Year 5 were invited to take part in a wonderful Year 5 Science Challenge activity morning, held at Ullswater Community College last Tuesday.
Based on the theme of space exploration, the children were split into small teams, with their first task being a challenge to create a protective, yet aesthetically pleasing shuttle landing craft, which would house a raw egg. Once teams had created their craft, they headed out to the school field, where they launched on top of rockets up into the Penrith sky. After a quick evaluation, teams were given points based on various elements, including design, mission success and teamwork.
The second task involved children learning all about DNA and how similar human DNA is to that of various other living organisms, such as grass, fish or even flies. Using such equipment as flasks, test tubes and ethanol, Year 5 then set about extracting the alien DNA (strawberry flavoured) from another living organism. What they found was astonishing, as a stringy, jelly-like substance began to appear in their test tubes – quite a surprise!
Children were again marked on similar criteria, with the best teams then awarded winners’ certificates for their great science and team work. All had a splendid morning and we thank UCC for putting on such a fun morning of science for us to enjoy.
Mr M Spooner