Science at home

Help your child with KS1 science at home

• Show your child plants or pictures of plants, such as apple trees, tomato plants, sweet corn, and cabbages and ask them why it is important for humans to grow plants.
• Plant seeds at home. Talk about the things plants need to grow, such as soil, water, light and air. Help them to observe the changes as the plants begin to grow.
• Do you have a pet? Help your child to point out the similarities between animals and humans. Do we both have arms, legs, eyes, ears and a nose? Do we both need food, water and sleep?
• Talk to your child about sources of light. Walk around your environment and point them out: timer switches, clock radio, computer, lamp, light bulb, street lamps, the sun and moon. Which are bright or dim?
• Link science to real life. Talk about how things were in the past and how scientific advances have brought changes. Share books that show non-electrical or old household appliances.
• Give your child a collection of items made from different materials – paper, cardboards, plastics, metals – and ask them to find different ways of grouping them (rough, smooth, shiny, dull or plastic, metal, wood, fabric).
• Point out materials that are found naturally and those that are not (twigs, unpolished/unfinished wood, sand, rocks, water, bone, clay, wool, glass, plastic, paper, cardboard). Ask your child to try sorting the materials into those they thinks are found naturally.
• Talk to your child about how natural materials are changed to make everyday objects. Use resources to help your child learn about the processes involved.

KS2 Science at home

Here are some ideas for you to try:

Cabbage water indicator

Aim:
To determine which substances are an acid and which ones are an alkali.  The cabbage water acts as an indicator, changing colour if it is in contact with an acid or an alkali. Even if the concept of acids and alkalis is too complex for your child, they will wonder at the amazing colour changes in this experiment.

Method:

1. Chop and boil a quarter of a red cabbage
2. Strain off the cabbage water and keep it
3. Note what colour the cabbage water is
4. Place the cabbage water in several clear glasses or in several bowls
5. Place some washing soap powder in one of the glasses or bowls and note down any colour changes
6. Try the same thing with other household substances e.g. vinegar (acid), lemon juice (acid), orange juice (acid), soap (alkali), shampoo (alkali), conditioner (alkali)

The cabbage water should turn pink in acidic solutions, and blue or green in alkaline solutions.

Kids could also go on to make and try different indicators such as the juice from freshly boiled beetroot, blackberry juice or strawberry juice. They could also go on to use these natural colourings to dye some scrap materials.

Make your own lava lamp

Which egg will cook first?

Aim:
To guess which egg will cook first.

Method:

1. Take two pans and fill them with the same amount of water
2. Boil two eggs, one in each pan, but over two different sizes of flame - one larger than the other. Boil both eggs for four minutes
3. Ask your child to guess which egg they think will cook first
4. Then crack them both open and look inside.

Answer: Both eggs should be the same when you open them up, because the water boils at 100 degrees, so even if the one flame is hotter the water will not get any hotter!

Race a balloon-powered car

Make giant bubbles