Learning from home – Science!

Our top tips and resources for learning science from home with Primary children

Is your child a budding scientist?

Science is one of the most wonderful subjects that lets children learn how academic theory translates into real life. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics can all be explored in your home, and can spark excitement in any child!

Here are some science activities you can do from home…

BIOLOGY – ECOSYSTEMS!

Learning Science from home can be fun. Your garden is a fantastic place to explore ecosystems. For example, you could see how many different animals you can spot in your garden. Once you have a list of animals, you can try and work out why they like your garden and how they might have adapted to live there! If you are feeling really adventurous, you could do this once during the day and then again during the night and see how they compare! 

CHEMISTRY – SLIME!

Fluids like water which flow easily have low viscosity, whereas fluids like cold honey which do not flow so easily have a high viscosity. Cornflour slime is a special type of fluid that doesn’t follow the usual rules of fluid behaviour. When pressure is applied to slime, its viscosity increases and the cornflour slime becomes thicker.

At a certain point, slime actually seems to lose its flow and behave like a solid. Cornflour slime is an example of a shear-thickening fluid. You will need: cornflour, food colouring, a small mixing bowl, a plastic spoon, and water. Then…
1. Pour some cornflour into the mixing bowl.
2. Stir in small amounts of water until the cornflour has become a very thick paste.
3. Choose a fun food colouring and stir in about five drops into the mixture.
4. Stir the slime REALLY slowly – this shouldn’t be hard…
5. Stir the slime REALLY fast – this should be almost impossible!
6. Now punch your slime really hard and fast! By now, it should be a solid.

You can keep your cornflour and water mixture covered in a fridge for several days. If the cornflour settles, stir it to make it work well again.

PHYSICS – PARACHUTE MAN!

A really simple way to learn about air resistance is to make a parachute man!

What you’ll need: Tissue paper or a plastic bag, scissors, a ruler, tape, a hole puncher, twine, and a small non-breakable action figure or miniature doll that may be dropped on the floor.

Next up, find a location to drop your parachute from, e.g. a 2nd floor window, balcony, open staircase!

To make the canopy for the parachute, cut a 30 cm by 30 cm square (12 by 12 inches) out of the tissue paper (or plastic bag), reinforce the corners with tape and punch a hole in each corner.

Next, create suspension lines by cutting four strings from the twine, each 30 cm (12 inches) long.

To assemble your parachute, attach one end of each suspension line to each corner of the tissue paper, fold the canopy in four so its corners lay on top of each other, and knot the unattached ends of the four suspension lines together.

Time to see if he will fly! Try using bigger and smaller parachutes to see what will happen to the speed your little action man falls. Why do you think this is?