Category: Famous scientists

Celebrating International Friendship Day: Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on Celebrating International Friendship Day: Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage

Today is International Friendship Day and we’re celebrating a friendship that led to some super-important scientific developments!

Find out more in Whizz Pop Bang: CODING CAPERS

The amazing Ada Lovelace was born in London in 1815, and loved maths and poetry from a young age. When she was a teenager, she met a mathematician and inventor called Charles Babbage. Charles was fed up of doing long calculations by hand, so he invented a machine that could do sums for him. He called it the Difference Engine.
Ada was really interested in the Difference Engine. She was inspired to study maths harder than ever before, and she and Charles became good friends.

Charles later invented a machine, called the Analytical Engine, that could do ANY calculations by following a series of steps – but it was so complicated that he found it hard to explain to other people how it would work!

Ada came to the rescue. She was so good at maths that she understood the machine and was able to explain it to other people. Ada wrote a code that turned a real-life maths problem into a list of instructions that the machine could understand. This was the world’s first algorithm (computer code).

She and Charles made a great team! Sadly, Ada died before she could actually help Charles to get the machine made, but the discovery that machines could follow instructions led to the amazing computers that we all use so much today.

Find out more about this fantastic friendship and the science of coding in Whizz Pop Bang: CODING CAPERS!


Post Comment

Celebrating scientists on International Women’s Day

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | 1 Comment on Celebrating scientists on International Women’s Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day on Monday 8th March, we’ve shared some stories of some inspirational scientists. You’ll find more fantastic free reading resources, as well as loads of home science activities and experiments, right here!

Are you a primary teacher looking for inspiring scientist role models? Keep scrolling to find reading comprehensions about these incredible women!

Find out which of these scientists are trained to travel to the Moon, who started their career aged 13 and who blows things up for a living!

Jessica Watkins, NASA Astronaut

Interview-with-Jessica-Watkins-textDownload


Nikita Hari, Electrical Engineer

Interview-Electrical-engineerDownload


Agnes Arber, Plant Scientist

Sensational-Scientist-Agnes-Arber-textDownload


Kate Biberdorf, Explosions Engineer

Explosions-interviewDownload

Primary school reading comprehension packs with question and answer sheets:

Jessica Watkins, NASA Astronaut

Read about fully trained astronaut Jessica Watkins who hopes to soon be able to fly to the Moon as part of the Artemis missions to the Moon! Includes the feature to print or to read on a tablet, as well as comprehension question and answer sheets. Ideal for Year 5 / P6.

english-curriculum-interview-with-jessica-watkins-reading-comprehension_1-1Download


Nikita Hari, Electrical Engineer

Find out what it’s like to be an electrical engineering whizz with this inspirational interview with Nikita Hari. Includes the feature to print or to read on a tablet, as well as comprehension question and answer sheet. Ideal for Year 6 / P7

yr6-electrical-engineer-reading-compDownload

Agnes Arber, Plant Scientist

Read about sensational scientist Agnes Arber, whose career as a plant scientist started when she was just 13! Includes the feature to print or to read on a tablet, as well as comprehension question and answer sheets. Ideal for Year 3 / P4

agnes-arber-reading-comprehensionDownload

Kate Biberdorf, Explosions Engineer

Find out why Kate Biberdorf loves to blow things up to inspire her students! Includes the feature to print or to read on a tablet, as well as comprehension question and answer sheets. Ideal for Year 4 / P3

explosions-interview-reading-comprehensionDownload

If you think these could be useful in your classroom, you’ll love Whizz Pop Bang’s amazing science and reading resources for schools! Find out more here.

  • Resources linked to the science and reading curricula
  • A monthly magazine for broader understanding of key topics
  • Written by expert teachers and science writers
  • Gives teachers the confidence to deliver accurate science lessons
  • Lots of quick and easy hands-on experiments!

Find out more right here!


Post Comment

COMPETITION CLOSED: WIN Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity book!

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | 9 Comments on COMPETITION CLOSED: WIN Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity book!

Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: Words that Changed the World by Carl Wilkinson brings Einstein’s world-changing understanding of gravity, time, space and light to life for young readers.

Go on a journey through Einstein’s mind as this beautiful book breaks down his complex theories to make them accessible for young readers.

Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by Carl Wilkinson is published by Laurence King on 14th September and we’ve got three copies to give away to lucky Whizz Pop Bang fans!

To be in with a chance of winning, simply answer this question in the comments:

Where was Albert Einstein born?

A United Kingdom
B Austria
C Germany

Good luck!

This competition closes at midnight on Sunday 27th September 2020. Whizz Pop Bang competition terms and conditions are here.

Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!


Post Comment
Whizz Pop Bang: Sweet Dreams issue is all about the science of sleep

The dreams of astronaut Helen Sharman

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on The dreams of astronaut Helen Sharman

Listen to Britain’s first ever astronaut, Helen Sharman, talking about dreaming in and about space!

This video animation, What do astronauts dream of?, was made by the Royal Institution as part of a fantastic series called A Place Called Space.

The RI say: “In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space; in this animation she shares a dream she has about returning to space, and talks about what it’s like to gaze down on the earth from above.”

Find out more about the science of sleep in SWEET DREAMS – it’s in our shop now!

Whizz Pop Bang: Sweet Dreams issue is all about the science of sleep
Whizz Pop Bang: Sweet Dreams issue is all about the science of sleep

Did you know that you’ll spend up to a third of your life happily dozing? It sounds pretty relaxing, but actually, sleep isn’t as uneventful as you might imagine. Inside this dreamy edition of Whizz Pop Bang, you’ll find out what goes on inside your sleeping brain, discover ten animals with weird and wonderful ways to sleep and learn all about snoring. You can also build a hibernation station for sleepy wildlife, race around the clock in a pull-out board game and experience the chilling body temperature of a hibernating hamster!

Meet a turtle expert who tells us how these hibernating reptiles breathe through their bottoms, create your own sleep diary, snuggle up with hibernating bears, find out how sleep scientist Eugene Aserinsky discovered some dreamy sleep secrets and reduce Halloween waste by making an upcycled bat garland.

That’s a lot to pack in before bedtime!

Click here to read everything you need to know about Whizz Pop Bang – the awesome science magazine for kids!

Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!


Post Comment
On the move cover

The secrets of stinging nettles: natural navigation with Tristan Gooley

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on The secrets of stinging nettles: natural navigation with Tristan Gooley

The August edition of Whizz Pop Bang: ON THE MOVE is about amazing migrations and is packed with the science behind all sorts of incredible journeys made by animals and humans!

Inside, we chat to Tristan Gooley, a natural navigator who looks for nature’s clues and works out how they can help us to find our way. Learning more about this fascinating skill is a brilliant way to engage children with the natural word – keep reading to learn a nifty tricky you can teach them when you’re outdoors together.

We asked Tristan to explain a little about his unusual job:

“Every single plant, every single animal, even every single cloud is telling us something about what’s going on around us. I’m a nature detective, trying to solve each clue. I don’t look for specific things that are interesting or amazing: instead, I wonder what the signs around me can reveal. Sometimes it’s a plant showing me which way is north, or a stinging nettle telling me I’m near a town. It’s so much fun!”
Tristan Gooley in Whizz Pop Bang: ON THE MOVE

Tristan Gooley, Natural Navigator

If you’re wondering how to keep children entertained on a long walk or how to help your child connect with nature, here’s a tip from Tristan all about the secrets of stinging nettles:

If you teach children a trick that is related to their experience of the wild then you could grab their attention

Find an area with both stinging nettles and white dead-nettles:

White dead-nettle
Stinging nettle

Ask the children what the white dead-nettle is – they will probably guess ‘stinging nettle’. Most kids can identify this before any other wildflower, because it has a big impact on their experience of the outdoors!

Next, show how brave you are by running your hands up and down the white dead-nettle, then dare them to do the same. Once they realise that white dead-nettles are different to stinging nettles, they take an interest. They understand that the white flower is the important clue to which one stings, and that’s something worth remembering!

It also tends to stick as this is a great trick for showing it off to other kids!

Nature appreciation that leads to fewer stings AND the ability to show off? That’s a recipe for getting kids interested!

Find out more in this brilliant blog post about engaging children with nature. Want more tips like this? Head over to Tristan’s website to discover all sorts of intriguing ways to read nature’s clues – they’re guaranteed to liven up a long walk with children!

Read more about Tristan’s fascinating job in Whizz Pop Bang: ON THE MOVE – it’s in our shop now.

On the move cover

Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!


Post Comment

FREE science activities for year 5 and P6!

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on FREE science activities for year 5 and P6!

Now that schools are closed, have you become a home educator overnight? Whizz Pop Bang is the world’s most awesomely amazing kids’ science magazine, bursting with hands-on experiments, facts and fun, and we want to help you and your children with the huge transition that many of us face.

Here are some FREE science activities and experiments to help you entertain, excite and educate your year 5 child! You’ll find out how to make a water wheel lifter, a balloon rocket, a model of our solar system, flying machines and paper planes, plus reading comprehensions about astronaut Tim Peake and sensational scientists The Wright Brothers!

Our experiments are designed for children from 6 to 12, but this list of experiments is particularly perfect for year 5, P6 (Scotland) and 9-year-olds and 10-year-olds as they tie in with the relevant National Curriculum objectives and topics.

The reading comprehensions included here were designed to be read at A3 size, so text may appear too small when printed at A4. They work really well on a tablet or monitor, or you may need to print them on two pages of A4 if your printer allows.

If you have any comments or questions about our free year 5 science experiments and reading comprehensions, please leave a comment for us. Or do you have any science homeschool ideas or general home educating ideas for 9- and 10-year-olds? We’d love to hear from you!

Find loads more science activities, puzzles and games in our award-winning monthly kids science magazine, Whizz Pop Bang!

Water wheel lifter

Harness the power of water in this fun free science experiment using household items.

This activity is taken from Whizz Pop Bang’s Awesomely Amazing Science Club – download the entire pack here! 

You will need:
1 small plastic bottle
1 large yoghurt pot or plastic bottle cut in half
Duct tape
String
Paper clip
Bowl
Wooden spoon or pencil

Bonus activity: balloon rocket

Make a balloon fly across the room!

You will need:
A balloon
String
Two chairs
Measuring tape
A 5 cm piece of straw

Water-wheel-lifterDownload

Topic links: Year 5 Forces and magnets, P6 Forces

Interview with astronaut Tim Peake reading comprehension

This interview delves into what it is really like to travel in space. Tim Peake describes what it feels like to take off in a rocket and to feel weightless, as well as his scariest moments. A must-read for your aspiring astronauts. 

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– An interview with Tim Peake for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Interview-with-astronaut-Tim-PeakeDownload
Yr5-Tim-Peake-QuestionsDownload
Yr5-Tim-Peake-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 5 Earth and Space, P6 Space

Paper stunt planes

Print and fold a paper stunt plane that should fly in a circle!

You will need:
Sticky tack

stunt-planeDownload

Year 5 Forces and magnets, P6 Forces

Paper straw flying machines

Experiment with making flying machines by adding different shapes to paper straws!

You will need:
Paper straws

Straw-planesDownload

Year 5 Forces and magnets, P6 Forces

The Wright Brothers reading comprehension

A biography text on the remarkable story of the team behind the world’s first powered flight. In December 1903 Wilbur piloted a plane with a petrol engine for 59 seconds and travelled 260 metres. The Wright brothers had unlocked the secret of mechanical flight!

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– A feature about sensational scientists, The Wright Brothers, for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Sensational-Scientists-The-Wright-BrothersDownload
Yr5-The-Wright-Brothers-QuestionsDownload
Yr5-The-Wright-Brothers-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 5 Forces and magnets, P6 Forces

Craft your own a solar system

Learn the order of the planets by making a model solar system. Just download, print, add scissors and glue, and your astronauts-in-training will do the rest. It’s out of this world! 

Y5-Solar-system-to-make-colourDownload

Topic links: Year 5 Earth and space, P6 Space

Are you home educating children in other year groups? Find more free resources here:
Free science activities for year 2 and P3
Free science activities for year 3 and P4
Free science activities for year 4 and P5
Free science activities for year 6 and P7


Post Comment

FREE science activities for year 6 and P7!

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on FREE science activities for year 6 and P7!

Now that schools are closed, have you become a home educator overnight? Whizz Pop Bang is the world’s most awesomely amazing kids’ science magazine, bursting with hands-on experiments, facts and fun, and we want to help you and your children with the huge transition that many of us face.

Here are some FREE science activities and experiments to help you entertain, excite and educate your year 6 child! Meet an electrical engineer, discover invisible germs in a bacteria investigation, read about the father of electricity, Michael Faraday, play two bacteria games and design a bridge!

Our experiments are designed for children from 6 to 12, but this list of experiments is particularly perfect for year 6, P7 (Scotland) and 10 year olds and 11 year olds as they tie in with the relevant National Curriculum objectives and topics.

Some of these activities, including all reading comprehensions, were originally designed as A3 magazine spreads, so text may appear too small when printed at A4. They work really well on a tablet or monitor, or you may need to print them on two pages of A4 if your printer allows. 

If you have any comments or questions about our free year x science experiments and reading comprehensions, please leave a comment for us. Or do you have any science homeschool ideas or general home educating ideas for 10 and 11 year olds? We’d love to hear from you!

Find loads more science activities, puzzles and games in our award-winning monthly kids science magazine, Whizz Pop Bang!

Interview with an electrical engineer reading comprehension

Building electrical circuits is loads of fun and Nikita Hari gets to do that every day, as she’s an electrical engineer. She explains why she become an electrical engineer, all the obstacles she overcame and gives advice to young scientists. 

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– A reading spread about electrical engineer Nikita Hari for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Interview-Electrical-engineerDownload
Yr6-Electrical-engineer-QuestionsDownload
Yr6-Electrical-engineer-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 6 Electricity, P7 Electricity

Mouldy bread bacteria experiment

Investigate and observe how much mould and bacteria develops when happens when slices of bread are rubbed with clean hands and dirty hands. Children can set up their own investigation and make sure it is a fair test. 

This experiment can be found here or downloaded below.  

Bacteria-investigationDownload

Topic links: Year 6 Living things and habitats, P7 Body systems and cells

Interview with Michael Faraday reading comprehension

Discover why we would all be in the dark if it wasn’t for ‘Father of electricity’, Michael Faraday. Find out how he got a job in the Royal Institution as Humphrey Davy’s assistant and how his fascination for electromagnetism led to the invention of the world’s first electric motor and the dynamo.

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– A reading spread about sensational scientist Michael Faraday for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Sensational-scientist-Michael-FaradayDownload
Yr6-Michael-Faraday-QuestionsDownload
Yr6-Michael-Faraday-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 6 Electricity, P7 Electricity

Bacteria invasion game

Play a fun printable game, complete with counters and tokens, that shows how bacteria can spread.

NB If you can’t print double sided, just print the first page of the file named ‘tokens-double-sided’

bacteria-invasion-gameDownload
tokens-double-sidedDownload

Topic links: Year 6 Living things and habitats, P7 Body systems and cells

Bacteria battle cards

A printable card game that pit several strains of bacteria head-to-head.

bacteria-battle-cardsDownload

Bonus activity: extremophile puzzle!

Topic links: Year 6 Living things and habitats, P7 Body systems and cells

Design a bridge

Make a beam bridge and a suspension bridge, then design your own bridge with this engineering challenge.

You will need:
Lego
Coins
Two chairs or stools
Plastic pot
String or wool

Design-your-own-bridgeDownload

Are you home educating children in other year groups? Find more free resources here:
Free science activities for year 2 and P3
Free science activities for year 3 and P4
Free science activities for year 4 and P5
Free science activities for year 5 and P6


Post Comment

FREE science activities for year 4 and P5!

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on FREE science activities for year 4 and P5!

Now that schools are closed, have you become a home educator overnight? Whizz Pop Bang is the world’s most awesomely amazing kids’ science magazine, bursting with hands-on experiments, facts and fun, and we want to help you and your children with the huge transition that many of us face.

Here are some FREE science activities and experiments to help you entertain, excite and educate your year 4 child! You’ll find a reading comprehension about toilets, discover how to make slime, meet an inspiring female scientist, discover how to make an erupting volcano and how to mummify a tomato!

Our experiments are designed for children from 6 to 12, but this list of experiments is particularly perfect for year 4, P5 (Scotland), 8-year-olds and 9-year-olds as they tie in with the relevant National Curriculum objectives and topics.

The reading comprehensions included here were designed to be read at A3 size, so text may appear too small when printed at A4. They work really well on a tablet or monitor, or you may need to print them on two pages of A4 if your printer allows.

If you have any comments or questions about our free year 4 science experiments and reading comprehensions, please leave a comment for us. Or do you have any science homeschool ideas or general home educating ideas for 8- and 9-year-olds? We’d love to hear from you!

Find loads more science activities, puzzles and games in our award-winning monthly kids science magazine, Whizz Pop Bang!

How toilets work reading comprehension

Toilets! We all use them but how many of us know how they work? Now you can find out what happens to your wee and poo when you flush the toilet. A diagram of a toilet is labelled with expanded captions, including key vocabulary such as dual flush, cistern, valve, float, s-bend and inlet valve. 

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– A reading spread about toilets for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Toilets-textDownload
Yr4-Toilets-QuestionsDownload
Yr4-Toilets-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 4 Animals including humans, P5 Body system and cells

Make gloopy slime

Your slime-obsessed year 4 and P5 child will love this gooey activity! They will make their own slime, then decide if it is a solid or a liquid. This oobleck is guaranteed to provoke a lot of scientific discussion about changing states, reversible and irreversible changes, non-Newtonian fluids and more. It’s not as straightforward as it seems! 

You will need:
Cornflour
Water
Mixing bowl
Food colouring (optional)

Bonus activity: spot the difference puzzle

gloopy-slimeDownload

Topic links: Year 4 States of matter, P5 Properties and uses of substances.

Interview with an explosions expert reading comprehension

Meet chemistry professor, explosions expert and science communicator, Kate Biberdorf and find out why she blows up things to inspire her students!

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– A reading spread about Kate Biberdorf for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Explosions-interviewDownload
Y4-Katie-Biberdorf-questionsDownload
Y4-interview-with-Katie-Biberdorf-answersDownload

Topic links: Year 4 States of matter, P5 properties and uses of substances.

Make your own volcano

Print a paper volcano, then use kitchen chemistry to make it erupt!

You will need:
A small container (e.g. a spice jar)
Bicarbonate of soda or baking powder
Vinegar
Red food colouring
Yellow food colouring
Washing-up liquid or soap
A tray or outside space

Bonus activity: fireworks on a plate

This activity is taken from Whizz Pop Bang’s Awesomely Amazing Science Club – download the entire pack here!

Make-your-own-volcanoDownload

Lava experiment

Discover the difference between viscous and runny magma in this gloopy volcano activity!

You will need:
Golden syrup, honey or other viscous liquid
Two paper straws per child
Safety goggles (or sunglasses!)

Bonus activity: move water with fire

This activity is taken from Whizz Pop Bang’s Awesomely Amazing Science Club – download the entire pack here!

Bubble-troubleDownload

Mummify a tomato

Anything that was once alive can be mummified! Create the conditions used by Ancient Egyptians to mummify a tomato.

You will need:
Two tomatoes
Antiseptic liquid or handwash
Kitchen paper
Bicarbonate of soda
Salt
Two small jam jars or glasses, slightly bigger than your tomatoes
Toilet tissue (optional)

Mummification-of-a-tomatoDownload

Are you home educating children in other year groups? Then you might find these posts helpful:
Free science activities for year 2 and P3
Free science activities for year 3 and P4
Free science activities for year 5 and P6
Free science activities for year 6 and P7


Post Comment

FREE science activities for year 3 and P4!

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on FREE science activities for year 3 and P4!

Now that schools are closed, have you become a home educator overnight? Whizz Pop Bang is the world’s most awesomely amazing kids’ science magazine, bursting with hands-on experiments, facts and fun, and we want to help you and your children with the huge transition that many of us face.

Here are some FREE science activities and experiments to help you entertain, excite and educate your year 3 child! Meet an orthopaedic vet, be inspired by an amazing female scientist, do a walking water experiment, investigate air pressure and surface tension and make bendy bones!

Our experiments are designed for children from 6 to 12, but this list of experiments is particularly perfect for year 3, P4 (Scotland), 7-year-olds and 8-year-olds as they tie in with the relevant National Curriculum objectives and topics.

The reading comprehensions included here were designed to be read at A3 size, so text may appear too small when printed at A4. They work really well on a tablet or monitor, or you may need to print them on two pages of A4 if your printer allows.

If you have any comments or questions about our free year 3 science experiments and reading comprehensions, please leave a comment for us. Or do you have any science homeschool ideas or general home educating ideas for 7- and 8-year-olds? We’d love to hear from you!

Find loads more science activities, puzzles and games in our award-winning monthly kids science magazine, Whizz Pop Bang!

Interview with an orthopaedic vet reading comprehension

This is a great one for animal lovers! An interview with Toby Gemmill, whose job is to put broken pets back together after an accident. He explains how long bones take to mend, describes the trickiest operation he’s performed and gives some top tips on how to become a vet. Small snippets of text ideal for reluctant readers. 

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– An interview with Toby Gemmill for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Interview-Orthopaedic-Vet-textDownload
Yr3-Orthopaedic-vet-QuestionsDownload
Yr3-Orthopaedic-vet-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 2 Animals including humans

Agnes Arber reading comprehension

Read about sensational scientist Agnes Arber, whose career as a plant scientist started when she was just 13! Her dedication to botany helped the world to realise the amazing talent of women in science.

This downloadable reading pack includes: 
– A feature about Agnes Arber for you to print or for your child to read on a tablet.
–  Reading comprehension question sheet and answer sheet.

Sensational-Scientist-Agnes-Arber-textDownload
Yr3-AGNES-ARBER-QuestionsDownload
Yr3-AGNES-ARBER-AnswersDownload

Topic links: Year 3 Plants and P3 Biodiversity and interdependence

Walking water activity

Ask your child if they think water can ‘walk’? Set up a nifty experiment together to prove that it actually can move and discover how plants transport water using capillary action.

You will need:
Water
Kitchen towels
Food colouring

Bonus activity: upside-down glass experiment

Investigate surface tension and air pressure while learning a neat trick: how to turn a glass of water upside down without spilling a drop!

walking-water-experimentDownload

Topic links: Year 3 Plants and P4 Biodiversity and interdependence

Make a bendy backbone

Discover how the backbone is able to bend, even though it’s made of rigid elements, by creating a model backbone from vertebrae and cartilage!

You will need:
A 5 cm paperclip
A drinking straw
Scissors
A ruler
Sticky tack or Plasticine

Bonus activity: bendy bones experiment

Discover what happens when bones don’t contain enough calcium in this intriguing experiment.

You will need:
2 chicken bones (legs are ideal)
Jar with a lid (large enough to hold one bone with space at the top)
Vinegar
Cling film

Bendy-backboneDownload

Topic links: Year 3 Animals including humans and P4 Biological systems.

Are you home educating children in other year groups? Then you might find these posts helpful:
Free science activities for year 2 and P3
Free science activities for year 4 and P5
Free science activities for year 5 and P6
Free science activities for year 6 and P7


Post Comment

WIN Project Superhero and Chasing Captain America books by Professor E. Paul Zehr!

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | 21 Comments on WIN Project Superhero and Chasing Captain America books by Professor E. Paul Zehr!

Whizz Pop Bang’s seven days of prizes: day six!

If you’ve read the SCIENCE HEROES feature in WHIZZ POP BANG: SCIENCE SUPERPOWERS, you’ll know all about Professor E. Paul Zehr. He’s a neuroscientist, author and martial artist who studies the adaptability of the human body at the University of Victoria, Canada.

We’ve got two of Paul’s books about the science behind superpowers to give away. PROJECT SUPERHERO is aimed at readers aged 8 – 12, while CHASING CAPTAIN AMERICA is for adults, so here’s a prize you can share with your parents, grandparents, Scout leader, next-door neighbour, or any other grown up superhero fans you know!

PROJECT SUPERHERO is the diary of Jessie, a 13 year old girl who is doing project on superheroes. Read advice from real-life heroes (including Olympian Clara Hughes, sailor Jessica Watson and Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue De Connick) as one ordinary girl investigates what it would take to be Batgirl.

CHASING CAPTAIN AMERICA: How advances in science, engineering, and biotechnology will produce a superhuman is a book for adults about whether we can create a real-life superhuman by changing human biology itself!

To be in with a chance of winning these two books, just answer this question in the comments:

How long can a naked mole rat survive without any oxygen?

  1. 18 seconds
  2. 18 minutes
  3. 18 hours

This competition closes at midnight on 31st December 2019. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms


Post Comment