Room 18's Magical, Mystery tour to the Museum and University.

Last week Room 18 had a great day out , supporting our Science focus.

Museum Trip

On Thursday the 29th we went to the University and Museum. First we went to the Physics lab. There were six activities for us to play with.The first one was a magnetic pulse activity, we got pin tied to string and used that to make the pin levitate. The second activity was to do with static electricity, we rubbed metal poles with possum fur and hovered them near other metal poles, which, because of the static electricity were attracted to them. The third activity was a light bulb that was manually powered with a wheel. The fourth activity was a magnetic liquid called ferrofluid which reacted weirdly to magnetic sources. The fifth one was a light source and we could add different filters and glass shapes that changed the light. The last activity was where we would sit on a rotating chair and hold a spinning bicycle wheel, tilting the wheel would change the way we spun. At the end we also got to shock each other with static electricity,then we lined up, held hands and everyone got a big shock!

After the Physics lab we went to the Museum. First we learned about the equator which in doing so we went to the Butterfly Room as it’s temperature is similar to the equator. We also got taught about how the ocean is becoming acidic. Then we learned about global warming in Antarctica. This included dressing up as Antarctica scientists, learning about the melting ice in Antarctica, turning water acidic using carbon dioxide with our breath and 14 kids climbing into a real Antarctica tent!

At long last we arrived at the Science lab. We were split into two different groups. The first group got to play with some “collision carts”, they were like big skateboards with springs at the end. Kids went on them and we each had theories on what would happen. The second group got to use ultrasonic sensors, similar to echolocation, a skill bats and dolphins use. There was a line graph on a computer and we had to make the same line using the ultrasonic sensors.

Overall it was a very fun and exciting day, everyone had a excellent time and learned something new!

-Nikhil Rawat