Thinking Matters 2018

Which brand of kitchen roll is the best? – You are a reviewer for Kitchen Monthly and have been asked to review five different brands but which one is the best? The word best can mean different things to different people so the pupils try to investigate properties such as absorbency, strength when dry and wet and value for money. Which brand of indigestion tablet is the best? This is similar to the kitchen roll test except the pupils have to use indigestion tablets to neutralise acid. Firstly they have to make a chemical that is similar in properties to stomach acid and then use universal indicator to determine when the solution is neutral. How much acid can each tablet deal with? Bottle flipping – how does the shape of a bottle and amount of water affect the success rate of a bottle flip? Bottle flipping has become a craze at Dulwich – can you flip a bottle and have it land base down and not fall over? Pupils need to investigate the properties of the bottle and amount of water to determine if there is an optimum set up for bottle flipping.

theory, experiments with liquid nitrogen and many more!

Mackeral dissection in the Lower School Science Society.

During the summer term we have been to Greenwich Observatory with Year 7 where pupils experience the wonders of the Planetarium inside which they are taken on a journey to the edge of the known Universe. They participate in workshops where they learn how to use Kepler’s laws to verify the orbital time of a planet. They look into the possibility of a career as a scientist and learn about the evolution of time pieces across the centuries and the importance that Greenwich played to those in London who wanted accurate time. ‘Science is one of my favourite subjects at Dulwich. I love doing experiments and learning about many different topics. My favourite lesson was when we made slime in Science Society and how we had to test if it was a solid or a liquid. I also enjoyed using eureka cans to measure the volume of an object.’ Charlie, Year 7

Experiments with liquid nitrogen.

‘Science at Dulwich is amazing but it’s even better with Science Society. Every week amazing teachers come up with extremely fun but enlightening experiments that really increase my love for Science.’ Edward, Year 7 Every two weeks we run the Lower School Science Society where pupils are invited to try out a variety of thought-provoking activities. In the past we have had mackerel dissections, egg drop challenges, marshmallow and spaghetti towers, computer intelligence, density rainbows, extracting iron from cereals, making slime, advanced Bunsen burner

The art and science of building marshmallow and spaghetti towers.

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