Sixth Class

 

Science Week 2011

During Science Week 6th class put on an interactive science show for other classes in the school. Our class worked on experiments individually, in pairs and in small groups with lots of participation from the audience. We had a great fun organising it. Some of the boys in our class wrote about the experiments they conducted.

Fingerprints by Glenn Cheasty and Jordan Lonergan

Everyone has a unique finger print. Finger prints are mainly used to identify people. Police and detectives use fingerprints to identify criminals. There are 3 types of finger prints such as the loop, arch and the whirl. With the help of my assistant Jordan Lonergan, I brought up four volunteers and took their fingerprints. The first had a whirl, the second a loop, the third an arch and the fourth a loop.

 

Static Electricity by Glenn Cheasty and Séan Byrne

Static electricity is caused by friction. Electrons can be rubbed onto a surface by friction or rubbed off a substance by friction. Have you ever got a static shock when you touch the handle of your car door or when you touch a railing in a clothes shop? During the science show Séan demonstrated static electricity by rubbing a balloon off my hair. The hair then stood up. He also rubbed the balloon off my jumper. The tissue and paper then attached to the balloon like a magnet because an electric charge had been created (small amount of electricity).

 

Waterproof Materials by Séan Barrett

All cloth and fabrics tend to let in water. Did you ever get caught in a heavy rain shower? We often need our cloths to be waterproof, like a mountain climbers for example. For them waterproof clothing may be a matter of life and death. I’m going to tell you how to make tissue waterproof. I used tissue, newspaper and vaseline. First I put the news paper on the bottom and put two pieces of tissue on top, one with Vaseline and one without. I poured two teaspoons of water on each to make it a fair test. The tissue with the vaseline was waterproof and the newspaper underneath did not get wet. The other tissue was not waterproof and the newspaper underneath did get wet. I proved that you can make materials waterproof.

 

Sound Waves by Jack Foley

The experiment I did was called Sound Waves. First Ms. Farrelly got a candle and lit it. Next I got a biscuit tin and a ruler, I hit the biscuit tin with the ruler and the flame shook. We could see the sound waves in action with every bang of the ruler.

 

Bending light by Bartosz Kos

I did an experiment on bending light. On the day I got a jar of water and put a ruler in it. I called up people and told them to look at it from different angles the people saw that it looked as if it was bending. This is because our eyes use light to see various objects all the time, but when this light travels through different mediums such as water or air, it changes direction slightly.

 

Optical Illusions by Dylan Thomas

I proved that sometimes our eyes play tricks on us. I made a toy with a pencil, paper, scissors and tape. I drew an apple on the paper and cut it out. I then drew an arrow on the other side. I stuck them back to front on a pencil. Then I spun quickly. It looks like the apple is in the arrow. It’s like in cartoons when pictures look as if they are moving very fast. I proved with the help of volunteers that your eyes can get mixed up and confused.

How To Make An Egg Float by Brian Cooke and James Hutchinson

Hello, I’m Brian Cooke. My friend James and I did an experiment to see whether an egg could float in water when you add salt to it. We got a glass of water and put an egg in it. The egg sank. We then poured in salt and it floated. We proved that the saltwater is denser than ordinary water and that’s why it floated. The Dead Sea in Israel has enough salt in it to make a man float in it.

 

Lemon Soap by Bartosz Kos

The experiment that I had to demonstrate on the science show was called Lemon Soap. In order to do this experiment I only had to use baking soda and lemon juice. I had to put in two teaspoons of baking powder and a bit of lemon juice. When I mixed them all together it caused an eruption. This happens because the baking soda is a base and the lemon juice is an acid. When they mix together they react by bubbling up. This was an exciting experiment and also an easy one.

 

Marble Experiment by Dylan Keane

Hi I’m Dylan Keane. I conducted an experiment on displacement. I dropped marbles into a cup of 100ml of water. The water rose. However when I removed the marbles I measured the water again and it was still 100ml.I proved that the amount of water had stayed the same. This is called displacement.

Living Things by Dylan Keane

I also did an experiment which demonstrated how plants use tiny pipes to transport liquid around them. The pipes are usually difficult to see but we can make them visible. If you have a cup celery and red dye you can do this experiment. Cut the end of the celery with a sharp knife. Put it in the cup and leave it for two days. You will be able to see the results in about two days. This is a really good experiment to try and it is fun for the children.

 

High and Dry by Owen Lenihan

Sometimes it is hard to believe what you see with your own eyes. I conducted an experiment on how to put a tissue into water without getting it wet. First you need a jar, a basin of water and a tissue. Next put the tissue into the jar and place the jar in the water upside down quickly but not too quickly. Then pull it out fast enough and the water will (hopefully) be dry. The reason it is (hopefully) dry is because the jar is filled with air which takes up space.

 

Softie test by Patrick Walsh

I did an experiment about the 5 senses actually one in particular, the sense of touch. I called a member from the audience to help me with this and I asked him to close his eyes and separate the soft from the hard objects, which I had placed on a paper plate. I proved that the sense of touch is very handy in our every day lives.

 

Oil and Water by Nathan Aldridge and Kieran Daniels

We did the oil and water experiment. First we had a jar of water and put some oil in it.The oil floated to the top. The reason why this happened is because the oil is less dense than the water.

 

Optical Illusions by Nathan Aldridge

I also did two optical illusion tricks. The first one was that I had a bit of paper and made it vanish. The second illusion was that I had two pieces of cardboard, one red and one not. I got them to change from the inside to the outside.

Floating and sinking by Zac Cullinane

I did an experiment on floating and sinking. I made marla into a ball shape and a boat shape. Which one do you think sank? The marla shaped like a ball sank and the marla shaped like a boat floated. This is because objects made of dense, heavy materials can be made to float is their weight can be spread out over a big enough amount of water.

 

Sight Test by Zac Cullinane

I also did an experiment on sight. I had a sheet with the words of colours but the words had a different colour to their name. I asked a volunteer to come up and just say the colours. This demonstrated sense of sight.

 

The Volcano by Bartosz Kos and Seán Byrne

The experiment we did in the science show was called The Erupting Volcano. To do this experiment we had to use baking soda, vinegar, a little bit of red food dye and a volcano made by Séan. I had to put in 3 teaspoons of baking soda, a bit of vinegar and food dye for effect. When I did that the volcano erupted. That happens because the baking soda is a base and the vinegar is an acid when they mix together they produce invisible carbon dioxide. It looked like lava was flowing from the volcano. This experiment is a very good one and it is also fun.