We were recently joined by Springwell Village Primary School’s Year 5 students for a chemistry lesson which had two aims. The first, to provide experiences of chemical changes that they would otherwise only be able to learn theoretically. The second, to have fun (in a safe environment) and to breed enthusiasm for science.
Students observed demonstrations involving colour changes, smoke and flames, learning valuable safety points at the same time. They investigated the changes that occur when copper reacts with a solution containing silver, before proceeding to the main part of the lesson. The main activity of the session was making and testing hydrogen gas.
The students were a credit to their school (and parents), displaying excellent listening and reasoning skills, also showing resilience if their initial attempts weren’t fruitful. All students produced at least one tube by the end of the session, with many achieving several squeaky pops.
The lesson culminated with loud bangs as hydrogen rockets were fired across the laboratory, met with much excitement from the class.