Drew Archer, left, and Adam Le Maitre, both 14, admire their ‘soda snake’ at St Peter Port School. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0738033)
FLAME-FUELLED science experiments were the order of the day at St Peter Port Secondary yesterday.
As part of National Science and Engineering Week, Year 9 was making ‘soda snakes’ by setting fire to silver sand and a mixture of bicarbonate of soda, icing sugar and ethanol.
The experiment went down well with Josh Harvey, 13, who also got the chance to set fire to some pretend money.
‘We don’t normally burn stuff like this. Science is definitely more fun than our other lessons.’
He said his other experiments earlier in the week had not gone as well as his classmates’.
‘My ice cream didn’t go right. It didn’t freeze properly so I ended up with some strawberry ice cream soup instead.’
Adam Le Maitre, 14, said he had enjoyed the morning’s lesson.
‘It’s different to what we normally do – I like doing practical lessons because I don’t have to write as much.’
He added that his snake, despite its length, looked too thin compared with ones that his friends had made.
Lauren Brehaut, 14, said the week’s experiments had been a useful learning experience.
‘We’ve been able to see which ones work and why. I think today’s experiment shows what is flammable,’ she said.
Science teacher Jane Le Page said the experiments had helped the students to see the fun side of science, which was not necessarily what the curriculum was normally about.
‘They’ve been doing all sorts of things: we’ve had a science week quiz, they’ve been designing animals to live on different planets – to link in with Darwin – and we’ve had an astronomy competition in which they can win a telescope.
‘If you make science fun, they will remember what they have learnt,’ she said.
Article posted on 13th March, 2009 - 2.29pm
Most Commented: