We arrived at the University in the pouring rain and we were late. Fortunately, everybody else was late too! There were around 20 home ed kids there including Tilly and Lavinia.
The show itself was very impressive. It was more like a workshop because we did loads of hands-on experiments and we got to handle all of the dangerous chemicals and acids ourselves. We did the work-shop in a real laboratory in white coats, gloves and goggles! Health and safety was important; I had to cover my open sandals with blue shoe covers and tie my hair up! Next time, I will come prepared and save myself from the embarrassment of wearing unflattering plastic bags on my feet!
The first half of the workshop was all about Biology and Digestion. There was a life size model of a human torso showing all the organs inside. We did lots of experiments with enzymes to see which ones work better in different conditions. Enzymes are important for the digestion of food. I was surprised that we got to handle such dangerous chemicals like Hydrochloric acid.
We had to wear gloves for that but it was still quite scary. We did experiments on eggshells to see how quickly they dissolved in different solutions. The solution of hydrochloric acid and pepsin at body temperature was the most effective at dissolving the eggshells. After lots of cool experiments we stopped for lunch at 12.30.
The second part of the Science workshop in the afternoon was all about Chemistry. We used Bunsen burners to observe the colour of the flame as we burnt different chemicals. We had to wear safety goggles for this but we were told that we didn't have to wear gloves. My favourite colour flame was a really vivid green. I forgot which chemical you used to get that colour but it was really pretty! I've just checked my notes and it was copper sulphate! The flame burned a lovely purple when it was exposed to potassium. We were given a task to try to identify chemicals by igniting them and looking at the colour of the flame. Sounds simple doesn't it? The first set of chemicals were easy to identify but then it became much more difficult; all of the chemicals had an orange flame! It was really frustrating and I though we must be doing something wrong. It turned out they were all the same chemical: calcium. This was no mistake by the tutors, it was deliberate to confuse and baffle a bunch of kids! Apart from that, I really enjoyed being a scientist for the day!
It was a long drive home and by the end of the journey, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open! I definitely won't be waking up at 6am again for a long time.
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