The Fascinating Growth of Crystals – Year 10 ChemistryDuring the final Year 10 Chemistry lessons before Christmas we investigated crystal growth. They have been learning about crystal lattices and applied their newfound knowledge by growing some festive silver “snowflakes” via a displacement reaction with copper, and colourful crystal gardens via precipitation reactions forming transition metal silicates. +1
Y12 student invited to Cambridge university to present her science essayMiranda in year 12 spent a large part of her summer researching and writing an essay for the Gonville & Caius, Cambridge ‘Caius Explore’ programme. Miranda’s submission for ‘How will quantum technology have changed our world by 2100’ was chosen as one of the best within the programme. Yestrday,... Miranda spent the day at the college to attend an open day. She had a tour of the college and a celebratory lunch with directors of studies and fellows in hall. What a memorable experience and a great way to start Miranda’s A level studies. See more
Science week 2021: Day 2We continued our festival of science with Year 9 dissecting sheep eyes and a huge ox heart in biology, and Year 6 discovering the hidden world of the very small with a microscope activity. The Big Science Quiz was completed by Year 8 and started by Year 12, and Year 3 made their Lava Lamps. Year 5 continue... to lead in the photo competition, with additional chemistry-themed entries submitted to Thomas over the course of the day. All entries must be emailed to tjmw@hchnet.co.uk by the end of school on Friday. See more
Science week 2021: Day 1Today we began our annual celebration of science, technology, and engineering with half of year 7 and all of year 8 completing their coin plating chemistry activity and year 4 making beautiful lava lamps. We launched a competition to produce a presentation on the challenges facing technology (deadline:... end of school on friday, entries to Neelu- nva@hchnet.co.uk ) Entries continued to come in for the science photography competition with Year 5 leading the way with some excellent photographs showcasing botany, metallurgy, and engineering. Further entries should be emailed to Thomas at tjmw@hchnet.co.uk by the end of school on Friday. This afternoon, Years 1-4 had an outside assembly showcasing the power of chemistry with some dramatic demonstrations of how energy and gaseous products can be released rapidly during reactions. The assembly finished with an opportunity to meet one of the most beautiful and enigmatic creatures to live locally, the Barred Grass Snake (Natrix helvetica) – our specimen, “Gollum”, is a gorgeous 2-foot example with bright green sides and lots of personality! See more
Science week 2021: Monday 14th- Friday 18th JuneWe cannot wait for Science Week 2021 from Monday to Friday next week. We will post all the news and photos to the website but here is the full programme of amazing activities and events: The Big Science Quiz – This will be open to years 5 upwards. Years 5-9 will complete it in a science lesson, Year... 10+ will be able to complete it in form time. The Annual Science Photo Competition – Open to all students and staff – please email entries of any photos with a science, nature, technology, or engineering theme to tjmw@hchnet.co.uk by the end of school on Friday 18th June. Biology science week activity in science lessons for Years 7-9 – dissection of a heart or an eye, plus demo dissections Chemistry science week activity in science lessons for Years 7-9 – magic colour changing coin trick – how to turn copper into “silver” and “gold” (and why that’s not really possible!) Physics science week activity in lessons for Year 7-9 – catapult challenge! Special additional science activities for Year 5 and 6 Lava lamp construction with Abi and Thomas for Y2-4 “Meet the critters” assembly for Y5+ with Zoo Club “Chemical Reactions” assembly for Early and Lower years with Thomas We will also have a special visitor on Thursday afternoon, a vet who works in sea turtle conservation. George is going to send me the details (she’s a friend of his) Depending on timings, she should be talking to years 3, 4, and 5. See more
Science Week Day 4- Bath bombs, Genomes and The Science Week FairPupils in Years 5 to 8 made some beautiful smelling, fizzy bath bombs today by mixing together some weak acids and bases. They flavoured their bath bombs with their chosen flavours and colours to make lovely gifts to take home. Matthew Brown, a software developer from Genomics England led an assembly... for Middle and Upper Years pupils to discuss how advances in sequencing the genome have the potential to revolutionise drug treatment and early disease diagnosis. For further information about Genomics England, visit https://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/about-genomics-england/ And finally, in the school theatre we held the first Science Fair at HCH. Students contributed work and projects that they felt had scientific underpinning. Works included models, research projects, and creative work inspired by science. Students, parents and teachers attended the science fair and were certainly impressed by the variety of displays and projects, from songs to mechanical models and large-scale poster presentations! See more
Science Week Day 3- Personality tests, DNA and sustainable energyAs Science Week continues, our students are full of enthusiasm for the variety of activities on offer. Each talk, workshop or demonstration is providing an opportunity to deepen their understanding of their Science curriculum and the world around them. Our Psychology teacher, Laraib Saeed provided an... opportunity for students to assess their own personality traits using the Big Five Personality test. The test is often used to help determine career paths based on how an individual would react in different situations. Middle and Upper years pupils attended a Science Week assembly on Sustainability led by Yasmina Mikhael. Yasmina is Head of Sustainability at Long and Partners and has a wealth of expertise in renewables and the built environment. And finally, Head of Science Abi Howard ran a workshop for Middle and Upper years pupils, explaining how DNA can be extracted from cells. Students had the opportunity to extract cells and DNA from kiwi fruit as part of the practical workshop! See more