Merry Christmas

It's that time of the year when everybody is busy decorating Christmas trees, packing for holidays or shopping for delicious foods and gifts.

We've made our own Chemistree at school this week.

first step: fix on a stand all types of glassware: beakers, conical flasks, rounded bottom flasks, test tubes, boiling tubes, measuring cylinders, pear shaped flasks

 next, fill them with indicators

and add a touch of colour by adding various acids and alkalis

and voila

I wish you all a Merry Christmas 

and a Scientifically Happy New Year!

Revision time

This week we have focused on revision. How do you revise for the end of unit tests?

I recommended a couple of options during the lessons:

1. Taking your own revision notes helps a lot, because while you do that, you access the information on several channels (you read it, you process the info and try to rephrase it in your own words or reorganise it so it makes more sense for yourself and then you write it/draw it).
2. Using revision sheets I provided you with - this is not as effective as making your own materials, because you take a more passive role - you just read the information
3. Using flash cards - either make your own, or use the Memrise courses I created. This is particularly helpful if you are struggling with key terms
4. Answering questions from the textbook or from question banks - this is a great way to check your understanding. Try to answer the questions and then compare your answer to the one from the marking scheme
5. Don't forget about using your creativity - anything goes, from writing a song about the structure of a cell to drawing the map of an island powered by various energy resources or a story about a working day of a genetics specialist. Feel free to use your imagination and make a material that suits your needs!

Below is an example of such a revision material. Maya prepared it for the Energy resources topic. She included several methods - writing her own revision notes, making flashcards, spider diagrams and even prepared a quiz. Well done Maya! You received 300xp for this.

Flashcards + spider diagram = :)

Maya went the extra mile - we did not cover much about nuclear power in class, so she did her own research about it :)

Pollution caused by various fuels is indeed a serious issue

loved the Simpsons reference :)

y9 challenges for the week 5-12 dec

Keep in mind the end of term test is upon us - we will have the test on the 13th of December. For this reason, most of the challenges for this week will be related to revising for the test :)

1. Make sure you know the symbols for the most commonly used elements. You can use use the Memrise for it as well.

2. Revise, revise, revise - make your own revision materials (spider diagrams, presentations, posters etc.) 

3. This Friday is the deadline for the dog breeds project. You need to prepare a poster/presentation about a dog breed of your choice - include as many details as possible about the characteristics the dogs were bred for and try to relate it to the genetic aspects

You could use tools/sites like this one for selecting the breed: http://animal.discovery.com/breed-selector/dog-breeds.html

y8 challenges for the week 4 - 11 dec

Keep in mind the end of term test is upon us - we will have the test on the 12th of December. For this reason, most of the challenges for this week will be related to revising for the test :)

1. Practice the key words using Memrise:

• heating and cooling
• microbes and disease

2. Make sure you know the symbols for the most commonly used elements. You can use use the Memrise for it as well.

3. Revise, revise, revise - make your own revision materials (spider diagrams, presentations, posters etc.) and use also the materials I've handed to you before. By this Friday, you should finish preparing the materials for the first two units we have covered this year: Heating and cooling and Microbes and disease.

4. You cans still make your own sentences/words using the symbols from the Periodic Table. I already got some really good examples from some of you :)  

y7 challenges for the week 4 - 11 dec

Keep in mind the end of term test is upon us - we will have the test on the 13th of December. For this reason, most of the challenges for this week will be related to revising for the test :)


1. Practice the key words using Memrise:

• energy resources
• particle theory
• solutions

2. Make your own revision materials - be it spider diagrams, newsletter articles, presentations - you can choose the format

3. Make a geode in an egg shell. Geodes are rocks that can be plain on the outside, but have beautiful crystals on the inside. You can easily make geode like structures in egg shells using your knowledge about solutions and evaporation. Here is a tutorial about it:

If you want to take it to the next level, you could try to make an edible geode out of sugar and chocolate:

Super saturated solutions

A super saturated solution is very unstable - even a small shock can trigger the crystallisation of the dissolved substance (as you've already seen during the lesson). This is an example of a super saturated sodium acetate solution.