Science for Fun Enrichment Workshop Reflections on 12th April 2011
From today’s Science for Fun enrichment workshop, I have learnt many new and interesting science facts. In the workshop, there were activities such as ‘Moving Air’, ‘Human Battery’, ‘Eye Model’, ‘Tornado Tube’, ‘Top Secret’, ‘Pineapple Gelatin’, ‘Lava Lamp’, ‘Blue Bottle’, and ‘Absorption of Heavy Metal Ions’.
For the ‘Moving Air’ activity, the setup consisted of a hair-dryer on a retort stand a ping-pong ball, and a Styrofoam cup with a hole at the bottom. The ping pong ball floated above the hair-dryer when it was turned on, and the Styrofoam cup directed the air from the hair-dryer. The ping-pong ball floated gently above the hair-dryer without falling off.
For the next activity, the ‘Human Battery’, it consisted of a circuit with two metal plates, copper and aluminum. It was supposed to show a voltage when someone places hands on each plate. For the next activity, the ‘Eye Model’, it was a setup consisting of a plastic eye, and it showed how long sightedness and short sightedness can be cured by using appropriate lenses. Lenses could be slotted into the eye, which was filled with water, and an image from in from of the eye could be seen from a plastic piece inside, which was supposed to be a retina.
For the following activity, it was a setup consisting of two bottles fixed together by the heads with one bottle nearly filled with water. When shaken upside down, the water formed into a vortex and flowed into the lower bottle.
The following activity was ‘Top Secret’, which consisted of a magnetic top being spun on a magnetic stand.
The next activity was ‘Pineapple Gelatin’. It was a setup consisting of pineapple gelatin, pineapple juice, and water. Different mixtures were added into test tubes and the test tubes were cooled in a cooling tray for a few minutes. Two out of the three test tubes filled with some of these mixtures solidified, while the first test tube had its mixture remaining in liquid form.
For the next activity, it was a demonstrative experiment shown by one of the trainers. Some coloured water was added into a bottle of oil. As oil is lighter than water, the oil rose above the coloured water. Next, an Alka-Seltzer tablet was dropped into the oil and water. It sank to the bottom, being denser than both the liquids. When the tablet started to dissolve in the coloured water, carbon dioxide gas was produced. The gas rose above the oil, carrying some of the coloured water with it. The liquid sank to the bottom after reaching the top, when the gas escapes.
For the next experiment, the ‘Blue Bottle’, the experiment consisted of glucose solution, sodium hydroxide solution, and Methylene blue solution. First, the sodium hydroxide was mixed with the glucose. Next, the Methylene blue solution was added in. The solution turned blue, and was left to stand for a few minutes. After a while, the solution lost its blue colour and turned colourless. However, when the bottle that the solution was in was capped and shaken, the solution turned blue again.
For the last activity, it was ‘Absorption of Heavy Metal Ions’. It was about putting samples of copper (II) ion and orange peel, reacting, and the solution was put in a machine to be read. The concentration of the solution was then found.
For the next activity, the ‘Human Battery’, it consisted of a circuit with two metal plates, copper and aluminum. It was supposed to show a voltage when someone places hands on each plate. For the next activity, the ‘Eye Model’, it was a setup consisting of a plastic eye, and it showed how long sightedness and short sightedness can be cured by using appropriate lenses. Lenses could be slotted into the eye, which was filled with water, and an image from in from of the eye could be seen from a plastic piece inside, which was supposed to be a retina.
For the following activity, it was a setup consisting of two bottles fixed together by the heads with one bottle nearly filled with water. When shaken upside down, the water formed into a vortex and flowed into the lower bottle.
The following activity was ‘Top Secret’, which consisted of a magnetic top being spun on a magnetic stand.
The next activity was ‘Pineapple Gelatin’. It was a setup consisting of pineapple gelatin, pineapple juice, and water. Different mixtures were added into test tubes and the test tubes were cooled in a cooling tray for a few minutes. Two out of the three test tubes filled with some of these mixtures solidified, while the first test tube had its mixture remaining in liquid form.
For the next activity, it was a demonstrative experiment shown by one of the trainers. Some coloured water was added into a bottle of oil. As oil is lighter than water, the oil rose above the coloured water. Next, an Alka-Seltzer tablet was dropped into the oil and water. It sank to the bottom, being denser than both the liquids. When the tablet started to dissolve in the coloured water, carbon dioxide gas was produced. The gas rose above the oil, carrying some of the coloured water with it. The liquid sank to the bottom after reaching the top, when the gas escapes.
For the next experiment, the ‘Blue Bottle’, the experiment consisted of glucose solution, sodium hydroxide solution, and Methylene blue solution. First, the sodium hydroxide was mixed with the glucose. Next, the Methylene blue solution was added in. The solution turned blue, and was left to stand for a few minutes. After a while, the solution lost its blue colour and turned colourless. However, when the bottle that the solution was in was capped and shaken, the solution turned blue again.
For the last activity, it was ‘Absorption of Heavy Metal Ions’. It was about putting samples of copper (II) ion and orange peel, reacting, and the solution was put in a machine to be read. The concentration of the solution was then found.
Overall, I liked the ‘Eye Model’ activity the most, as I found it very interesting, as it showed how the human eye worked, and how the image seen would be inverted on the retina. I feel that this Science for Fun workshop was an enjoyable experience for me, and I look forward to a similar enriching workshop like this in future.
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