Does one end of the straw react to your hand more than the other?
Does using two hands make a difference compared to using one hand?
Do you think your hands and the straw have the same or different charges?
Bending Water
You will need: a straw and a very thin stream of water from a tap.
Rub the straw with a jumper in the same direction several times and then hold it next to the stream of water.
Try not to wet the straw because it will lose it’s static and you will need to rub it on your jumper again.
Can you make the water bend more or less?
Do you think the water and the straw have the same or different charges?
What you’ll need
- Jumper or your hair
- Can or a sheet of toilet paper/ tissue paper
- Balloon (any balloon works, but water balloons are great for this activity)
- Straw
- Toilet roll tube
- Running tap
Duration
5 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 3+
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves small parts, so there’s a choke hazard.
- The can can be sharp so don’t touch the opening
- Balloons can be dangerous, ask an adult to blow it up for you
- Beware of latex allergies
Career link – Electrical Technician
Electrical technicians are responsible for designing, developing, testing, maintaining and repairing electrical wiring and equipment. Work can vary from dealing with circuit breakers and electrical wiring to working in research and development, conducting experiments, testing new designs, and collecting data.
Attributes: focused, organised, attention to detail
Career link – Particle Physicist
A particle physicist is someone who studies the subatomic particles that make up matter and radiation to discover how they exist, interact and shape the natural world. They seek to identify the smallest objects of which matter is composed of, and to understand the integral forces that drive their interactions and combinations.
Attributes: imaginative, patient, tenacious
Make a catapult
Overview
Make this simple catapult to fire paper balls, mini marshmallows or pom poms using just some lolly sticks and elastic bands.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Take four of the lolly sticks and place them on top of each other. Hold them together using an elastic band at each end.
Step 2
Join the two remaining lolly sticks at one end using an elastic band. Put the stack of four lolly sticks in between these two sticks.
Step 3
Use the final elastic band to hold the stack in place. Your catapult is complete.
Step 4
To fire your catapult, hold the closed end of your catapult with one hand and your paper ball, pom pom or marshmallow on the open end. Keep hold of the closed end and let go of the end with the ball, pom pom and marshmallow to fire!
Things to discuss
- Measure how far you can fire different objects – you could use a ruler or tape measure, piece of string or even pieces of paper. Remember to always start from the same place!
- Find out which objects travel further – heavy or lighter? Small or bigger?
- Investigate whether changing the position of the 4 cross sticks in the catapult makes a difference to how far your objects travel. Does it make a difference if they are nearer or further away from the open end of the catapult?
How it works
Your catapult is a type of lever. A lever is a simple machine that is used to do work. It can make it easier to move objects.
When you press down on the end of the catapult you are applying a force which bends the lolly stick slightly. When you let go of the lolly stick, it straightens back up and pushes the object into the air.
The more force that you apply to bend the stick, the further the object will fly when released.
Visit our Levers, pulleys and gears page to find out more about simple machines.
Other things to try
Add a spoon to your catapult
Try attaching a plastic or wooden spoon to the end of your catapult.
Can you fire objects further?
Can you fire larger objects?
What happens if you use a metal spoon?
Make a mini mangonel
You will need:
- 2 pieces of thick card (6 x 6 cm and 6 x 3 cm)
- A paper cup
- A disposable spoon
- An elastic band
- Masking tape
- Something to fire such as a ping pong ball
Download the mini mangonel make instruction sheet.
What you’ll need
- 6 lolly sticks
- 4 elastic bands
- Pom poms, paper balls or mini marshmallows
- A small spoon if you want to modify the design!
Duration
20 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 4 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves small parts, so there’s a choke hazard.
- Never fire your catapult directly at anybody- particularly at their face or eyes.
Careers link – Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical engineering jobs are all about solving problems and creating products to meet human needs. Work includes solving problems using machines or machinery by designing, testing and improving mechanical devices. Mechanical engineers use a wide range of tools, techniques and machinery in their jobs, which depends on the area of mechanical engineering they trained in and the industry they work in.
Mechanical engineers are curious, self-motivated and hardworking.
Make a tonoscope
Overview
Do you want to see the sound waves made by your voice? Make this simple tonoscope using a tube, plastic bag, some sugar or salt and a straw.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Make a hole in your tube about 1cm from the base with your sharp pencil. Put your sticky tack or rolled up tissue inside the bottom of your tube and then push your pencil in to make the hole.
Step 2
Now cut a square of plastic from your bag or clingfilm. This needs fit over the top of your tube with about 2 cm of extra plastic all the way around.
Step 3
Stick one side of the plastic to the side of your tube using sticky tape. Then stick the opposite side of the plastic to the of the tube, making sure the plastic covers the open end of the tube.
Step 4
Now stick the bag to the tube at two more points. Then secure the plastic to the tube by wrapping tape all around. Make sure you don’t leave any gaps.
Step 5
Put your straw into the hole at the bottom of your tube. Sprinkle a small amount of salt or sugar evenly over the plastic.
Step 6
Put the tonoscope on a flat surface and make a noise with your voice into the tube. Watch what happens to the grains of sugar or salt on the plastic!
Things to discuss
What happens to the grains when you make a loud noise?
What happens to the grains when you make a quiet noise?
What happens when you make a high pitched sound (like a squeal)?
What happens when you make a low pitched sound (like a growl)?
How it works
Whenever you speak or make a noise, your larynx (voice box) vibrates and moves the air around it in your throat and mouth. We call those air vibrations sound waves. Put your hand gently on your throat and make a noise with your voice. You should be able to feel your larynx vibrating in your throat. Sound waves travel through the air and into your ear, where they are sent as nerve signals to your brain so you can hear. To find out more about how this works, watch this BBC Operation Ouch video.
When you use your tonoscope, the vibrations of your voice travel along the straw into your tube. The sound wave then travels through the air inside the tube and hit the plastic covering the top of the tube, making it move.
The louder the noise, the bigger the vibration produced. When you make a loud noise, your grains will jump higher when they vibrate, and lower if you make a quieter sound.
The higher pitched the noise, the faster the vibration produced. If you make a high pitched noise, your grains will move faster, and a lower pitched noise will make them move slower.
Other things to try
Use a balloon to make sounds louder
What to do:
Blow up and tie your balloon. Hold the balloon close to your ear and tap lightly on the other side.
What is happening?
You should be able to hear a loud noise even though you are tapping lightly. This is because when you blow up the balloon you put more air molecules into the balloon. The air molecules in the balloon are closer together than ordinary air. This means the air in the balloon is a better conductor of sound waves than the ordinary air around you and so you heard a louder noise.
Use straws to investigate pitch
Collect 8 drinking straws. If they are the bendy type, cut off the bend and use the straight part of the straw. The first straw will need no cutting. Cut about 2 cm off the end of the next straw, 4 cm off the third straw, 6 cm off the fourth straw and so on until all 7 straws have been cut. Lay a piece of clear tape on the table, sticky side up, and arrange the straws on the tape from longest to shortest, with the tops of the straws all lined up with each other. Wrap more tape around the straws to secure them together. Blow over the top of the straws.
Which straw makes the highest pitch noise?
Which straw makes the lowest pitch noise?
Why do you think this is?
What is happening?
The pitch of a sound corresponds to the fast the sound wave is vibrating (the frequency): the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. The shorter the straw, the higher the frequency of the sound wave and the higher the pitch. The longer the straw, the longer the frequency of the sound wave and the lower the pitch. To find out more about pitch, click here and watch this video.
What you’ll need
- A cardboard tube or toilet roll inner
- A straw
- A thin plastic bag (sandwich bag, banana bag…) or clingfilm
- A teaspoon of sugar or salt
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Sharp pencil or pen
- Sticky tack or scrunched up tissue
- A flat surface
Duration
20 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 3 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves small parts, so there’s a choke hazard.
- Take particular care when poking sharp pencils through card.
- Watch small children with sharp scissors.
- The sugar or salt in this activity will make a mess!
Careers Link: Audiologist
If you enjoyed investigating sound, you may like to be an audiologist when you are older.
Audiologists are healthcare professionals who are specialists in human hearing. They work with patients from newborn babies to the elderly and help people who have hearing, balance or other ear related problems. They may be involved in screening for hearing loss or fitting hearing aids.
Audiologists are observant, communicative and patient.
Clinical audiologist Lynzee tells us more about what she does in the interview below.
Make a magnet maze
Overview
Do you want to move an object around a maze without touching it? All you need is a magnet, a metal paper clip or washer, a piece of card or a paper plate and your imagination!
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Test your materials! You need to make sure that your paper clip, washer or other object you are using is attracted (sticks) to your magnet.
Step 2
Next, make sure that your magnet is strong enough to attract your paper clip or washer through your plate or card. Put the paper clip or washer on top of the card or plate and hold the magnet underneath. Move the magnet around to check that your object moves too.
Step 3
Decide on the picture you would like to move around your maze and draw this on your small piece of paper or card. You could draw around a 2p coin or your washer to get a good shape and size for your object.
Step 4
Glue or tape your paper clip, washer or other magnetic object to the back of your picture.
Step 5
Decide on your magnet maze design. You will need to use your imagination. You may want to lead a bee to a flower, a rabbit down a burrow or a space ship to it’s home planet. Younger children may need support with this.
Things to discuss
Can you move your object around your maze using your magnet?
How do you think this works?
What’s the furthest distance away that your magnet can attract your object?
If you have more than one magnet, how could you tell which one is a stronger magnet?
How it works
A magnet is a piece of metal that creates a magnetic field around itself and can pull metal objects within this magnetic field towards it. The magnet does not need to touch the object to be able to pull it. This means you can pull your metal object without touching it by using your magnet through your plate or card,
Magnetic materials are always metal, but not all metals are magnetic. Only iron, nickle and cobalt are magnetic. Steel contains iron so is also magnetic. Gold, silver, aluminium, copper and brass are examples of metals that are not magnetic.
Other things to try
Make a more complex maze
This design your own maze website will give you clear instructions to design a more complicated maze. It also has an online tool for designing mazes as well as ways to design hexagonal, unicursal (the path forms the whole maze) and even real life large scale mazes.
What you’ll need
- A small magnet such as magnetic letter or fridge magnet
- A paper clip, washer or other magnetic (made of iron or steel) object
- A piece of card or paper plate
- Small piece of paper or card to draw your moving object on
- Felt tip pens, crayons or pencils
- Scissors
- Glue, Velcro, sticky tape or glue dots if you are using something other than a paper clip
Duration
20 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 4 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves small parts, so there’s a choke hazard.
Careers link – MRI scanner technician
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technicians operate MRI scanners. These scanners use magnetic fields to produce images that a doctor can use to diagnose medical problems.
Attributes: collaborative, patient and organised.
Make a fossil
Overview
Find out how real fossils are formed by fossilising your own toy or object using plaster of Paris or flour.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Fill your container to about 2cm with sand. If the sand is dry, dampen it with some water. Flatten the surface of your sand with your hands.
Step 2
Push the object you are fossilising as hard as you can into your sand. Make sure you push all of the parts of the object into the surface, especially if it has legs or a tail.
Step 3
Carefully take out your toy or object without moving the sand. You should be left with an impression of the object you are fossilising.
Step 4
Now make up your plaster of Paris or flour solution. WARNING: you need to pour this very quickly or it will set in your jug! Add one cup of warm water and 2 cups of plaster of Paris or flour to your jug. Mix until smooth.
Step 5
Pour the plaster of Paris or flour solution into your fossil impression as quickly but carefully as possible. Make sure you fill up all of the holes with the solution and pour the rest over the top to make a base for your fossil. Leave to set for 48 hours.
Step 6
After 48 hours remove your fossil from the sand and brush off any extra sand with your hand or a paint brush. You should have a fossilised version of your original object.
Things to discuss
Compare your fossil with your original object.
What is the same about them both?
What is different?
What else could you fossilise?
How it works
When a dinosaur (or any living thing) died, the soft parts of it, such as the skin, muscles and internal organs decompose (breakdown or decay) leaving only the hard parts of the body, such as bones, teeth or shell.
If the creatures is near to water, it’s remains are quickly covered with mud, sand and silt. Over thousands, sometimes millions of years, many more layers of sediment build up on top of the remains. The weight and pressure of these layers turn the sediment surrounding the remains into sedimentary rock. You represented this by pushing your object into the sand.
While this is happening, water seeps into the remains and dissolves them, leaving an impression of the remains in the rock. You represented this by removing your object from the sand.
The remains are replaced by minerals in the water leaving a rock replica of the original bones and teeth called a fossil. You represented this by pouring your plaster or Paris or four solution into your fossil impression.
Over millions of years, fossils become exposed at the Earth’s surface and we can find them. This may be because weathering and erosion from wind, rain, ice, heat and rivers break rocks apart and wash the fragments away, exposing fossils. This may also be because of uplift, where the tectonic plates which form the surface of Earth collide and force areas of rock together and upwards. This may also occur where rock are pushed upwards by new igneous rocks forming underneath them.
Did you know?
Fossils of sea creatures have been found at the top of mountain ranges? This is because of uplift!
Other things to try
Visit the Great North Museum: Hancock
Dive into the steamy swamps of a world millions of years older than the one we know today and discover the weird, wonderful and downright terrifying life forms that lived there.
This is one of the museum’s most popular galleries, bringing the past back to life through rare, internationally famous fossils and a huge array of realistic models.
Find our more about the collection, opening times and how to get there.
What you’ll need
- An object to fossilise- it needs to be something hard like a plastic toy or a shell
- 2 cups of plaster of Paris or flour
- 1 cup of warm water
- A jug to mix it in
- A spoon for mixing
- A plastic container bigger than the object you want to fossilise
- Sand- enough to fill your box or bowl to 1 or 2 cm
Duration
20 minutes or so to make. 48 hours to dry.
Suitable for…
Age 4 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: this activity makes a mess and you may want to watch what children are doing!
- You may want to do this activity outside or to cover surfaces and carpets.
- Supervise children using warm water to avoid scalds and burns.
- The plaster of Paris or flour solution may block sinks and drains. Leave it to set on equipment then scrape it off.
- Follow all safety instruction on plaster of Paris.
- Ensure children don’t put anything in their mouths.
Careers link- Palaeontologist
Palaeontology is the study of ancient life using fossil evidence. This can be remains of prehistoric plants, mammals, fish, insects, fungi and microbes as well as dinosaurs. Things like footprints, burrows, eggs and even poo can be fossilised too.
Fossil evidence shows us how these organisms changed over time and what our planet was like long ago.
Palaeontologists are passionate, open-minded communicators. Could you be a palaeontologist?
Marble run
Overview
Have you ever tried to make your own marble run? Using just cardboard, tape, a flat surface and a marble, you can be as imaginative and creative as you want! This activity is best done on a wall, door or fridge, but could easily be made in a large cardboard box.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Collect your cardboard. If you are using empty boxes, flatten and cut along the folds.
Step 2
Roll thin card into a tube. Make sure the marble will fit through it. If your card is thicker, fold up at the sides to make a U shaped tube large enough for a marble to roll through. Secure both types of tube using tape.
Step 3
Now use tape to attach your tube to the wall, fridge or box. Make sure that you start quite high up on the surface and that your tube slopes slightly downwards. Test your tube with your marble.
Step 4
Make and attach another tube to your surface. Make sure that the start of the new tube is attached to or underneath the end of your first tube so that your marble rolls easily between tubes. Test this with your marble.
Step 5
Continue making and adding tubes to your marble run. Using a pattern of closed tube followed by U-shaped tube works well. Test the structure each time to make sure that the marble rolls where you want it to.
Step 6
To turn a corner, make the top of a Z shape, with a bit of the second tube sticking out at the top of the corner to stop the marble rolling straight off.
Step 7
Experiment with different shapes and materials to make a more interesting and exciting marble run components.
Step 8
You might want to make an ending for your marble run so that the marbles don’t roll all over the floor! You could use a cup or bowl.
Things to discuss
How can you make your marble roll faster through your marble run?
How can you slow your marble down?
Which is the best shape to make your tools?
How can you make sure that your marble always stays on your marble run?
How it works
All objects feel a force of attraction due to gravity. When you lift the marble up, it is attracted to the Earth, and if you let it go, the force will make it fall downwards.
When it’s on the marble run, the marble can’t fall straight-down, but it will roll down the tubes because the force of gravity is still attracting in downwards. The steeper the tube, the faster the marble will roll. We can make the marble take longer to fall by making the slopes very shallow so that the marble rolls very slowly.
Other things to try
Domino toppling
Have you ever tried to make a domino run?
To try this at home you will need a hard, flat surface and plenty of dominoes. Visit the Domino-Play website for instructions from beginner to advanced level toppling.
Rube Goldberg machines
A Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) machine is any system that uses a chain reaction to perform a simple task. To make your own Rube Goldberg machine you need to:
- Choose the simple task you want to achieve. You could turn off a light, open a door, hammer a nail or pop a balloon.
- Make a Plan. Look in your toy box or bedroom for the things you could use for your series of actions that will complete your task. You might want to topple a tower or send a car down a ramp. Think about the actions used in The Cake Server and whether you could use any of these. Draw a plan of how your system will work.
- Collect all of the things you are going to use. Some ideas are dominoes, magnets, masking tape, marbles, cups or bowls, miniature toy cars, paper towel tubes and string. Ask your parents or carers to help you before you start experimenting with their things!
- Build your Rube Goldberg machine. Follow your plan and place your materials where you think they need to be. Don’t expect your Rube Goldberg machine to work the first time you try it. Just as when you were building your marble run, you need to create, test and improve your design until it works.
What you’ll need
- Cardboard: empty boxes, cereal boxes etc. You may want to use toilet roll or kitchen towel tubes in your design too.
- A flat surface like a wall, fridge or even inside a large cardboard box.
- Tape: masking or sticky tape. Masking tape is easier to use and adjust, but may not stick to all surfaces.
- Scissors
- A marble
Duration
An hour or so.
Suitable for…
Age 3 and up. A lot of adult support may be required!
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves marbles, so there’s a choke hazard.
- Tape can ruin wallpaper or painted surfaces.
Careers link – mechanical engineer
Mechanical engineering jobs are all about solving problems and creating products to meet human needs. Their work includes solving problems using machines or machinery by designing, testing and improving mechanical devices. Mechanical engineers use a wide range of tools, techniques and machinery in their jobs, which depends on the area of mechanical engineering they trained in and the industry they work in.
Attributes: curious, self-motivated and resilient.
Impact craters
Overview
Have you ever wondered how those holes on the moon got there? They are impact craters and are formed when meteors (lumps of ice and rock) crash into the surface of a larger solid object like a planet or a moon. You can investigate your own impact craters at home using balls, a bowl or tray and some sand, soil or even flour!
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Collect your objects for testing. Fill your bowl or tray with sand, soil, flour or the powder you are using. Smooth the surface so that it is flat.
Step 2
Put your bowl or tray onto the floor. Drop your first object into it.
Step 3
Carefully, take the object out of the hole it has made, without disturbing the surface around it. You have made your first crater!
Step 4
One at a time, drop all of your objects into your bowl or tray. Carefully, remove the objects to observe your craters. Try to drop each object into it’s own space so that your don’t destroy your earlier craters.
Step 5
When you run out of space for craters in your bowl or tray, smooth the surface over so that it is flat and start again.
Things to discuss
Do big objects make big craters?
Do small objects make small holes?
Do heavy objects make deeper holes?
What happens if your drop the object from higher up?
What happens if you drop the object from lower down?
Measuring your craters
To find out how wide your craters are, you need to measure their diameter. To do this, measure across the top of your crater at the widest part of your circle rim.
Most rulers have a gap between the edge of the ruler and where the measurements start. To find out how deep your craters are, you need to push your ruler right into the surface so that zero on your ruler is level with the deepest part of your crater.
You might want to record your results on a table. Can you drop your different objects from the same height to make this a fair test?
How it works
When making your craters, you may have noticed that the higher you drop the ball from, the greater its velocity (or speed) at impact. The greater an object’s velocity, the larger the impact crater.
If you dropped two objects from the same height, the heavier the object, the larger the crater created. If you dropped two objects from the same height, the bigger the object, the larger the crater created.
Impact craters are formed when an objects is traveling extremely fast (thousands of miles per hour) through space. When it crashes into a surface at these speeds, it forms a crater regardless of how hard or tough the surface is. The object immediately vaporises (turns from a solid into a gas) and creates enormous shockwaves through the ground that melt and recrystallize rock. So the crater is formed not only by the impact, but by the damage done by the object vaporising.
Other things to try
Drop the same object from different heights
Drop the same object into your bowl or tray from different heights.
What happens to the width of the crater?
What happens to the depth of the crater?
Create this cool crater
Fill a bowl or tray with t layer of flour, then cover this with a layer of cocoa powder. Drop your object into your bowl or tray and watch what happens!
What you’ll need
- A variety of balls, marbles or beanbags (or any toys that can be dropped from a height without being damaged).
- A large bowl or tray with sides.
- Sand, soil, flour or similar powder.
- A ruler and pencil or pen and paper if you want to record your investigation.
Duration
20 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 3 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: if you are using marbles, the activity involves small parts, so there’s a choke hazard.
- Ensure feet and other body parts are away from the dropping and impact area.
- Ensure children don’t climb on unsafe surfaces to drop their objects.
Careers link – Geologist
Geologists work to understand the history of our planet so that they can predict how events and processes of the past might influence the future. Geologists study past climates of Earth and how they have changed across time. This provides an understanding of how our current climate is changing and what the results might be. They also study the age of rocks, attempting to piece together a timeline of events for the formation of the Earth’s land masses and changes over time. Astro-geologists are geologists that study the geology of other planets.
Attributes: observant, curious, creative
Asteroid, meteor or meteorite?
Which is which and what is a comet?
Meteoroids are rocks traveling through space, between the size of a grain of dust and a small asteroid.
Meteors are meteoroid that enters a planet’s atmosphere and burn up.
Meteorites are meteoroids that have hit Earth’s surface.
Asteroids are rocks orbiting the sun and are between a meteoroid and a planet in size.
Comets are objects made of ice and dust, often with a gas halo and tail.
Iron meteorite from Chaco, Argentina. One of the ‘Campo del Cielo’ fragments first found in 1576.
Water filters
Overview
Water must be clean so that it is safe to drink. One of the ways our water is cleaned is by filtering. In this activity you will make your own filter and clean up some dirty water, using an empty bottle and a coffee or paper filter.
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What to do
Step 1
Children in EYFS Before you start, you may want to listen to the story on the left called Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis. This non-fiction picture books shows how water is all around us, but can take different shapes and forms.
Step 2
First make some dirty water. Collect some dirt (mud, leaves, grass, stones etc) from outside in a container. Add water and stir.
Step 3
Take the label and lid off your bottle. Squash your bottle flat about a quarter of the way from the top. Cut the top part of the bottle off.
Step 4
Put the top part of your bottle into the bottom part with the lid end facing the bottom. This will make your filter. Put your coffee filter inside your filter. If don’t have a coffee filter you can make your own, see the “Other things to try – filtering using different materials” section below.
Step 5
Carefully pour the dirty water into your filter and watch the clean water come out of the bottom of the funnel.
Step 6
Look at the difference between your dirty water and your filtered water. Is the filtered water any cleaner?
Things to discuss
Take a look at what you can see left in your filter paper. How do you think a filter works?
How it works
When you poured your mixture of dirt and water through your filter, the water could pass through the tiny gaps in the paper but the dirt (soil, grass, leaves, gravel) particles are too big and are left on the surface of the filter paper. The water that passes through the filter is called the filtrate and the dirt that is left on the filter paper is called the residue.
Although your water might look clean(er) it is still not safe to drink. You have removed some of the solid dirt, but there is still dirt in the water that you can’t see. This includes bacteria, parasites and viruses which can make you very ill.
To find out more about how our drinking water is cleaned, younger children might like to watch this episode of BBC’s Maddie do you know? and older children might like to look at the water treatment process on the Thames Water website.
Other things to try- filtering using different materials
Step 1
Choose some materials you would like to test as filters. You could try fabric, card, foil, kitchen towel- anything that you can make into a filter shape. You will need about 20cm by 20cm of each material to make your filter.
Step 2
Put the top of your bottle onto the middle of your material. Draw around the bottle leaving an extra 2 – 3cm of your material around the bottle. Cut out the circle.
Step 3
Fold the material into quarters. Open out and cut along one of the fold to the centre point.
Step 4
Slide the paper on one side of the cut on top of the paper on the other side of the cut so that a funnel is formed.
Step 5
Put the filter paper into your funnel and pour in your dirty water.
Step 6
Repeat the investigation using filters made from different materials. Remember to rinse the top and bottom of your plastic bottle filter each time so you don’t have any dirt remaining from the previous filtering. You could pour each lot of filtered water into a different container so that you can compare it at the end.
Other things to try
Record your investigation in a table
You might want to predict which material you think will make the best filter before you begin, and record which filter produced the cleanest water.
To make it a fair test, mix up a large amount of the dirty water solution before you start and pour the same amount of water into each filter paper.
Time how long it takes for each material to filter the water
Do some materials take longer than others to filter the water? Use your watch, a timer on a phone or a kitchen timer to record how long it takes to filter your water. Do the filters that take the longest produce the cleanest water?
Make a more efficient water filter
Try this homemade filter on the Lovetoknow.com website. You will need gravel, sand and activate charcoal in addition to the equipment you have been using.
What you’ll need
- An empty 2 litre pop bottle (any size will do but 2 litre is easiest to put the filter in)
- A coffee filter or circle of paper (sugar paper or an old brown envelope) with a diameter of about 20cm
- Scissors
- Dirty water (mix mud, grass, leaves and small stones from your garden with water
- An old container to mix this in
- A stirrer (a stick or old wooden spoon)
Duration
20 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 3 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: you you might want to supervise children when they are cutting the bottle and watch out for sharp edges.
- Always wash hands after touching dirt and avoid touching your mouth or face.
- Thoroughly wash any containers or stirrers used in this activity before using again for other purposes.
WARNING!
Do not drink your filtered water- it needs a lot more treatment before it is safe!
Does everybody in the world have clean water to drink?
We are lucky in this country to have clean water pumped straight to our taps. Did you know that 1 in 10 people in the world don’t have running water in their houses? They need to collect it each day from rivers, ponds and lakes. This water isn’t clean or safe. It is sometimes shared with animals. It can be full of dangerous diseases.
Visit the wateraid website to find out a lack of clean water stops people from having an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure.
Careers Link – Water Quality Scientist
Water quality scientists ensure water quality standards for safe drinking water are met. They test and analyse water samples and ensure these meet the water quality standards. They may specialise in working with drinking water, ground water or surface water including rivers, lakes and estuaries. Water quality scientists may need to work closely with businesses, the public or other water industry professionals.
Attributes: communicator, logical, observant
Meet Laura Wilkinson
Laura is a Technical Advisor for the waste water project team at Northumbrian Water. Watch this video to find out more about her work.
