Science workshops with Capel Primary School

The Science department at Kent College welcomed the Year 5 students from Capel Primary School for a Biology workshop. The aim of the project was to give external primary school children the opportunity to use Kent College's facilities and enhance their curriculum using resources that would not be available in their own school. The opportunity was identified by the Heads from both schools. Kent College's Science Laboratories were used on the day of the visit. The Science workshops were success and a very enjoyable experience all round.

Biology Workshop

The Head of Science and another Science Teacher ran the sessions with assistance from Capel's staff. The students were shown how to take samples of onion cells and look at them under a microscope. They were then set the task of sampling their own cheek cells and viewing them microscopically. They all produced some excellent slides and diagrams.

Physics Day

The students were given the opportunity to make electronic quiz boards using questions that they had previously researched. The quiz boards were designed so that they would light up if the operator got the correct answer. Once the boards had been constructed, both pupils and teachers were put to the test on topics such as populations of countries, languages and flags.

Chemistry Workshop

The theme was Forensics and the pupils had to identify unknown substances using flame tests. They presented their results in the form of a forensics report. As the visit fell shortly after Bonfire night, they were also given the opportunity to make sparklers using iron filings.

Year 6 Science visit

Year 6 students from Capel primary School made another trip to the Kent College Science department to carry out the last piece of practical work for their project on ‘The problem with plastics’. Our science Teachers ran the sessions with assistance from Capel's staff.

The students used a system of weights and clamps to test the strength of four different types of plastic bags. From their results they had to decide which plastic bag was the strongest and would take the longest time to break down. The students were asked to consider the implication of their results and link this to how plastic waste could be reduced.