Adding water to Calcium Oxide

 After heating some Chalk for about 20 minutes, after it cooled, we added a little water to make Calcium Hydroxide. 

Inflating a Lambs Lung

 It is surprising how big a lambs lung is when inflated. Seeing a Lamb pluck the lungs look small but add air to them, and their full size can be seen. We also noticed the colour change when inflated.

Static Electricity

 Static Electricity - Like charges Repel and Unlike charges attract. It took a lot of practice to get this to work as the students didn't really charge up the rods enough. The Gold Leaf electroscope could be explained using these facts.

The length of the wire is proportional to this length

 Required practical: The length of the wire is proportional to this length. Needing to go back to paper to record the results rather than doing this electronically and plotting in excel to help the students with drawing their own graphs.

Log tables

As I go through A-Level Maths with students, one of the problems they have is with logs. They have never grown up without a calculator and need help understanding what logs and log tables are and how they work; worse, they don't really see a need for them.

Lesson Plan Garlic or Mint as antibiotics

Which is the most effective? Garlic or Mint at killing bacteria. After learning how to create bacterial cultures and then make the agar plates, it is time to put everything together to see if everything works.

Lesson Plan

Have students record their observations and measurements and then analyze and interpret the data to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of garlic and mint at killing bacteria.

Introduce the topic by discussing the importance of bacteria and the various ways in which it can affect human health. Explain that the investigation aims to compare the antibacterial properties of garlic and mint.

Have students research the history and uses of garlic and mint in traditional medicine. They can also research any scientific studies that have been done on the antibacterial properties of these plants.

In small groups, have students design and conduct experiments to test the effectiveness of garlic and mint at killing bacteria. Some possible methods for this could include:

Extracting the essential oils from garlic and mint and using them to treat bacterial cultures

Crushing garlic and mint and applying them directly to bacterial cultures

Making a garlic or mint tea and using it to treat bacterial cultures

Have the groups present their findings and results to the class and lead a discussion to review and evaluate the methods used and the conclusion drawn.nd mint at killing bacteria.

Have the groups present their findings and results to the class and lead a discussion to review and evaluate the methods used and the conclusion drawn.

Introduce the topic by discussing the importance of bacteria and the various ways in which they can affect human health. Explain that the investigation aims to compare the antibacterial properties of garlic and mint.

Miners Safety Lamp

 

Sir Humphry Davy was a British chemist and inventor who made many important contributions to the field of science. One of his most famous inventions was the miner's safety lamp, which he developed in the early 19th century. The lamp was designed to prevent explosions in coal mines, which were a major hazard at the time. It worked by burning a flame that was protected by a wire mesh, which allowed air to circulate but kept the flame from coming into contact with flammable gases that might be present in the mine. Davy's lamp made it much safer for miners to work, and it played a significant role in the industrialization of Great Britain.