Science Zone
Welcome to the Science Zone!
At the Discovery School, we love exploring, experimenting and enquiring. The Science Zone is the place where we share our love of science.
We thought your families would like to join in the fun too, so on this page, you will find experiments for you to try at home (with the support of an adult). Remember to take photos of your super science and email them to one of the science team so that we can share your brilliant work with the world! Click on the images below to have fun with rocket science!
*If you or one of your family members does not want their picture on the website, please share your work with us in another way, perhaps print a photo off at home and bring it into school.*
Miss Charlton: acharlton@discovery.kent.sch.uk
Miss Roe: eroe@discovery.kent.sch.uk
Miss Dey: kdey@discovery.kent.sch.uk
What's happening in Term 3?
Term 3 Science Days
Have a look to see the special science days that you can celebrate at home! This term, it's the Big Bird Watch.Click on the link here to download a pack: Big Bird Watch Pack
Scientist of Term 3 2022-23 - Dr Jane Goodall.
“My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.”
It's time again to take a deep dive into one of our class namesakes. Lots of the children at The Discovery School know all about Jane Goodall and her work as a primatologist. When Dr Jane Goodall began her work with chimpanzees in the 1960s, she took an unorthodox (unusual) approach in her research. She immersed herself in their habitat and their lives to experience their complex society as a neighbour rather than an observer. Shecame to understand them not only as a species, but also as individuals with emotions and long-term bonds. Dr. Jane Goodall’s discovery in 1960 that chimpanzees make and use tools is considered one of the greatest achievements of twentieth-century scholarship. Her field research at Gombe transformed our understanding of chimpanzees and redefined the relationship between humans and animals in ways that continue to emanate around the world.
(https://www.janegoodall.org/our-story/about-jane/)
Science superstars! Year 3
Year 3 have been science superstars as they have been helping to protect Earth's diverse wildlife. Each class has adopted an animal through the Born Free Foundation. Curie class now have a beautiful Orca named Springer whose habitat is the oceans of British Columbia in Canada. Seacole class have helped to save Ethiopian Wolves by adopting a family who are native to the Ethiopian highlands in Africa. Nightingale Class have taken a pangolin which they have name Patrick-Paul, under their wings. Pangolins are fascinating animals who can be found in the wild in sub-Saharan Africa. All three classes are very excited about finding out lots of information about the habitats of their new 'pets' and how climate change is impacting them.
Science Superstars #2! Year 5
Year 5 had a fantastic time inside the Astrodome to launch their Earth and Space topic. They were able to see and feel real space rocks and watch an exciting planetarium show! They loved watching the stars and learning all about the constellations and phases of the moon.
What's happening in Term 2?
Scientist of Term 2 2022-23 - Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist and engineer who has worked on projects including the development of satellites, instruments for the Gemini telescope in Chile, and hand-held devices to detect land mines in former war zones.
She has also presented different TV programmes including CBeebies ‘Stargazing' and 'The Sky at Night' and written many books on space. Her ambition is to go to space one day.
Source: Explorify.co.uk
What's happening in Term 1?
Scientist of Term 1 2022-23 - Dr Charlotte Armah
Dr Charlotte Armah is a scientist from the UK who may not be vary popular among children, as she researches health benefits of eating BROCOLLI! She is a Nutritional Biochemist at the Institute of Food Research whose work is all about looking into the importance of eating healthily. Dr Charlotte Armah's work allows her to combine scientific expertise (developed through comprehensive school, a degree and PhD), a keen interest in helping others (encouraged by voluntary work and her Christian faith) and an enjoyment of meeting and interacting with different people. She has been very successful in science, presenting her work all over the world, without feeling that science has ever been an obsession. Rather than playing with chemistry sets as a child, she preferred to sing along to the Radio 1 pop music charts.
Adapted from: https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/228594/charlotte-armah
https://www.ocr.org.uk/blog/six-black-british-pioneers-of-stem/
https://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/charlotte-armah#
Science Superstars! EYFS
This term, we are celebrating the incredible science learning of the children in EYFS. They have been thinking about how the seasons change and noticed that in Autumn leaves fall from the trees. They collected the most interesting leaves that they could find and re-created their families. I wonder if you can spot the family with twins? How about the family whose mummy is pregnant? Well done to our Science Superstars in EYFS, we are very proud of you!
Background Science:
There are several reasons why deciduous trees lose their leaves:
- It means the tree spends less energy through the harsh winter
- It conserves moisture within the trunk and keeps it from drying out
- It allows wind to blow through the branches, putting less strain on the tree – a serious concern in winter storms and gales
Term 6: Success at the Quiz Club National Science Championships!
On Monday 4th July 2022, The Discovery School science team made their way to the Light auditorium in London to put their science knowledge to the test in the Quiz Club National Finals. The team, made up of Edward, Aiden, Aimee and Ruby competed against 26 other teams who had travelled from as far away as Bristol, Manchester and even Wales! The teams had worked hard to make it through the online semi-finals and quarter-final to be here.
The auditorium buzzed with excitement and nerves as the children settled down and devised their strategies while the quiz-master, Simon, put all of the children at ease. Once the rules of the quiz were explained, silence fell upon the room and the first question was asked. You could have cut the tension with a knife!
Despite some of the questions being challenging, the children conferred, persevered and worked incredibly well as a team. At the end of round One, The Discovery School were in 4th place. In the following rounds, The Discovery School team kept us all on tenterhooks, dropping down to 24th but then moving steadily up and we finished in an amazing joint 5th place!
We are all so very proud of the children’s achievements and thankful to their parents for coming along to cheer them on. In addition, a big thank you to Mrs Dey for holding practice sessions at school so that the children were cool, calm and collected on the big day! We cannot wait to do it again next year!
If you’re wondering if you would make the team, here is a taster of some of the questions the children were asked:
Who do we associate with the discovery of radium and polonium?
- Marie Cure B) Rosalind Franklin C) Alexander Fleming D) Humphry Davy
What is the chemical symbol for lead?
- Pl B) Pb C) L D) Lu
Friction makes what kind of motion impossible?
- Reciprocating motion B) Oscillating motion C) Rotary motion D) Perpetual motion
Answers: A, B, D
Scientist of Term 6: Marie Curie
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood."
I am sure that you have heard of our scientist this term as one of our year 3 classes is named after her. Marie Curie is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium, and her huge contribution to finding treatments for cancer. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, in Physics, and with her later win, in Chemistry, she became the first person to claim Nobel honors twice. Her efforts with her husband Pierre led to the discovery of polonium and radium, and she championed the development of X-rays.
Adapted from Mariecurie.com and biography.com
Term 6: Family Sssssscience
Term 5 Science Championship News
We are so proud of our Year 5 and 6 scientists for making it to the second round of the Quiz Club National Science Championships! Four teams from The Discovery School took part and two of the teams made it through to the next heat in February. Well done, we are so proud of you!
*Update*
Following the heat in February, one of our school teams has been invited to the Quiz Club National Science Championship Finals in June! If all goes well, the finals will be held in person in London! Well done to all of our champion scientists!
Scientist of Term 4: Tu YouYou
"Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world."
I wonder if you have heard of the scientist we have chosen to celebrate this term. Her name is Tu YouYou and she became the first Chinese woman to win the Nobel Prize in 2015 for her work in creating an anti-malaria drug which has saved millions of lives in Asia and Africa. Interestingly, Tu YouYou used her knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine to assist the development of the drug. Tu YouYou was born in 1930 in Ningbo, China. Her parents impressed upon her and her siblings the importance of education, but Tu YouYou had to take a 2-year break when she contracted tuberculosis (a nasty disease which often affects the lungs) when she was 16. Upon her return to education, she knew that she wanted to study medicine and to find cures for diseases.
Adapted from: https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/tu-youyou
Term 4: Family Science - British Science Week Special!
Scientist of Term 3: Dame Sarah Catherine Gilbert DBE
“I am passionate about inspiring the next generation of girls into Stem careers."
Our scientist for Term 3 is the vaccinologist Professor Sarah Gilbert. She is a very important scientist because she led the team at Oxford University who designed one of the Coronavirus vaccines (a vaccine is a medicine that is put into your body. It helps your body learn how to fight germs that might make you ill).
In the 1990s, Professor Gilbert began to work at Oxford University. She studied a disease called malaria. Then she began to work on vaccines against malaria, ebola and other deadly viruses.
The coronavirus was discovered in December 2019. In early 2020, Professor Gilbert began to work on a vaccine for it. Her team in Oxford worked on the virus and designed a vaccine in just one weekend!
Did you know...
A Barbie doll was made to honour Dame Sarah Gilbert. She hopes that having a Barbie doll will show children different career choices that they might not have known about before, like vaccinologists.
Term 3: Family Science
Get your family involved with these science investigations all about the body. Remember to email the science teams with your photos (see above for email addresses). We can't wait to see your work!
Scientist of Term 1: Mae Jemison
“Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” Mae Jemison.
Our Scientist of the Term links Black History Month and National Space Week, which are both celebrated in the month of October.
Mae Jemison is best known as the first Black woman to travel to space, she is an American engineer, physician and astronaut. Born in 1956, Jemison first studied Chemical Engineering and went on to study Medicine at Cornell. She then spent 2 years as a Peace Corps medical officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Upon her return to the US, Jemison changed career and, in 1987, was admitted to the NASA astronaut training program. On 12 September 1992, Jemison became the first Black woman to travel to space, where she spent just under 8 days orbiting the Earth. (adapted from https://www.varsity.co.uk/science/19693. Photo Credits: biography.com, space.com)
Term 1: Family Science
