Grape indicator - made by Suyeon

Suyeon accepted one of the challenges for the Acids and Alkalis unit and made her own indicator at home. She took photos of each step and presented her work today in the Science lesson. Well done Suyeon!

Step 1 - remove the grape peel from black grapes (the darker the colour, the more dye we can obtain)

Step 2 - cut the peels in small bits, so that we can extract more dye out of them

Step 3 - add hot water and mix well

Step 4 - prepare a filter 

Step 5 - filter the mixture, in order to remove the solid peels from the indicator solution

Step 6 - transfer the indicator extract to a test tube

Step 7 - test the indicator with various substances: vinegar, lemon, green tea

Y7 Acids and alkalis challenges

1.  Memrise course for the Acids and Alkalis unit - the more points you get on the course, the more xp you receive :)
2. Make you own indicator: you can use various colored extracts to test the pH (red cabbage juice, black currant juice etc). Can you identify and test out your own indicator?
3. Prepare a pH scale that shows the pH of everyday substances we use like milk, coffee, eggs, bleach etc. Be as creative as possible in displaying the pH and the substance :)
4. Prepare your own revision materials: newsletter articles, posters, presentations etc.

Edible Cells

Year 7 had to prepare cell models... with a twist. The cells could be made only from edible materials. Everybody was free to chose the cell type - as long as the final model would be edible :)

Here are the projects:

Maya used a waffle and a chocolate for a basic animal cell model.

Adam baked a neuron, topped with marzipan

Isaac chose a simple model - an avocado cut in half is similar to a plant cell.

Sean baked an animal cell.

David baked a leaf cell.

Simon brought in some nerves - rather than making individual cells, he thought about bundles of neurons  

Leaf cell made of chocolate and jelly beans - Krystian

White blood cells - Mr. Copil :)

Animal cell cake - with lots of details - by Adam

Luc prepared a plant cell even though he was not in school. Get well soon Luc!

Off course after presenting our mouth watering cells, we took it one step further and had a small feast :)

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.

Growing Silver Crystals

Ever wondered how growing silver crystals would look like under the microscope?

Here is a sample - an animated gif made from photos taken this week during the Science lessons:

Y7 Challenges for week 20-27 nov

These are the challenges for the current week:

1. Memrise - The Particle Theory
2. Memrise - Solutions
3. Write a newsletter article for the particle theory topic (or any other revision material: spider diagram, poster etc.)
4. Write a newsletter article for the solutions topic (or any other revision material: spider diagram, poster etc.)

The best articles/revision materials will be used to make a newsletter for the blog and the Facebook page!

Creative project about electricity and safety

Last year Cathy surprised me with a very creative project about Electricity and Safety - the Electricity "handbag". Below you can see some photos of the project:

it even has its own handles

and don't forget recycling is important!

half-opened hand bag

fully opened handbag

Never thought of combining electricity with handbags - but then again this is what I like the most about my students - they show tremendous creativity when working on their projects.

Well done Cathy!

Why do we study Chemistry at school?

Do you think Chemistry is important? Just look around you and you will see loads of things that would not be there without Chemistry - from the paint on the wall of your room, to the soft drinks and snacks you grab on your evening out; from the fuels our cars use to the medicine that treats diseases; from the LCD to your phone, tablet or computer - all have parts that involve at least one chemical process in their production. The list could go on forever - but instead of compiling a long list, I'll let you watch a short video about it:

y7 Challenges for the week 4-8 nov

These are the challenges for this week (due next week on Friday):

1. Make your own layered ”density tower" using any materials you have around the house. Here is an example:

How do you explain the fact that the liquids form separate layers?

Take some photos or make a video with your own density tower.

Here's a short video with some instructions on how to make your own tower.

2. The Memrise course will shortly be up - remember you get xp depending on how many points you have on the site!