Potions in Science

1. Potions in Science EYFS KS1 KS2

2. Making a Potion • Equipment needed • What to do • Factors that can influence the rate of reaction • What is happening? • Other ideas • Books and websites

3. Equipment needed • Potion bottles (plastic cups, bottles, beakers) • Vinegar • Bicarbonate of soda • Tablespoon • Measuring beaker (40ml) • Play tray (to catch the drips) • Optional extra – food colouring

4. What to do • Measure out approximately 40ml of vinegar and pour into the potion bottle. • Add approximately one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda. • Watch what happens.

5. Factors that can Influence the Rate of Reaction • Type of vinegar used • Malt vinegar results in a very thick bubbly mixture that gradually disappears. • Distilled malt vinegar results in a very fast reaction and a thin mixture that disappears quickly. • Type of food colouring used affects the speed of reaction.

6. What is happening? • The mixture bubbles up because the reaction produces carbon dioxide. • Vinegar (ethanoic acid / CH3COOH) • Bicarbonate of Soda (Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3) • CH3COOH + NaHCO3 • CH3COONa + H2CO3 • H2CO3 is unstable and breaks down to become H2O + CO2

7. Other Ideas • Latex gloves and balloons can be used in this experiment by fitting over the mouth of the flask while the reaction is occurring. The CO2 produced should blow them up. • Investigate acids and alkalis using litmus paper. • Add food colouring to make it more exciting.

8. Books and websites • Meg’s Cauldron – Helen Nicoll & Jan Pieńkowski • http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/creativedevelopmentprogramme/productions/macbeth/primary.shtml

9. Potions for the Foundation Stage • What will the children be doing? • Curriculum links • Introducing the activity • Scientific enquiry • Exploring and playing • Using equipment • Observing • Cross-curricular links

10. Potions for Key Stage 1 • What will the children be doing? • Curriculum links • Introducing the activity • Scientific enquiry • Measuring • Recording • Describing and explaining • Cross-curricular links

11. Potions for Key Stage 2 • What will the children be doing? • Curriculum links • Introducing the activity • Scientific enquiry • Raising questions • Planning • Evaluating • Cross-curricular links

12. What will the children be doing? • Watch an adult demonstrate the experiment. Discuss what the ingredients look like and smell like. Encourage the use of different senses. • Use the equipment to complete the experiment themselves. What can they see? What happens? • Take photographs at the different stages for discussion later.

13. What will the children be doing? • Concentrating on measuring different quantities of vinegar (keeping the same quantity of bicarb). What happens? • Recording the results. • Describing the results and providing an explanation.

14. What will the children be doing? • Coming up with a question that can be answered through testing. • Developing a plan to answer their question, remembering that they can only change one variable at a time. • Choosing appropriate equipment. • Evaluating the process they have been through. What went well and what didn’t?

15. Curriculum links • Knowledge and Understanding of the World – Exploration and Investigation • Describe and talk about what they see (30-50 months) • Show an awareness of change (40-60+ months) • Investigate objects and materials by using all of their senses as appropriate (Early Learning Goal)

16. Curriculum links • Sc1 Scientific enquiry • Pupils collect observations, evidence and measurements to explain which mixture produces the best reaction. 2g. Communicate what has happened using ICT. 2h. Make simple comparisons and identify simple patterns.

17. Curriculum links • Sc1 Scientific enquiry 2d. Make a fair test or comparison by changing one factor and observing or measuring the effect while keeping other factors in mind. 2m. Review their work and the work of others and describe its significance and limitations. • Sc3 Materials and their properties 2a. Describe changes that occur when materials are mixed. 2f. Find out that non-reversible changes result in the formation of new materials.

18. Introducing the activity • Read ‘Meg’s Cauldron’ by Helen Nicoll & Jan Pieńkowski. • Suggest to the children that they might want to help Meg make a magic potion. Think about what the magic potion might do. • Model the experiment. Explaining what you are doing and support children in extending their vocabulary.

19. Introducing the activity • Consider using a similar introduction as used for Foundation Stage. • Set the room up and dress up as an Alchemist. Invite the children in and explain who you are and what you do. Demonstrate the experiment whilst in role.

20. Introducing the activity • Set up the room and dress up as a plague doctor (consider your class. Will they be scared if you wear the mask?). • Explain that you are trying to make a potion to help protect you against the plague. Demonstrate.

21. Exploring and playing • Encourage the children to explore and play with different potion ingredients. • This can be completed inside mixing different ingredients such as flour, water, oil, glitter etc. • Outside, children can collect ingredients from a local green area. • Encourage the children to talk about what they are doing and to use different senses. • Use the opportunity to talk about safety – putting things in mouth, washing hands etc.

22. Raising questions • Allow the children to try the experiment once or watch you model the experiment. • Can they develop questions that can be answered by an experiment e.g. what happens if you add more vinegar? • Encourage the children to work in pairs can they think of three questions? • Then create groups of four. Can they whittle the six questions down to four. • Feed back to the whole group.

23. Planning • Get the children to design their own experiment based around a question that you pose or they have come up with. • Remind them that there should only be one variable. • Use planning boards to help guide the process. • How are they going to measure success? • Put out a range of equipment for the children to choose from. Include a wide variety such as latex gloves or balloons (these can be placed over conical flasks during the experiment and should be inflated by the CO2 produced).

24. Using equipment • Encourage the children to be independent in their use of equipment. They can develop skills such as pouring and measuring in a safe environment. • Use basic measurements such as a small cup of vinegar poured into a bigger cup. • Model and support as needed. Use correct terminology for equipment.

25. Measuring • Develop more accurate measurement. • Begin with putting an obvious mark on the edge of a measuring beaker so the children know where to pour the liquid up to. • Develop this further by highlighting the measurements in 10’s up the side and ask the children to find 40. • How far up the side of the beaker do the bubbles travel?

26. Observing • Encourage observations before, during and after the experiment. • What does it look like? Colour? Smell? Texture? • Support and develop language. • Ask the children to take pictures of the experiment at the different stages that can be used for a whole class discussion.

27. Recording • Ask the children to measure out different amounts of vinegar measure how high the bubbles reach by: • Taking photographs • Using the scale up the side of the beaker • Taping paper to the side and marking on the paper where the bubbles reach (labelling the marks). • Use textease to show recordings from the experiment – using pictures or simple tables

28. Describing results and explaining • Encourage the children to describe and explain what happened using pictures and writing. • Remember, the children will be working at different levels: • Describing • Comparing observations and making links • Explanations from observations and ideas ( Immediate)

29. Evaluating • Once the children have completed their experiments can they say if it worked? • Did they find the answer to their question? • Was there only one variable used? • What could they do next time to make it better? What would they keep the same?

30. Cross-curricular links • PSED – Looking at keeping safe. Is it safe to taste ingredients when we don’t know what they are? • CLL – Listen to and experience books such as Meg’s Cauldron (Helen Nicoll & Jan Pieńkowski). • PSRN – Filling and emptying containers making potions using other ingredients e.g. coloured water, soil, flour, glitter and oil. • PD – Use different tools to make potion pictures / witches hats / cauldrons. • CD – Can they turn the role play corner into a home for Meg and Mog? What needs to go in there? How will they make it? (CLL can be incorporated for sign making etc).

31. Cross-curricular links • History – Alchemy (Sir Isaac Newton). • Drama – Create a story about an alchemist in groups; show to the class using the freeze frame method. • D&T – make quick bread (the no yeast type). The CO2 produced is what makes if nice and fluffy.

32. Cross-curricular links • Maths – make potions with using different proportions of coloured liquids to make a given total. • English – Witches scene in Macbeth (Drama) • History and Geography – the plague. • Music – Listen to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. What images came to mind? Did they like the music or not? Why?