Wednesday 16 December 2015

Chemistry in 2015!

2015 has been an exciting year in the world of Chemistry! 

As we wrap up the year, here are some top Chemistry stories of the year! Enjoy:)

Happy holidays!

"Ups and downs of Ebola vaccines, home-brewed heroin, better solar-cell material, why lobster turns from blue to red, and the first new class of antibiotics in years top a banner year for chemistry."

Sunday 29 November 2015

Half-life simply explained

This is for all of you year 11's that are learning about radioactivity and half-life in physics. If you are still having some trouble understanding the "half-life" concept, spare a few minutes of your time, click on the link below and watch this video. 

Hope it helps:)



Saturday 7 November 2015

Heart Dissection!

So this happened yesterday :)

Check out the photos and the 2 videos from Mr. Carter's year 10 heart dissection lesson.

Here is a question for all you heart experts out there:

Why is there a difference between the left and the right side of the heart?

ok, and another one:
Why are arteries thick with elastic properties but veins are thin?

The heart "looks like fish" (Iza) :)



You girls are brave!!! 





Thursday 5 November 2015

Latest in Nanotechnology & Medicine

Hi girls!

In light of our discussion with 10-1 this week on smart materials and nanotechbology, here is an interesting article issued by Scientific American on use of super tiny nanoparticles in medicine. 

Have a read, it's pretty interesting! The future of medicine is quite amazing. (Click on the link to read).


Disguised Nanoparticles Slip Past Body's Immune Defense



Can you tell me, what obstacle did scientist manage to overcome when trying to use nanoparticles to fight disease and tumours?


Sunday 25 October 2015

Blinded by the Light ...

Hello everyone,

Here are some fun photos from last week's year 7 science classes.

We were learning about chemical reactions and how different compounds, molecules, elements can be combined to make new products.


In the photos the girls are burning magnesium, therefore combining the metal with oxygen molecules from the surrounding air. 
This reaction is always quite spectacular!

Do you know some other signs of a chemical reaction?

P.S. Happy half term girls! See ya in a week. 







 



Monday 12 October 2015

In search for Starch!

In year 9 we are currently learning about plants! 

Last week, the girls carried out an investigation to test for presence of starch in leaves that have been exposed to light and leaves that have been kept in the dark. First, the leaves had to be soaked in ethanol and placed in a hot bath to remove chlorophyll (you know that chemical in plant cells that gives leaves the colour green). The girls then used iodine to test for starch. The leaves that turned dark blue/black tested positive for presence of starch.


Which leaves do you think turned dark blue/black and what's PHOTOSYNTHESIS got to do with it? 

The one on the left is clearly positive for starch!

Looking impressed and amazed :P
She took her goggles off only for the photo snap! 

The nicest water bath you've seen in Science!


Soaked in Ethanol!


Saturday 10 October 2015

DNA once again!

Last month the year 9s got to extract DNA from green peas. This Friday, some of the year 8 girls got to have a go as well at doing this very extensive practical. You did a great job and I hope you had fun! 

Below are the results! Not bad girls:) 
The fuzzy bits between the the bottom, greenish pea juice layer and the top, ethanol layer is the DNA! 

P.S. If you could repeat the experiment, what would you do differently to get even better results?


The scientists in action! 



Is it an elements, a molecule or a compound?

I must admit, it can be a bit confusing to tell these particles apart. 
Asiya (7S) did such a great job this week explaining the difference between a molecule and a compound. She definitely deserves a shout out, well done Asiya! :)


Do you know the difference between a molecule and a compound



Wednesday 7 October 2015

Slime!

Hi Year 7s!

Welcome to Science:)
Now that you know all about the 3 states of matter, can you tell us please - what is slime?
 hmmmmm …….is it a solid or a liquid? This is a tricky one.





Saturday 3 October 2015

Ethanol on fire!

In year 11 Chemistry last week we were learning how to calcualte and compare the amount of energy released by various types of fuel in kJ/mole. Some heavy calculations and serous brain power!

The girls carried out an experiment, testing 4 fuels including ethanol, paper, wax and sugar puffs. Afterwords, they calculated the energy released by each fuel. Fantastic work girls! I was impressed and am so proud that you figured out how to do those extensive calculations using nothing but your "smarticles";)

Can you guess which fuel released most energy?





Monday 28 September 2015

Did you see the Supermoon?

On Monday, 28th of September at around 3am the point of greatest eclipse occurred! This is when the Earth, Sun and Moon are almost exactly in line and the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.
If you were up early this morning (which I am sure you were) you may have just seen the "blood moon" up in the skies.

If you would like to learn more about the Supermoon Total Eclipse check out this article by National Geographic: Rare Super Blood Moon Total Eclipse 

Below is a photo of the moon my friend captured all the way from Canada. Doesn't look blood orange but still pretty:)


Tuesday 22 September 2015

Become a balancing expert!

Hey! For those of you trying to figure out the secret behind balancing chemical equations here is a video that I hope will help. It's a slow,  simplified breakdown of how to balance.

Please let me know - was this video useful?

PS To get some more practice balancing equations try the interactive sites below. After all this if you are not an expert I'll be surprised but…... then come find me.



Now practice, practice, practice. 
The more equations you do the better you will get:)





Sunday 20 September 2015

Plucking in Mr. Carter's class!

Last Friday, the year 10's were discussing breathing and gas exchange. They got to see first hand how lungs expand and contract. I hear there was also some heart dissection going on? What did you guys learn? Tell us please:)

Bellow is a footage and some photos from Mr. Carter's plucking lesson.

It's a bloody mess! 
VIEWR DISCRETION IS ADVISED
(for those that really can't handle :P)






Tuesday 15 September 2015

DNA!

This week in Science lessons we extracted DNA from green peas. Take a close look at the photo below, those floating white, stringy bits - that's DNA extracted from the nuclei found inside the cells of a bunch of green peas.
Well done to all the year 9 girls for working swiftly and with such high level of maturity to complete this multistep practical. We had to work fast and it took us a while but in the end we got some DNA:)
You all should be proud, you got some serious prac skills girls!

Monday 14 September 2015

Potassium & Bananas

Last week, in year 11 Chemistry class we saw how incredibly reactive potassium is when we dropped a tiny piece of this metal in water. Did you know that our bodies require a certain level of potassium to keep our blood pressure on point, to control our sugar levels, to keep our heart rate steady and to ensure proper cell function? If about two thirds of our bodies are water and potassium is such a reactive metal, how much potassium is safe to consume? In other words, how many bananas are we allowed to eat in a day?
Read on…

Can eating more than six bananas at once kill you? 

- BBC report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34225517


Art and Science of Sound

Who thought we couldn't see sound?! This is cool.

Click on the link CYMATICS to watch directly from the website and scrawl down for behind the scenes explaining how the experiments were done.