Earthday 2021

 A very easy thing to do on #EarthDay2021 plant some wild flowers. Help restore the natural flora and help the insects as well.

Earth Day 22nd April Looking at alternative energy and finite resources

With #EarthDay2021 a couple of days away, I have been looking at renewable energy and the finite resources the Earth has left with some of my students.

In the science syllabus there are chapters on the Earths finite resources, but this doesn't seem to mean much to the students. Yea they understand that many of the metals are fast running out and won't be available in just a few years but the thought hasn't stuck home yet.

The students coming to my home are still surprised to see solar panels on the roof - are they any good, do they save any money.

Yes I do have cameras and computers on working from home but I am generating all my own electricity during the daytime.

I heat my water with solar thermal and make electricity using solar panels. My bills are lower

But it still doesn't mean anything to the students.

They all still need to have the latest phone and won't recycle the old one. They use more and more energy and although they worry about climate change it's up to someone else to do something.

Friction and Forces

 

#GCSE #Physics Looking at forces. A box is filled with some mass to make it heavy and then pulled across a surface. What happens if we put more elastic bands on, does it get easier or harder to pull. What happens if we spill oil or water on the table does it get easier to pull? #iteachphysics

New Tension Protractors

Two @pascoscientific tension protractors arrived today from @SciChemEdu I was a little surprised when they came unexpectedly. Been trying them out. Hopefully this will make forces and moments easier for my students to visualise and understand. #iteachphysics 

Amylase + Starch

 #GCSE #science looking at the reaction of Amylase with Starch. Every 10 seconds we took a sample.

By 30 seconds most of the Starch had gone in within a minute all of it had turned to Maltose. Shows how fast enzymes are. Even better to do this in a spectrometer #biology

A fish fossil under the microscope

 Looking at a fossil fish under the microscope.. A few million years old but the fish hasn't really changed much. The student used a stereo microscope to view the fossil. #FossilFriday #fossil #Science

Ideal Gas Equation

 Working out PV=nRT the ideal Gas Equation in #alevels #Physics from @pascoscientific supplied by @SciChemEdu The Capstone software shows the results quickly and easily so we do these experiments in a few minutes to remind the students before their tests. #iteachphysics