Science Club

Rocket Kids

It was the first sunny day for a while.  There was no visit from Elton John so our Science Club kids rolled up their sleeves and made their own rockets.  Their excited cheers when a rocket did succeed in blasting off drew a crowd of younger on-lookers.  If you listened to the background noises of the yard that lunchtime, maybe you could hear the faint strains of a song . . .

And I think it's gonna be a long long time

'Till Science Club comes round again to find

I'm not the kid they think I am in class

Oh no no no I'm a rocket kid

Rocket kid vinegar and bi-carb blasting off

Mars ain't the kind of place to land, now kids

In fact it's just too far

In one lunchtime with a bottle, and pencils

And all this science I can understand

We just try it five times a term

A rocket kid, a rocket kid

And I think it's gonna be a long long time

And I think it's gonna be a long long time . . .

And if you spin quickly through the gallery of photos below, you’ll be able to see the trajectory of one of our wonderful rockets taking off and landing.

We do have fun.

Science Club parent volunteers – Emma, Julie, Mel C, Jasna, Kyla, Sally, Alissia and Heather

Potions Class

Let’s just say that our Science Club members have all neared or passed their 11th birthday and are familiar with Platform 9 3/4 - you know what I mean?  We can’t tell you everything, but we can say that our final Science Club this term was a Potions Class. It was conducted by a mysterious group of visiting professors from Rangewarts. The class involved mandrake root, dragon spit and phoenix tears.

James astonished Professor Petrilliamus when he stirred the cauldron and then caused his gallium wand to disappear. If you’ve never received a letter delivered by owl, and you weren’t in this class, you can google what happens to gallium in warm water. It’s a little bit cool.

The class worked diligently, observing the effects of basilisk venom on spiders eggs and did their best to make the elixir and restorative draught. There is still some need for improvement in consistency and control, as the results were a little ... explosive and, strangely, each group produced potions of different colours.  Science Club loves surface tension and adding vinegar to sodium bicarbonate. 

The kids then used impressive teamwork and Purple Gillyweed solution to identify Muggle substances.  Purple Gillyweed solution is an ‘indicator’, so it’s a wizard at showing how acidic or basic a substance is. Ten Rangewart house points are awarded to Eloise’s group who shared their turns in an exceptionally organised way.

This was our last Science Club for the year. We farewell our Level 6s, we wish them all the best and hope they had fun with us. We also thank and farewell Jasna, who has been integral to the success of Science Club at Rangeview, as she embarks on some international adventures. She is one of the wonderful team of parent volunteers who organise these opportunities for interested kids to explore our universe.

See you next year!

Julie, Kyla, Sally, Emma, Mel C, Jasna, Alissia and Heather - parent volunteers