What do you think the nose is used for? Why do we have a nose? To smell – did you know that the olfactory organ helps us smell odours? To breathe – did you know that 15,000 litres of air are filtered daily? To speak – the nose forms a resonating cavity for the voice…
Jelly is a great way to learn about changes of state as first it dissolves in hot water and then sets to become solid as it cools. Why does jelly set? Jelly sets because of a protein called collagen. Collagen is made up of three protein fibers wrapped around each other. Jelly contains gelatin, which…
Looking at food groups is such a fun thing to do. It gives children a real insight into the types of food they eat, and you can use it as an opportunity for taste testing. For younger children, you can introduce food groups in terms of what they are: There are five basic groups. Then…
This germination science investigation is very simple but fascinating. Did you know you can grow a bean in a jar with just a little water? Once the seed has germinated, you can place it in soil for the plant to finish growing. The jar allows children to see the seeds, roots and shoots easily. What…
Curdling is a process by which a liquid is transformed into a soft semi-solid or solid mass. We can see this happen in a straightforward experiment! Milk is made up of proteins, fats, sugar and water. The protein molecules ( mostly casein ) are suspended in the liquid, where they move freely. Milk is a…
Do you know how many feet tall you are ( using your own feet )? This activity is great for preschoolers but could also be extended for older children too. We investigated by drawing around our own feet, cutting them out and then working out how many of our own feet tall we were. If…
Today we are looking at how we know objects are made from different materials. I gave my children this pile of toys and asked what they thought the toys were made from. These activities are all great to sit alongside a materials topic for Key Stage 1. Sort them! – Materials for Key Stage 1…
It is always tricky to get children to understand that living things can get eaten by other living things. We have tried very hard to make sure my children know that a chicken in a packet was once a live chicken and that they are food for us. So with that in mind, we decided…
I wanted to get my children thinking about the process of investigation today, so we talked about how we could test whether some structures were stronger than others using DUPLO. They decided to build three different shaped towers and test them by rolling a ball at them. The first is a simple tower, the second…
When I brought out the spaghetti and marshmallows, I think my children thought we were having some kind of weird and wonderful dinner, not building structures. This is a great STEM activity for children of most ages, as you can tailor it to their understanding. I let my 2-year-old build whatever she wanted, and she…
End of content
End of content