Cells made simple

Back in May while in Canada, we visited the Toronto science fair. 

A day of amazing science activities.

 I loved this activity, making a cell using lots of craft materials.

 

 Nucleus - represented by half of a polysterene ball.

The nucleus is the brain of the cell, every eukaryotic cell has one and it contains the genetic material (DNA).

DNA - represented by coiled pipe cleaners.

This molecule contains all the information the cell needs to grow, 

reproduce and carry out its specific jobs.

 Mitochondria- represented by artificial red petals.

The energy needed in the cell is made in the mitochondria.

 Microfilaments - represented by wooden cocktail sticks.

These proteins are part of the skeleton of the cell and 

can be used to move the cell.

Microtubules - represented by drinking straws.

These proteins are part of the transport system inside the cell. They work like roadways to transport stuff from one place to another in the cell.

 Molecules - represented by sequins.

The cell always has lots of free molecules in it's cytoplasm, some of them have jobs there and some are just travelling from one location to another.

 Ribosomes - represented by white petals.

In the cell, ribosomes are used to make proteins.

The finished cells...

 The circular cocci cell.

 

 The rod shaped bacillus cell

 Back home in the UK, we did some follow up work about cells.

We used this science kit 'Inside the cell'.

 We identified the key components of the cell and 

then compared animal and plant cells.

 We finished off our learning (for now) by making a DNA model.

 Pairing the bases together.

The finished model!

Another great activity from the Toronto science fair is the pollinator game.

Autumn Ideas,Crafts and experiments for kids

Autumn has inspired us ...

 to do lots of fascinating activities!

 We made chocolate truffle conkers

 Yes, inspired by Autumn, not sheep droppings!

 We had lots of fun cleaning the bowl.

 Next, we added green food colouring to marzipan to make the 'conker' shell.

 Yummy dark chocolate 'conkers'.

We also made chocolate leaves by melting chocolate and painting onto rose leaves from the garden. They look great, but some leaves are poisonous, so check before choosing them.

We then did looked into the science behind autumn.

 We re-visited photosynthesis,

defining the relevant scientific terminology.

We found out about chlorophyll 

and the other pigments involved in the colours of Autumn.

The leaves have orange and yellow pigments, but during the Summer we don't see them, because Chlorophyll (the green pigment) is dominant.

 

 We made symmetrical leaves and then dipped them in marbling inks.

 Abstract Autumn leaves

made from layered tissue paper.

 Dipped water colour Autumn trees.

Dying pasta with Autumn colours,

string them to make bracelets and sticking to make pictures.

 We collected leaves from the garden, to separate the pigments in leaves using chromatography.  Tear up the leaves into a little surgical spirit.
We chose ...

 Green leaves

red leaves

 purple leaves

 Next dribble the liquid onto strips of coffee filter paper.

 Young Scientist!

 Wrap the top of the paper round a kebab stick or similar and place strip in a jar with about a cm of surgical spirit. Leave for a few minutes. We didn't see much from the leaves, so we tried with food colouring and felt tip pens as well.

And they gave a much brighter result!

Jemima could remember back to over three years ago to when we went to Weston Perk musuem for a Science afternoon. The girls did some chromatography (not Rosanna, she wasn't born!), and Geoff spoke to the professor - a conversation which led him to embark on his research studies!

Back to the chromatography, Jemima wondered if you could use water. Imogen thought this would smudge rather than separate the colours. Which led to more experiments.

We also enjoyed lovely Autumn walks, 

now with a greater understanding of what's happening.

OLD MOOR RSPB RESERVE

We had a first trip of the year to RSPB Old Moor.

We were without a car from September last year until July of this year, so we are enjoying visiting all our old favourite haunts once again.

The playground had been revamped, 

so before we could explore the reserve we had a long play in the playground...

We finally set off to explore the reserve, 

there were plenty of ripe blackberries to snack on along the way.

The family bird hide has had a make over too.

It feels very welcoming, with nice activities for the children.

As well as bird watching, 

there was pond dipping activities and plenty of insects to spot.

The nature trail, has lots of games along the way...

and places to stop for a snuggle,

or for Superman to have a rest!

There's even a place for bugs to rest -The Bug Hotel.

We were really tired after our day exploring the reserve, 

but Rosanna really wanted to go into the craft room.

I love it when they get to do big messy craft activities 

and I'm not the one tidying up at the end!