Steam Engine

 Energy transfers using a steam engine. There is nothing like having a steam engine in the classroom. The interest level goes up and so does the enthusiasm to control the engine and make hammers work and polishers polish.

Plating results

Investigating the effects of Mint and Garlic on the growth of bacteria. The results were not as good as we had hoped. With different concentrations only the most concentrated had any effect on the development of bacteria, suggesting that these bacterial agents are not that effective.

 

Parliamentary Makeup

 A-Level Sociology. Does Parliament reflect the social makeup of the population it represents in 2025? Book stats are out of date. There is a 60:40 split in men to women. Nearly 24% of MPs went to independent schools and 85% are University graduates. How do you feel about the social makeup?

BSOD

 What is the Blue Screen of Death? What does it mean, and how can we recover from it? A-level computing students find out how to fix the machine so it works again.

Rusting

 Three test tubes after a few weeks. The staple in water and air had all but rusted away, the one in air but no water was untouched, and the one with water and no air because of the oil had only a joint of rusting. The students had to explain why.

Elastic Collisions

Using the magnets on two smartcarts to demonstrate elastic collisions. Using the @pascoscientific Capstone, the before and after graphs can quickly be compared to show the change in momentum and that it is conserved.

 

Practical Maths

 Practical Math. It is okay to do some Math problems, but sometimes it is nice to see and understand the Physics behind them. What is an elastic collision? Watching the Newtons cradle gave an idea about what the Mechanics problem was all about.