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Experimentals: Name these mystery objects

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Coloured liquid swirls on surface
Experimentals: Name these mystery objects

SUBJECTS:  Maths, Science

YEARS:  5–6, 7–8


Compete in a game show against characters Einstein and Pythagoras to identify three different mystery objects.

Each of the objects is the end product of a science demonstration.

Compare your ideas and predictions with the host Bernie Hobbs's identification of the objects and her explanation of the science behind them.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Think about some quirky science effects you have seen. For example, have you ever mixed baking soda and vinegar to make a bubbling chemical volcano? How do you use science to explain what's happening?
  2. 2.Look out for three mystery items. The first is a blue floating thing. Can you guess what it is? Next, look out for the colours dispersing on a white liquid. What creates the pattern? Finally, what's making the marshmallows expand?
  3. 3.In your own words, write a sentence or two to describe what each thing is and to explain the science behind what you see. Replicate the experiments at home. Host a quiz to see if your family and friends can guess what they are looking at.
  4. 4.Research some other science experiments that create fun or intriguing end-products. For instance, see what happens when you take a tall glass and fill 3/4 of it with vegetable oil, 1/4 of it with water, add a few drops of food colouring, and drop in an effervescent soluble aspirin tablet.



Date of broadcast: 8 Jul 2007


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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