No subject is too hard if taught with passion and a practical, hands-on approach, as our Year 5 and Year 6 Primary students were able to find out for themselves when our Secondary Science teacher Alice suggested to work together on a series of space & practical science workshops on the subject of...planet Mars!
Our budding scientists donned their white lab coats and, split into 5 different groups, got down to work on the following areas of research:
- Group 1 focused on "Getting to Mars" – launching various rockets to investigate how their physical features affect how far and fast they travel.
- Group 2 explored the issue of "Growing plants on Mars" – investigating the factors that affect how well seeds germinate in different conditions, to understand how we will be able to farm crops on Mars.
- Group 3 had the task of "Looking inside Mars" – taking core samples and looking at how we study the formation of volcanoes to better understand the structure of the planet. Bicarbonate of soda and vinegar were handy to make volcanic lava for their experiments and chocolate mars bars allowed them to extract strata samples to look at!
- Group 4 looked at historic missions and "Observing Mars" – the history of our space missions to find out more about planet Mars and how rovers are able to move around on the surface of the planet in order to take samples and collect data.
- Group 5 made it to the surface of the Red Planet "Landing Safely on Mars" – and they looked at the formation of impact craters. They also built lander modules suitable for protecting an astronaut on a trip to Mars.
What an exciting two weeks it was for our Primary students, a time of discoveries and fun experiments that certainly sparked an interest and passion for science work!
A huge thank you to our teacher Alice, who made these workshops possible and these practical experiments so much fun.
The transition experience for Years 5 and 6 from Primary science to practical lab workshops has been invaluable to our students and and has inspired all our teachers at La Côte International School.