Science Experiments

On this page, you can learn about some of the experiments we did in space science.

We began this unit by learning about Earth and its place in space. We used a globe and torches to see how the tilt of the Earth on its axis makes the seasons. We also read about the planets and learned their names and the distance of each from the sun. We used a great website to work out our age and weight on other planets!

During Science Week, we had a visit from Star Lab, and learned more about the planets and the stars.

One of our first experiments showed us about the universe. Some scientists think that the universe was created by a Big Bang, and that it is still expanding. The galaxies don't bump into each other because the universe is expanding in all directions at the same time. This experiment showed how something can expand like this.

We made expanding universes with flour, water, currants and yeast. As the dough universe expanded, it took all the currant galaxies in different directions. None of them bumped into each other because the dough universe was expanding in all directions at the same time.

We did experiments with tea leaves in water to show how planets are formed. We swirled the tea leaves in a circle, to create a current around the centre of our bowl universe. When we stopped stirring, the tea leaves continued to swirl in a circle around the edges of the bowl.

Then we watched what happened when the current stopped. The tea leaves sank to the bottom and formed into a ball, in the same way that planetary dust and rocks form into circular planets.

We made planets out of plasticine. None of these look like the real planets, but it was fun anyway!

We learned about all of the planets. A lot of our experiments were about Earth, where we learned about the magnetic core of the Earth and also about the atmosphere that surrounds the Earth (see the page on Greenhouse Gas).

One of our best experiments was about Mars. Did you know that Mars is red because it's all rusty? There must have been water on Mars once, a long time ago. We made the surface of Mars by mixing chopped up steel wool and sand. Then we added water. The sand changed colour from yellow to red!

We made craters by dropping marbles in sand, flour and cocoa. Earth's atmosphere protects us from being hit too often by meteorites, but you can see plenty of craters on the moon!

We did an experiment to show how scientists search for signs of life on other planets. We mixed three substances with sand: salt, baking powder and yeast. Then we added a sugar solution to the sand mixture. Nothing happened to the sand with the salt. The sand with the baking powder bubbled up quickly and then the bubbles disappeared. This was a chemical reaction between the baking powder and the sugar. The sand with the yeast bubbled slowly, but it kept bubbling for a couple of hours. This was a biological reaction, because the sugar caused the yeast to reproduce.

Another experiment was about comets. As a comet get near to the sun, the dirt, rock and dust on its surface absorb heat and light and become very hot. This melts the ice under the surface, which starts to evaporate and makes the comet's tail! If the comet was only made of ice, it would reflect heat and light. We dipped ice cubes in black and white powder paint and put them under a heat lamp to make sure that the black ice melted first - and it did!