Brentwood Preparatory School Magazine

Science Year Two Science As part of the creative curriculum ‘London’s Burning’ topic, Year Two created their own fire extinguishers! They mixed vinegar and bicarbonate of soda in a bottle, which created carbon dioxide. Then, very carefully, they poured the odourless, colourless gas onto a lit candle to extinguish the flame. The children had to be patient and pour carefully so only the gas went on to the flame and none of the liquid. The results were amazing and the children were suitably ‘wowed’! Some of them were even inspired to re-create the experiment at home. The Year Six Science Exhibition This year Mrs. Ebden, from the Senior School, organized a science exhibition and competition which took place on Saturday 26th November in the new Bean Academic Centre. The competition was open to all the schools in the area and there were over 25 great science projects on display. At the Prep School the project was set as a two week homework and everybody came up with interesting ideas which inspired them to produce some stunning projects. The topics ranged from deep ocean life to how the body works, from space to forming crystals and from conservation of the polar regions to a robotic arm. Due to the amazing effort the Year 6 pupils made and the fact that only two projects could be entered for the senior school competition, Mrs Faiers organized an exhibition after school on 14th November so that parents and other pupils could have the opportunity to see the all wonderful projects that were completed. The feedback from the parents was very positive and many commented on the high standard and detail of the exhibits. It was a very difficult task to choose only two projects for entry into the competition but between them, Mr. Whiskerd and Mrs Faiers decided on the crystal making project by Adhith Srikanth and the ocean project by Jemima Mamelok and Ife Akomolafe, the latter two receiving the prize of a £25 voucher to spend on science equipment for the school. Congratulations to all the pupils for their hard work. Brentwood School Preparatory 79 STEM Guitar Workshop Mr Ho Huen, a lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and father of Elaine and Elisa, was kind enough to present a STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) workshop to our Year 6 pupils on Tuesday 13th June. The workshop involved wiring up circuit boards on electric ‘guitars’, then playing them loudly and with great enthusiasm. The pupils learned the difference between analogue and digital mechanisms, pitch, amplitude and duration of notes. It was an excellent STEM workshop enjoyed by all the Year 6 pupils. When we walked into the science room we saw tables with electric guitars with circuit boards on them. Elaine’s dad started to explain what we were going to be doing and also taught us about the analogue and digital mechanisms on the guitar. A button on the guitar would be digital because it can only be on/off but the volume dial would analogue as you can adjust it and it is continuous. Once we fully assembled the guitars we were allowed to play them. We could make really high pitched sounds and really low pitched sounds. Playing the guitar was the best part. Thomas Eastwood 6JS