Science Week

At Rachel Keeling we value the knowledge and exploration that can be gained from children engaging with the world around them and being active participants in their learning. We spark curiosity in children so that they develop agency.
During Science Week, we supported children into see themselves as scientists, carrying out a range of experiments.
Children were introduced to predicting, exploring and observing. Some children were encouraged to hypothesise why the experiments produced the results they did.

Children explored creating and observing reactions: children created erupting volcanoes in the garden by mixing bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. They talked about what happened when the ingredients were mixed and the reaction caused the change of state. Children were so motivated to repeat this and  used vocabulary linked to what they could see, hear and smell (the vinegar!) 
There was also cornflour in the tough tray that children helped to set up: observing and talking about what happened to the flour when you added water. They also noticed that it changed and became hard after story time, when no one had played with it.
Attracting and Repelling: children investigated what happens when liquid soap is added to water containing dirt. They explained the soap repelled the dirt. They also spent time in their own play exploring magnets and a range of materials. Some children were able to say that magnets attract metal but not wood. 
Some children also experimented by exploring the Walking Water Experiment. They were able to observe how the water travelled up the paper towel (we could see it because we added natural food dye) and stuck to the paper towel. This is called 'capillary action'. 

Home learning ideas for you to try at home:
If you would like to make a volcano click here.
For more Science Week experiments you can do at home click here.