Year 2 lessons for primary schools.

School Science Lessons
2024-03-13

Primary Science Lessons, Year 2
(Year 2)
Contents
Suggested answers to the teacher's questions are shown within [square brackets].
2.11 Balanced parrot
2.28 Beam balance
2.01 Bird feathers
2.02 Bird sounds
2.03 Bird beaks and feet
2.16 Blindfold description
2.07 Bottle sounds
2.26 Bottle top balance
2.44 Candle flame
2.06 Care for birds
2.32 Collect seeds
2.22 Copy with a rubber band
2.04 Different birds
2.34 Different kinds of food
2.43 Different metals
2.37 Different soils
2.29 Drinking straw balance
2.08 Dull and bright
2.36 Examine rocks with magnifier
2.31 Flower parts
2.21 Heat different substances
2.30 Leaf pictures
2.10 Magnetic pin chain
2.46 Simple wind detector
2.14 Measure in hand spans
2.15 Measure with our body
2.27 Nail balance
2.17 Our eyes
2.19 Our skin and hair
2.13 Our teeth
2.35 Paint with plant juices
2.05 Protect birds
2.25 Ruler balance
2.23 See-saw balance
2.38 Shake soil in water
2.38.1 Soil settles in water
2.38.2 Shake good soil and bad soil in water
2.46 Simple wind detector
2.12 Siphon and water spray
2.18 Smelling game
2.20 Spirit burner, alcohol lamp
2.24 Steelyard balance
2.39 Water through soil

2.0 Birds
2.1 Bird feathers
2.2 Bird sounds
2.3 Bird beaks and feet
2.5 Protect birds
2.6 Care for birds

2.01 Bird feathers
See diagram 50.6.8: The four kinds of feather
Teach the children to study and describe feathers.
1.1 State what feathers feel like to touch.
1.2 Compare feathers as for size, colour, feel and shape.
1.3 Describe feathers as seen under a magnifying glass.
1.4 Compare the speed at which feathers float down when thrown into the air.
Use a collection of feathers:
1.1 Flying feathers are used for flying and are found on the tail and wings.
1.2 Contour feathers are used to keep the bird warm and cover its whole body.
1.3 Down feathers grow beneath the flying and contour feathers.
It is soft and fluffy.
1.4 Pin feathers are long and thin and seen only in a plucked bird.
A cover of feathers in birds is like your hair.
It helps to trap layers of warm air for insulation.
In this way the heat in the body is kept in and not lost.
1. Give each group a set of feathers.
2. Feel the feathers with your fingers.
Do you feel the same? [No, some are softer than others.]
Find the biggest feather in your set and compare it with those from other crops. [Hold the feathers up for the children to see.]
Find the smallest feather in your set and compare it with those from other groups. Hold the feathers up for the children to see.]
Find the fluffiest, softest feather in the set and compare it with those from other groups.
3. Use the magnifying glass to see how the feather is made.
Tell your friends what you see.
4. Throw the feathers up in the air and see how you float down.
Which feather touched the ground first?
Which feather was last?
Why did they not reach the ground at the same time? [The fluffier feathers have a greater surface and so the air prevents them more
from falling quickly.
Remember that two objects with the same shape and volume, but different weights fall to earth with the same acceleration.
If they are released at the time, they will hit the ground simultaneously.]
Choose the lightest feather and try to keep it in the air by blowing.
5. Find coloured, straight and curved feathers, and put them into different groups.
6. Choose a feather from each set and tell the children to name the bird you think it comes from.

2.02 Bird sounds
Teach the children to describe the sounds made by different birds.
Before the lesson children can probably imitate the sounds of one bird, e.g. cuckoo "sea to sea".
For the next lesson, tell the children to find some bird nests, but not to harm them.
1. Name a noisy bird and a quiet bird.
2. Name birds that keep together in flocks, and birds that do not keep together.
3. Imitate the sound of a bird.
4. Bird Sound Game
Divide the class into two groups, A. and B.
Let a child in Group A. imitate the sound of a bird and a child in Group B has to say the name of that bird.
Then let a child in Group B imitate the sound of a bird and a child in Group a say the name of the bird.
Which group can guess the most names of birds correctly?
5. Try to call birds when you are at home.
If you hear the call of a bird, try to imitate it.
Sometimes the bird will call back thinking it is hearing another bird.

2.03 Bird beaks and feet
| See diagram 9.3.5.1: Beaks and feet
| See diagram 9.3.5.2: Casts of birds' footprints
Teach the children to describe different beaks and feet of birds and explain their use.
Examine the drawings for this lesson.
1. Show the drawings of different beaks of birds.
Name the bird:
1. Which bird can put its beak into flowers to get honey? [Sun Bird, Honey Eater.]
2. Which bird has a strong beak to catch fish or big insects? [Kingfisher.]
3. Which bird can catch fish and keep them in its mouth? [Pelican.]
4. Which bird can catch flying insects? [Boobook Owl, Bee eater, Swiftlet, Monarch.]
5. Which bird can dip its beak into holes to find things to eat? [Ibis, Jacana, Sandpiper.]
6. Which bird can eat fruit and small nuts? [Parrot, Kokomo, Pigeon, Lorikeet.]
7. Which bird can eat large fruit and break open hard nuts? [Kokomo.]
8. Which bird has big feet that allow it to:
8.1 Walk through the bush? [Megapode.]
8.2 Dive down from a tree to catch animals? [Kingfisher.]
8.3 Swim? [Teal Duck, Pelican, Frigate Bird, Sandpiper.]
8.4 Walk on soft mud or lily pads? [Jacana.]
8.5 Perch on trees, but not to walk much on the ground? [Swiftlet, Monarch, Flycatcher, Bee eater, Sun Bird.]
9. Which bird: 9.1 Lays its eggs in another bird's nest? [Cuckoo.]
9.2 Lays its eggs in mounds? [Kokomo.]
9.3 Lives out at sea? [Frigate Bird.]
9.4 Grabs its prey with its feet? [Falcon.]
10. Draw the beaks and feet.
For next lesson try to imitate the sound of a bird, e.g. Cuckoo "Sea to sea".

2.04 Different birds
See diagram 9.1.2: Birds 1
See diagram 9.1.3: Birds 2
Teach the children to describe different birds and draw them.
Get birds for children to observe during the lesson either by leaving some food for them or by using caged birds.
Look at the drawings of birds in the diagram.
1. Take the children outside to look at the birds or show the birds in the diagram.
2. How big is the bird? Is it bigger or smaller than another bird you can see?
Is it bigger or smaller than your hand?
List the birds you can see: biggest bird to smallest bird.
3. How long is its beak?
Is it straight or curved?
How long are its legs?
Does it have separate toes or webbed feet?
How long is its tail?
Is the tail longer than its own body?
4. What colour is its beak, eyes, skin around its eyes, feathers, back, tail, belly, wings, throat, head, under its tail?
5. Does it have marks on its throat, bars on its wings, marks on its shoulder?
Does it have any other marking?
6. What shape is the bird seen from the side?
Draw the bird as seen from the side.
First draw the body, then draw the head, then draw the tail, then draw the legs and feet, then draw the beak and eye.
Draw the markings on the bird.
7. How many different kinds of birds can be seen in your home or school?

2.05 Protect birds
See diagram 9.1.5: Nesting houses, bird feeders
Teach the children to explain why they should protect birds, because they are part of your natural heritage.
Some birds are pests, because they eat crops, but they should not be killed, because they are part of the food web.
However, many kinds of birds are in danger of all being killed, because the human population is increasing.
Check the birds near the school.
1. Describe the birds near the school.
Can you imitate the voice of those birds?
Are birds friends or enemies?
They are friends, because they eat lots of insects that damage food crops.
Birds they are pleasant to look at and hear.
Birds can provide food for us.
Birds are part of the natural food web of all the different plants and animals in the country.
2. How can they protect birds?
Children can tell people that birds are important animals and should not be killed with shotguns
Children can tell people not to eat birds or their eggs unless very hungry
Children can tell people not to destroy their nests.
3. Display of drawings, birds near your school.

2.06 Care for birds
See diagram 9.1.4: Parrots
Teach the children to care for a pet bird.
Use a pet bird in the class, e.g. a parrot.
There are other kinds of parrots that can be tamed as pets such as the lory, lorikeet, cockatoo, and the pygmy parrot.
Some people keep pigeons.
The Eclectics parrot is found in coastal forests.
When flying it makes a horrible "kraal" noise, but when feeding it says "chew".
The female has brighter colours than the male.
This is unusual in birds.
The female is mainly red and blue with a black beak.
She has blue around her eyes.
The male is mainly green with a yellow beak.
Parrots can be tamed if you talk to them a lot and do not shout loudly.
They can be tethered to a tree or put in a very large cage with plenty of freedom.
They like to walk on the ground besides sitting on a perch.
They should be fed with fruit, nuts, grass and shell grit.
They need lots of clean water.
They like to move out of the sunlight when it is hot.
Parrots are funny friends if you care for them.
They can learn to talk.
1. Show the tame bird.
Do you have a tame bird at home?
2. Can you describe the colours of the bird?
Can you describe the song of the bird?
3. Can you look after a tame bird?
Do you know how to tie it up so as not to hurt it?
Birds need good food, water and shade.
You can make the bird friendly by talking to it a lot.
4. Can you get a pet bird for the class and teach the children to care for it?

2.07 Bottle sounds
See diagram 26.3.1.6: Bottle sounds
Teach the children to make different sounds using bottles.
Use to collect 8-10 bottles the same size.
Practice putting water in them and hitting them with a coin to make sounds.
1. Sounds can be made with bottles.
Show how to blow across the top to make a sound.
Hitting an empty bottle can make a sound.
2. Pour some water in the bottle then hit it, pour more water in and hit it again.
What is the difference in the sounds? [The sounds are higher or lower.]
3. Pour different amounts of water in each bottle to try to make the sounds (pitch) of an octave.
Can you play the tune "twinkle, twinkle, little star"?
Let the children try to play a tune.
4. Try blowing across the different bottles.
5. Keep the bottles in the classroom to let the children play different tunes.

2.08 Dull and bright
See diagram: 4.36: Dull and bright drink cans
Dull, dark coloured things absorb most of the heat reaching them, while the shiny light coloured things reflect most of the heat.
Light coloured things reflect most of the heat.
When an object absorbs heat, it gets hotter.
Consequently, dark coloured or black objects get hot much faster than white or shiny things.
So light coloured clothes, houses, cars, are cooler in hot sunny places.
Divide the children into groups.
For each group you need :
1. One clean and shiny one drink can and one drink can painted black.
2. One piece of dark-coloured cloth and one piece of white cloth or aluminium foil.

Teach the children to describe the effect of dull and bright surfaces in sunlight.
1. Give each group one clean and shiny one drink can and one drink can painted black.
Take the children outside and tell them to hold one of the drink cans in each hand.
Note what happens after a few minutes? [The hand holding the black drink can feels hotter.]
2. Give each group one piece of dark-coloured cloth and one piece of white cloth or aluminium foil.
Put the dark-coloured cloth over one hand and the white cloth or aluminium foil over the other hand.
Note what happens after a few minutes. [The hand covered by the dark cloth is hotter than the hand covered by the white cloth, or
aluminium foil.]
4. Fill each of the drink cans with water and leave them in the sun for as long as possible.
Feel the water in each drink can after thirty minutes.
Note what you feel.
[The water in the black drink can is hotter than the water in the drink can tin.]
5. If you have a pair of very old shoes, paint the left shoe white and paint the right shoe black.
Stand in the sun.
Your right foot becomes your hot foot.

2.10 Magnetic pin chain
See diagram 29.2.3.2: Pin chain
Use magnetic things and not- magnetic things.
Magnetic things are made of iron, e.g. pins, paper clips, staples, nails, screws
Some black sand on the beach is magnetic.
Non-magnetic things are made of wood, plastic, chalk, clay, e.g. stones, paper, wood, rubbers, pencils, chalk, teacup.
Use one magnet for each group.
Teach the children to use a magnet to find which things are attracted by a magnet and are not attracted by a magnet,
1. Give each group a magnet.
Look after the magnet carefully and do not drop it.
Give the children a magnet and tell them to pass it around the class.
2. Give each group a mixture of some magnetic things and some things that are not magnetic.
Which things can the magnet pick up? [Pins, paper clips, nails.
Which things can the magnet not pick up? [Chalk, plastic, paper.]
3. Give each group lots of pins or paper clips or very small nails.
Tell the children: what happens when you put the magnet near all the pins? [The magnet pulls all the pins towards it.]
4. Pull all the pins off the magnet.
Then tell the children to pick up the magnet and put one pin on the end of it.
Then put another pin on the first and then more pins to make it a chain of pins.
Now tell the children to hold the first pin and take away the magnet.
Do the pins remain together in a chain? [Yes.]
Who can make the longest chain of pins?
5. Dancing pins.
Put some pins on a piece of paper or glass or a plate.
Move the magnet under the paper and the pins will dance.
Why does the magnet make the pins dance?
6. Tie a piece of string around the middle of two magnets.
Hold each magnet up by its string, then bring them together.
Can you get the end of the magnets to touch each other? [No.]

2.11 Balanced parrot
See diagram: 8.11: Balanced parrot
1. Cut out the shape over the page using the stiff cardboard.
Let the parrot hang on a stick.
Push its tail.
Does it fall over? [No, it balances.]
2. Balancing bird
Make a bird perch on your finger.
Use the diagram of a bird on this page as a template to draw a bird on cardboard.
Cut out the bird.
Try balancing the bird so that it will perch on your finger.
If not, attach some Plasticine on the lowest point of the bird's tail.
Does the bird balance on your finger now?
How much plasticine do you need on the tail for the bird just to balance?

2.12 Siphon and water spray
| See diagram 12.4.1.0: Siphon
| See diagram 12.4.1: Siphon fountain
Teach the children to make a water spray and transfer liquids using a siphon.
1. Use a siphon.
Put a rubber tube under water until it is completely filled with water so no air remains in the tube.
Close each end of the tube with a finger and lift the tube full of water out of the container.
Hold one closed end in an upper jar full of water.
Remove the fingers from the ends of the rubber tube.
Water will siphon up into the rubber tube then down into the lower empty jar.
1. Push the water jet into one end of the rubber tube.
Force the other end of the rubber tube through the nail hole in the bottom of the milk tin.
Hold the equipment upright in a U-shape and place a finger over the water jet.
Tell one the children to fill the milk tin with water.
Take your finger off the water jet.
What do you see? [Water shoots out like a fountain.]
2. Lower the jet and asks what happens? [The water spurts higher.]
Raise the jet and asks what happens? [The fountain is smaller.]
Repeat raising and lowering the jet slowly so that the children can see it clearly what happens to the water.
[The fountain gets bigger and smaller.]
Refill the tin with water as needed.
3. If you can tell you how to stop the fountain working without closing it with a finger? [Raise the jet above the height of the tin.]
Let groups of children play the water fountain.
4. Take two jars.
Put one on the table and the other on a chair next to the table so that the second jar is lower than the first.
Fill the jar on the table about three quarters full of water.
You have to transfer the water from the top jar to the lower jar without moving or tipping the top jar.
Show a piece of rubber tubing.
Who can use the siphon tube to transfer the water? Show the siphon to the class.
Take turns at filling the tube and letting water flow from the top jar to the bottom jar using the siphon.
5. What are the uses of siphons? [Siphons are used to empty the dirty water from an aquarium or fish tank, to "suck out' petrol from
a petrol tank, to transfer blood from a bottle into the arm of a patient.]

2.13 Our teeth
| See diagram 9.226: Teeth
| See diagram 9.226.1: Primary teeth
| See diagram 9.226.1a: Secondary teeth
| See diagram 9.226.2: Molar tooth, V.S.
Teach the children to count the different kinds of teeth in your mouth.
Milk teeth have four incisors, two canines, two premolars, and one molar.
Permanent teeth have four incisors, two canines, two pre-molars, and three molars.
1. Sit in pairs and look in each others' mouth.
2. Count the biting teeth (incisors) How many teeth are there each side in the top jaw and in the bottom jaw?
3. Count the tearing teeth (canines) tell that dogs have big tearing teeth.
4. Count the grinding teeth (molars) tell the children that cattle have big grinding teeth.
5. Show how the teeth work.
5.1 Biting teeth more up and down to bite.
You can see your marks in some food.
5.2 To use tearing teeth you pull back, like a dog.
5.3 Pretend to chew something.
Describe how your jaws move. [They move from side to side, grinding the food into little pieces.]
6. Bring some skulls and teeth of animals to school.

2.14 Measure in hand spans
See diagram 6.21.1: Hand spans
Teach the children to measure the body in hand spans then draw a stick figure using these measurements.
Use pencils and paper.
1. Show how to measure your arm in hand spans. [One hand span to elbow and three hand spans to shoulder.]
2. Show how to draw the arm equivalent in length to four hand spans by one finger width equal to one hand span.
3. Now tell the children to try to draw your whole body as a stick diagram using hand spans, e.g. foot to hip (six hand spans),
hips to shoulder (three hand spans), arms (four hand spans), neck (one hand span), head (one hand spans).
4. Measure your height in hand spans.

2.15 Measure with our body
Teach the children to measure things using parts of the body.
Use a one metre scale.
This lesson is designed to teach children to get into the habit of measuring the size of things against their own body and later relating
these measurements to a scale.
Note the measurement in centimetres of the following:
1.1 Width of a path, hand or foot spans
1.2 Length of a path (in metres), paces
1.3 Depth of a hole or a drain, stand in hole
1.4 Length of a rope or a long piece of string, arm lengths
1.5 Heights of a hedge or a fence, length of leg
1.6 Circumference of a flagpole, hand spans
1.7 Length and breadth of a banana leaf, hand or foot spans
1.8 Length of a pencil or a piece of chalk, knuckles
1.9 Area of a leaf, hand areas four litre kerosene cans
1.10 Size of a cupboard, number of people you could put inside
1.11 Height of the roof, estimate multiples of your height.
1. Show the children how to measure some things inside the classroom using parts of their body.
2. Go outside and measure the things you have already measured.
Write down, e.g. hole, up to my knee, path, 10 hand spans wide.
3. Now let the children measure themselves against the scale and write this in their books.
Which child measured most accurately?
4. Tell the children how you would measure other things outside the school, using their bodies.
5. How would you measure very small things with a piece of string, ten pieces of string = one finger.

2.16 Blindfold description
For each group you will need: 1. Two big stones the same size and two small stones the same size, or use marbles or chalk.
2. An empty matchbox, a matchbox containing sand and a matchbox containing stones.
3. A piece of long string and a piece of short string.
4. Different coins or spoons.
5. One long stick and two sticks the same size, or use pencils.
Teach groups of two children.
Teach the children to describe pairs of objects without seeing them.
1. Show the children how to play the blindfold description game.
One child is blindfolded and another child puts objects in the hands and asks questions. Demonstrate the game with one child.
2. Put a big stone in one hand and a small stone in the other hand.
Which feels heavier? [The big stone feels heavier.]
A full matchbox in one hand and an empty matchbox in the other.
Which feels lighter? [The empty match box feels lighter]
Which is longer? How much longer? [Hold sticks together and show the extra length.]
Put two different coins in the hand.
What differences can you feel? [Different size (diameter/thickness/smoothness of edge), different weight, different feel/design]
Put matchbox and stone in the hand.
What differences can you feel? [The box is lighter, has smooth and straight edges, and has corners.
The stone is heavier and feels rougher, with no straight edges and no corners.]
3. Divide the class into groups of two children.
Let the children play the game.
Who can describe all the things correctly
4. Use sand, or gravel or pieces of chalk.
Pour some sand in one hand of a blindfolded child.
Then start pouring some sand in the other hand. The blindfolded child says "stop" when the amount feels the same.
Then the child looks to see amounts of sand in the hands are the same.

2.17 Our eyes
See diagram: 9.245: Human eye
Teach the children to name parts of the eye and observe how they move.
1. Work in pairs and take turns in doing each of the following activities
The teacher demonstrates each activity before the children do it.
1.1 Look at your partner's eyes carefully.
Find each part on the diagram.
1.2 Clap your hands in front of your partner's face.
What happens? [The partner blinks.]
1.3 Tell your partner to watch your finger as you move it towards the nose.
What happens to the eyes? [The partner blinks.]
1.4 Tell your partner to walk slowly around you in a big circle.
Follow with your eyes, but do not move your head or body.
How long you can keep your partner in sight?
Put your hand up when you can no longer see your partner.
1.5 Move your eyes only, and not your head, how far you can move your hand up and down in front of your face and still see it?
Put your other hand up when you can no longer see your hand.
2. One eye game
Face your partner and kneel on the floor.
Put a piece of paper or bottle top or stone between you on the floor.
Cover your right eye with one hand.
Who can pick up the paper first?
Play the game again using the other hand and the other eye.
3. Blinking Game
Stare into your partner's eyes for a long time and try not to blink.
The first one to blink loses the game.
4. What do you use your eyes for? [Seeing.]
What are the small hairs around the eye called? [Eyelashes.]
What do the eyelids and eyelashes do? [Protect the eye.]
What happens when something gets into your eye? [Tears form to wash the eye clean.]
What does the black spot in the eye do? [It lets light into the eye so that you can see.]
Why do you blink? [To protect your eyes and keep them wet.]

2.18 Smelling game
See diagram 1.13: Smelling a gas
The safe way to smell something is to fan the gas towards the nose with the hand and sniff cautiously.
If you detect no odour, move closer and try again
Use to collect different substances that have different kinds of smell.
Warning: Do not let children smell petrol, methylated spirit, alcohol, pesticides, correcting fluid and dry cleaning fluid.
Kinds of smells:
1.1 "Fruity", from ripe fruit,
1.2 "Fragrant", from flowers and perfume,
1.3 "Onion", from onion, garlic, sulfur,
1.4 "Burning", from burning meat, coffee, feathers,
1.5 "Sweaty", from sweat, old cheese, goats,
1.6 "Foul", from rotten meat, rotten vegetables and faeces.
Teach the children to use the sense of smell to distinguish between different substances.
1. What do you use to describe things? [The five senses: sight, sound, hearing, touch, taste and smell.]
2. Name some good smells and bad smells.
3. Pass around examples of different smells, e.g. ripe bananas, fragrant flowers, cut onion, burnt feather, old shirt, damp earth.
Describe the smells.
4. Smelling game
Give out the examples to the groups.
Each child shuts its eyes, is given something to smell and then must say what it is.
The child with the most correct answers wins.
5. Show how animals smell things.
Which animals smell things a lot? [Dogs and cats.]
Which animals do not smell things much? [Birds.]

2.19 Our skin and hair
Teach the children to describe your skin and hair.
Use magnifying glasses, ink, pencils, white paper.
1. Give each group a magnifying glass and white paper.
2. Look carefully at your bodies and name places where hair grows? [Head, arms, legs.]
Does hair grow on the palms of the hands? [No.]
Does hair grow on the bottom of the feet? [No.]
Look at the hair on the head of the person next to you.
What colour is your friend's hair?
Is your friend's hair fuzzy, curly or straight?
Find the longest hair in your friend's head.
3. Take turns using a magnifying glass to look at the hairs on your arms and the hairs on your friend's arms.
Carefully pull out a hair from your head with a quick pull and put it on the sheet of white paper.
Draw one hair including the tip of the hair and the root.
4. Look at the skin with the magnifying glass: on the back of the hand, on the palm of the hand.
Can you see where the hairs come out of little holes called pores of the skin?
Put ink or pencil on the skin.
Can you see the pattern of the skin?
Draw the pattern of the skin.
5. Look at the skin of your thumb with the magnifying glass.
Can you see a pattern? Put a small drop of ink on paper or cloth.
Press the thumbs down on it, then press the thumb on clean paper.
Can you see the pattern of the skin?
This is called a fingerprint.
It is used by policemen to discover who stole something by comparing fingerprints.
6. The thickness of hair is not affected by shaving or cutting.
So cut hair does not grow thicker, healthy food makes hair grow thicker.
7. If a grey hair is pulled out two more grey hairs will not grow.
However, repeated pulling out of grey hairs may damage the hair follicle.

2.20 Spirit burner, alcohol lamp
See diagram 3.2.0.1: Alcohol lamp, spirit burner
1. Make a spirit burner
Use: a small bottle such as an empty ink bottle, a small piece of tin to make a tube with, Plasticine and a wick.
1.1 Make a hole in the lid of the bottle.
1.2 Bend the piece of metal to form a chimney.
Fix the chimney into the hole in the lid.
Hold the chimney in position with Plasticine.
1.3 Insert a wick through the chimney.
1.4 Half fill the bottle with methylated spirit.
1.5 Replace the lid on the bottle.
1.6 Light the wick.
Hold a piece of very thin wire such as iron wool in the flame.
The hotter the flame, the brighter it glows.
2. For heating different quantities of water.
Use two drink cans of the same size, two candles or spirit lamps.
Measure water into the first tin.
Measure twice the amount of water into the second tin.
3. Heat the drink cans at the same time with the two candles or two spirit lamps.
In which tin does the water boil first?
4. Measure water into the first tin.
Measure the same amount of water into the second tin
5. Heat the tins at the same time.
Heat the first tin with the candle. Heat the second tin with the spirit lamp.
In which tin does the water boil first?

2.21 Heat different substances
See diagram 23.24: Charcoal burner
When you light a candle you first heat some of the wick, which burns to produce heat.
This heat melts solid wax to become a liquid, then a gas. This gas burns to form the candle flame and produce heat.
Study changes caused by heating
1. Collect different solids, e.g. stone, grass, metal foil, bone, wood, clay, plastic, paper, iron, wool,
2. Hold each solid with tongs and heat it over a spirit burner.
3. Observe carefully what happens to each substance.
Does the substance change?
How does it change?
Does it burn?
If it burns is anything left when it stops burning?
4. Collect the following substances: flour, sugar and wax.
5. Heat each of these substances in turn in a spoon, or on a tin lid, held over the spirit burner.
6. Observe carefully what happens to each substance.
Does the substance change?
How does it change?
Does it burn?
If it burns is anything left when it stops burning?
7. Do all substances change the same way when they are heated?
Which substances change when they are hot, but go back to their original form when they cool again?
Which substances change permanently?
Some of the metals you find are mixtures.
Solder metal is used to join metals together.
It melts at low temperatures.
Solder is a mixture of lead and tin.
Brass is a hard yellow metal used to make taps.
Brass is a mixture of copper and zinc.
Steel is mainly iron with some carbon.
Steel is very springy and strong and is used to make razor blades.
Coin coins are made of a mixture of copper and nickel.
Studying corrosion
Collect some old bits of metal.
Look at them carefully.
Some of the pieces will no longer be shiny.
Many metals go dull when they are old and left lying about.
Lead becomes covered with a dark grey substance.
Iron gets covered with a brown substance called rust.
The outside of the lead and the iron changes.
You say it corrodes.
Corrosion destroys metals.
The commonest form of corrosion is the rusting of iron.

2.22 Copy with a rubber band
2.0.7 Scale of a map, Draw bigger map (GIF file)
Use a rubber band, a pencil and some drawing paper.
1. Draw a diagram a piece of paper.
2. Fix one end of a rubber band to the paper with a drawing pin.
3. Tie a knot in the rubber band and place a pencil in the other end of the band.
4. Stretching the rubber band so that the knot can follow the outline of the drawing.
Move the knot over the diagram and let the pencil draw.
Compare the copy with the original.
5. Copy again with the knot closer to the drawing pin or closer to the pencil.
Compare this second copy with the original.

2.23 See-saw balance
| See diagram 4.21: See-saws
| See diagram 4.13: Beam balance
1. To show and apply the balance condition of lever, use a strong board about 3 m long and a saw horse or use a playground see-saw.
Select two students of similar weight.
Tell them to sit at either end of the board so that they balance and the see-saw is horizontal.
Measure the distance from the balance point to each student.
Observe that they are similar distances from the fulcrum.
For each student multiply the distance by the student's weight and compare the moments, they should be equal.
2. Select a heavier student and a lighter student and repeat Part 1.
3. Select a heavier student and two lighter students.
Tell them to sit on the board so that they balance.
The two lighter students may not necessarily have to sit together.
Measure the distance from the balance point to each student.
Multiply the distance by the student's weight.
Add the moments for the two lighter students and compare it to the moment produced by the heavier student.
Each case shows that for an object in equilibrium the sum of the moments in one direction is equal to the sum of the moments in the
opposite direction.

2.24 Steelyard balance
See diagram 8.13: Steelyard balance
The steelyard is a weighing machine with unequal arms.
Hang the object to be weighed from the end of the shorter arm and move a weight along the longer arm until they balance.
This balance can be made in the playground.
It can weigh people.
1. Suspend a long pole from a tree with a strong rope.
2. Make a scale this way:
2.1. Put 10 litres (10 kg) of water in a bucket.
2.2. Hang the bucket where people will sit.
2.3. Hang a heavy stone on the other side of the pole.
Move it along the pole until it balances.
2.4. Mark the pole, 10 kg, at this place.
2.5. Fill the bucket with 20 litres of water.
2.6. Move the stone further away until it balances.
2.7. Mark this position, 20 kg.
2.8. Measure the distance between the 10 kg and 20 kg marks.
Use this distance to mark the
whole pole: 30 kg, 40 kg.
3. Use your balance to weigh people.
Move the stone along until the pole balances.
Read off the weight of the person from the scale.

2.25 Ruler balance
See diagram 8.10: Ruler balance
Use a ruler, a rubber band, a pencil or a split bamboo cane and two similar books.
1. Fix the pencil to the ruler with the rubber band.
The diagram shows you how.
2. Balance the pencil on the two books.
3. Move the ruler slightly until it balances.
4. Collect together things to weigh such as pencils, pens, matchboxes and small drink cans filled with different things, and bottle tops
filled with Plasticine.
5. Which is heavier, a pen or a pencil? Which is heavier, a tin of stones or a tin of water?
6. Predict the results before weighing then use the balance to see whether your predictions are correct.
7. How many bottle tops are needed to balance a book? Use the bottle tops filled with Plasticine as units.
Should the bottle tops be at the same distance from the centre as the book?
8. Measure other objects using bottle tops as a unit.

2.26 Bottle top balance
1. Place a bottle top at one end of the balance.
Where should you put two bottle tops at the other side to balance it?
2. Make a prediction.
Make the bottle tops balance.
How many centimetres from the centre are the bottle tops?
3. Draw the balance showing the distances on it.
Where should three bottle tops be placed to balance one?
Predict first, then try it.
4. Balance more bottle tops.
Place three bottle tops on the balance as in the diagram.
Do not move them.
5. Can you balance them by moving the pencil?
To which side should you move the pencil?
6. Balance one bottle top against three bottle tops.
How far are the bottle tops from the centre of balance?

2.27 Nail balance
A. Making the balance
Use a straight piece of wood about 40 cm long, a bamboo cane for the stand, a large tin of sand and some nails.
1. Find the centre of the piece of wood by resting it on a pencil. Move the wood until it balances.
When you have found the resting place, make a mark on it.
This is the centre.
2. Hammer a large nail in the upper part of the mark.
If the nail is placed in the lower part the balance will not work.
3. Measure with the ruler five equal distances from the nail on both sides.
4. Hammer in a nail at each mark.
Number the nails.
This piece of wood is called the arm of the balance.
5. Cut notches in the top of the bamboo cane.
They should be deep enough to let the arm move freely.
6. Fix the cane in the tin of sand to form the stand.
7. Mount the arm on the stand.
Does the arm stay straight? If not, what should you do to make it stay straight?
B. Using the balance
Use bottle tops, a nail and a hammer.
1. Hammer the bottle tops to make them flat.
2. Use the nail to make a hole in the centre of each one.
3. Hang one bottle top on nail 4 on the left of your balance.
Hang two bottle tops on nail 2 on the right of your balance.
Do they balance?
4. Put one bottle top on nail 5 on one side.
Balance it with two bottle tops on the other side.
On which two nails did you put the bottle tops?
5. Try to balance one bottle top on nail 5 on one side with three bottle tops on the other side.
On which nails did you hang them?
6. Balance other arrangements of bottle tops.
Record your results in a table like this:

-	L	E	F	T	-	-	R	I	G	H	T	Calculate
Nail	5	4	3	2	1	-	1	2	3	4	5	-
1. Number of bottle tops	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	4 x 1 = 2 x 2
2. Number of bottle tops	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	5 x 1 = 2 x 1 + 3 x 1
3. Number of bottle tops	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-	-	5 x 1 = 1 x 1 + 2 x 2
4. Number of bottle tops	-	-	1	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	1	3 x 1 + 1 x 2 = 5 x 1
5. Number of bottle tops	-	-	-	3		-	2	2	-	-	-	2 x 3 = 1 x 2 + 2 x 2

2.28 Beam balance
| See diagram 16.13: Beam balance
| See diagram 8.12: Balances
Teach the children to make a simple beam balance and use it to weigh things.
Use three pieces of string each about 35 cm long, a wooden ruler that you can cut, or a smooth stick, two match boxes, a knife.
Cut a small V-shape in each side of the ruler or stick.
Tie one end of a piece of string around where the V's are.
Hold up the ruler by the other end of the string and it should balance horizontally.
Make four holes in the corners of two matchbox trays.
Thread one end of the string through the holes as shown, then tie the two ends.
Pull the string so that the knot is at the top.
Use some chalk and little stones.
Move the matchbox trays on the ruler until it balances horizontally.
Notice the positions on the ruler.
1. Show how you tie the string to the ruler and then show it balancing horizontally.
2. Show how you made the matchbox trays.
Show them balancing horizontally from the ruler.
3. Place a large piece of chalk on the left hand tray, it goes down.
Put little stones in the right hand tray until the ruler is horizontal again.
The weight of the chalk is now equal to the weight of the stones.
4. Draw the following on the chalkboard.
Which objects are heavier and which objects have the same weight?

2.29 Drinking straw balance
See diagram 8.12: Drinking straw balance
Use a matchbox, a drinking straw, a small screw, a clothes peg, a piece of paper to make a scale, and two pins.
The diagram shows you how the balance is made.
The screw can be pushed further in, or pulled further out, of the straw to let it balance.
This balance is very sensitive.
You will be able to use it to weigh tiny insects, threads of cotton and wool and tiny pieces of paper.
What else can you weigh?
What units will you use?

2.30 Leaf pictures
Teach the children to record the structure of leaves by rubbing with a pencil.
Leaves, pencils, paper, different types of flat leaves.
1. Arrange 2-3 different kinds of leaves on a page of an exercise book.
2. Place a second page over the leaves, rub the page with a pencil then draw the outline.
3. In what way are the leaves the same? [All have a midrib and veins.]
3.2 How are the leaves different? [There are many different shapes.]
3.3. Can you see the leaf veins? [Yes.]
4. Try again with more unusual leaves.
How are they the same? How are they different?

2.31 Flower parts
See diagram 9.98.7: Parts of a flower
Teach the children to collect and classify different flowers.
Each child should bring five different flowers to school.
1. Put all the flowers you have collected on your desks.
Place each kind of flower in separate piles.
2. Hold up each kind of flower.
What colour it is?
3. Explain where you found it.
4. Show the petals on the flowers.
How many petals can you see on each kind of flower?
[Dicotyledons, e.g. trees, shrubs and herbs have 5 or 10 or 15, 5 x, or many petals]
[Monocotyledons, e.g. grass, lilies, maize, have 3 or 6 or 9 or 3 x, or many petals.]
5. Can see other parts of flowers that are in 5's or 3's? [Sepals, male parts, female parts.]
6. Flowers attract bees and birds, because flowers contain nectar, i.e. honey.
Put your little finger into the flower and try to find some nectar, just like a bee or a bird.
Does nectar taste sweet? [Yes.]
Put your little finger into a flower and try to find the nectar.
7. Put the flowers into two different groups:
big / small,
colourful / not colourful,
parts in 5's / parts in 3's,
have nectar / no nectar,
red / not red,
many flowers on a branch / one flower on a branch.
8. Draw the flowers you have collected.

2.32 Collect seeds
Teach the children to recognize the difference between different seeds.
Make a collection of 4-5 different kinds of seeds, e.g. peanuts, other legumes, corn, pumpkin, melon, tomato, pandanus, papaya.
Use 12 seeds of each kind and a clock face.
1. Divide the children into groups so that each group has 12 seeds of one kind,
e.g. Group A: 12 pumpkin seeds, Group B: 12 peanut seeds, Group C: 12 papaya seeds.
2. Are all the seeds the same size? [No.]
Put the seeds in one line, biggest to smallest, then count the seeds? [12.]
3. Show a clock face.
Arrange the seeds like the numbers on the clock face.
Put the biggest seed on the one and the smallest seed on the one.
4. Are the seeds on the five and six are big or small? [Middle size.]
5. Do all the seeds have the same pattern and the same colour? [Most will be the same, but there are some differences.]
6. Give each group has three seeds of each kind.
7. Repeat steps three and four with the different kinds of seeds.
8. Collect different kinds of seeds in the school playground and at home.
Who can find the most kinds of seeds?

2.34 Different kinds of food
Teach the children to identify the three different kinds of food when shown samples.
Collect samples of:
1.1 potato, sweet potato, rice,
1.2. meat, fish, beans,
1.3. vegetable oil or peanut butter, fruit, edible greens,
1.4. salt, milk.
1. Show the different samples of food.
2. Potato, sweet potato or rice.
Taste them raw.
You can taste starch.
If you eat plenty of these foods, you will not get tired easily.
These are energy foods.
3. Meat, fish and beans.
These foods will make children grow big and strong.
These are growth foods.
4. Vegetable oil, peanut butter, edible greens.
These are protective foods.
Protective foods keep you healthy and protect you from sickness.
5. Salt is needed in small amounts.
Milk is needed, because it contains calcium to make strong bones.
Salt and calcium are called minerals.
6. Each day eat the three kinds of food:
6.1 Energy food,
6.2 Growth food,
6.3 Protective food,
6.4 Milk and salt.
What are the different foods you eat each day at home?
7. Contact a health worker to talk about healthy diet for children.

2.35 Paint with plant juices
Teach the children to use juices from leaves and flowers to draw things.
Use some plants that produce colourful juice when you break the stem.
Before the lesson, check which plants grow in the school grounds that the children can pick or they must bring to the class.
1. Show how to break stems and squeeze leaves and flowers to make plant juices of different colours.
2. Draw circles with each kind of leaf and flower juice.
How many different coloured circles can you draw?
Can you write their name in plant juices?
3. Can you draw a flower using plant juice?
4. Hang up all the drawings on the wall.
Look at them the next day, are the colours the same?
5. Competition for the best drawing using plant juices.
6. Try to draw yourselves using the plant juices.

2.36 Examine rocks with a magnifier
Teach the children to describe what you can see inside a rock.
The most common kinds of rocks are as follows:
1.1 Reef limestone is found near the coast, because they are formed from old coral reefs.
They have a white grey, stony appearance.
You cannot see crystals and it cannot be split into layers.
It fizzes if put in acid.
1.2 Sedimentary rocks are formed from mud, sand and little stones compressed together.
Sometimes you can see crystals and layers.
1.3 Volcanic rocks formed when the lava from old volcanoes has cooled.
1.4 Basalt is a dark coloured rock with fine crystals.
Sometimes it contains little holes, but it is never in layers.
1.5 Andesite is light coloured with very tiny crystals although there may be some scattered large crystals in it.
Do not tell the children the names of the rocks.
Use magnifying glasses and a collection of different kinds of rocks.
Put the rocks in a cloth bag and hit them with a hammer to get clean faces.
1. Give out the magnifying glasses and your rock collection to each group.
2. Look carefully inside a piece of rock.
What do you see inside?
Is it all the same inside or is it different?
Can you see the layers?
Can you see shiny crystals?
What colour is the rock?
Can you see holes?
3. Take another piece of rock and describe it.
4. Look at both pieces of rock.
What are the differences between them?
Divide all your rocks into 3-4 piles.
The rocks in each pile should have the same description, e.g. all white all layers, all have shiny crystals.
5. Make a display of different kinds of rocks based on what you saw inside them.
Stick the rocks on cardboard and hang this in the wall.

2.37 Different soils
See diagram 6.26: Soil profiles
Teach the children to collect different soil samples and state three ways in which the samples are different.
Use many sheets of old paper to wrap small samples of soil in, digging tools (spades) or digging sticks, 10 sheets of stiff paper or
cardboard, glue or paste, ready mixed.
Be sure you can get three very different kinds of soil, e.g. garden soil, forest soils, soil from a bare area or near a beach.
Soils can be different from each other in several ways, e.g. colour, textures (or "feel"), amount of black sticky humus, amount of
decaying plant and animal matter present, how the soil holds together, and the size of the particles.
There are three main types of soils are:
1. Sandy soil
Sandy soils are usually loose and free flowing with large particles and a rough texture.
2. Clay soil
Clay soils are smooth and sticky with very small particles.
3. Loam or garden soil.
Garden soils have plenty of humus and have a mixture of small and large particles.
Before the lesson try to find places around the school where these different types of soils can be found.
You can then direct the children to these areas when you are collecting.
1. Give out the prepared materials, give out soils, or tell the children to go outside and collect soil samples.
2. Look at the colour of the soil, to feel it, to see what is in it, how well it holds together, to wrap small samples of soil in separate
pieces of paper, to write on each parcel where the soil came from.
3. After 15 minutes of collecting bring the children back into the classroom and quickly find out which group has collected which soils.
You are going to display your soils for other classes to see.
4. To display the soil samples, use a glue brush to make a 2 cm strip of glue on a piece of cardboard.
Sprinkle the soil sample on the strip of glue.
Write the name of the place where the soil came from on the cardboard.
5. Name three ways in which soils can be different? [Colour, "feel", size of particles, amount of plants / animals present.
What different types of soils did your group collect? [Different answers from different groups.]
Describe each soil.
Which group collected the most different soil samples? [Name the group.]
6. Bring to the class different soil samples from near your home to add them to the display.

2.38 Shake soil in water
Teach the children to separate soil into different components and discover how soil is formed.
Use some topsoil taken from underneath some old leaves, glass jars, water.
1. Take the children outside to dig up some soil just underneath some old leaves.
2. Feel the soil by rubbing it between the thumb and finger.
What do you feel? [Most of the soil feels gritty, but the black part of the soil feels sticky.]
3. Add soil to the jar containing water then shake the jar.
Put the jar on the table and leave it to let the soil settle down.
4. What do you see? [4.1 Some bits of plant are floating.]
[4.2 Bigger stones fall down first, then the large sand particles, then the small sand particles.]
[4.3 The water remains muddy for a time, because of the smallest particles do not fall down.]
[4.4 After a long time all the smallest particles and a thin layer of black stuff fall down and the water becomes clear.]
[4.5 If you bump or shake the jar the water becomes muddy again.]
5. Point to the different layers in the water: stones, big particles of sand, small particles of sand, mud, floating parts of plants.
Where do the layers come from? [The layers that feel gritty come from broken rocks.
The black stuff that feels sticky and the floating stuff comes from plants and animals.]
6. Rocks can be broken into small particles by the weather and rivers but it takes many years.
The dead bodies of plants and animals form the black sticky stuff after some years.
Soil takes a long time to form so you must not let it get washed away.
7. Good soil contains different sizes of stone particles and the black sticky stuff.
Bad soil contains stone particles only.
Where do you find good soil and bad soil in the school grounds? [Good soil is found in places where you find lots of old dead leaves.]

2.38.1 Soil settles in water.
Use samples of sand, garden soil and powdered clay (for each group, glass jars, 10 containers of water.
1. Put a small amount of clay in a glass jar.
Almost fill the jar with water.
Stir the mixture.
Hold the jar up to the light.
Look carefully at the mixture.
What do you see? [The clay does not settle in the water.]
Place the jar on a piece of paper and write the word CLAY on the paper.
Do not empty the jar.
2. Repeat step one for both sand and garden soil.
In each case tell the children what happens? [Sand settles quickly and soil separates into different parts.]
Place each jar on a piece of paper and label them "sand" and "garden soil".
3. Place the three jars on your labels in a safe place where they will not be moved and allow them to stand for a day and night.
4. Show a jar of muddy water from a river and a jar fill of clean water.
How can you make the clean water look like the river water? [Add clay or soil to the water.]
5. How did the river water become muddy? [Sand settles much faster than clay, because the particles are much bigger and heavier.
When sand and clay are washed into a river, the sand settles, but the clay cannot settle, because the water is moving.
So the river looks muddy if there is lots of clay in it.]
6. Collect samples of muddy water from rivers and pools.
Put them in jars and see how long they take to settle.

2.38.2 Shake good soil and bad soil in water
Teach the children to explain what they see when good soil and bad soil are shaken in water and left to settle.
Use some good soil and bad soil, jars with lids, a ruler.
The good soil can be topsoil from the garden especially if it is a new garden that has been recently cleared from the bush.
The bad soil could be subsoil or soil that is on a slope and partly washed away.
The good soil will have roughly equal amounts of sand and clay and much plant matter. The bad soil will have little plant matter in it.
Show the good soil and bad soil.
Give each group two jars.
Fill the jars with water, pour equal amounts of soil in, shake the jars and let them stand.
What do you see? [The soil falls down and the water stays muddy, plant matter floats on the water.]
After a few more minutes tell the children what you see.
[The muddy water is starting to clear.]
Show the layers of stones, clay and sand.
Where did the clay come from? [It was floating in the water before the water cleared.]
Measure the depth of the stones, sand, and clay with your finger or a ruler.
Describe the difference between what you see in the jar containing good soil and the jar containing bad soil.
[Good soil contains more black plant matter, surface soil will have little clay and the muddy water will clear first, bad subsoil may be
nearly all clay and the muddy water will clear last.]

2.39 Water through soil
See diagram 36.6.3: Water through soil
Teach the children to observe how much water passes through different kinds of soils.
Use tins with holes punched in the bottom, sandy soil, good soil, clay soil, two glass jars.
1. Give out to each group: one tin with holes, sandy soil, good soil, clay soil, two glass jars.
2. Show how to fill the tin with soil, then tip in the first jar of water.
The second jar is used to catch the water passing through. Do this with three different soils.
3. Through which soil does the water pass fastest? [Sandy soil.]
Through which soil does the water pass the slowest? [Clay soil. The water may not pass through the clay at all.]
4. Use your fingers to measure the depth of water in the first jar before pouring it through the good soil.
After five minutes, pour the water in the second jar back into the first jar.
How much water remains in the first jar?
5. Repeat 4., but leave it to drain for a whole day.
How much water is held in the soil after one day?

2.43 Different metals
Teach the children to collect different metals from the home and the school.
1. Identify metals
Iron is a shiny metal that goes rusty.
Nails, knives and tools are made of iron.
Most metal in a can is iron.
This metal, unlike most others, can be pulled by a magnet.
Lead is a soft metal, usually grey.
It looks like silver when it is scratched.
Found in old water pipes and old car batteries.
Aluminium is a shiny metal.
Used for making silver paper (foil).
Copper is a red brown metal.
It is quite soft and it is used to make electrical wire.
Zinc is a grey metal.
It is found in cells.
It is used to cover things made of iron, e.g. galvanized iron roofing and fencing wire.
Chromium is a shiny metal, e.g. the shiny parts of a motor car.
These parts are usually made of steel, covered with a thin layer of chromium.
Tin is a shiny white metal.
It is used to cover cans made of iron.
2. Some of the metals you find are mixtures.
Solder metal is used to join metals together.
It melts at low temperatures.
Solder is a mixture of lead and tin.
Brass is a hard yellow metal used to make taps.
Brass is a mixture of copper and zinc.
Steel is mainly iron with some carbon.
Steel is very springy and strong and is used to make razor blades.
Coin are made of a mixture of copper and nickel.
3. Study corrosion
Collect some old bits of metal.
Look at them carefully.
Some of the pieces will no longer be shiny.
Many metals go dull when they are old and left lying about.
Lead becomes covered with a dark grey substance.
Iron gets covered with a brown substance called rust.
The outside of the lead and the iron changes.
You say it corrodes.
Corrosion destroys metals.
The commonest form of corrosion is the rusting of iron.

2.44 Candle flame
| See diagram 3.1.2.4: Bunsen burner flame, Candle flame
| See diagram 3.1.2.6: Candle burner
| See diagram 4.20 : Copper coil candle snuffer
Teach the children to study a burning candle.
Fire can be useful.
It can also be dangerous.
Its heat can cook food.
Its heat can also burn you.
In this experiment you will study fire.
You must study it carefully and safely, or you could be burned and scarred.
Always obey these instructions: 1. Fires made from things that burn quickly, e.g. paper, must be made outside.
Keep away from dry grass.
2. Do not touch hot containers with your hands.
3. Keep a bucket of water and a bucket of dry sand near you to put out fires.
4. Avoid sudden movements.
5. If you burn yourself, cool the burnt part in the cold water.
Keep it cool for 10 minutes then get first aid from your teacher.
1. Stand a candle on a table so that it is not in a draught.
2. Light the candle.
Watch the flame carefully.
What shape is the flame?
Is the shape always the same?
What colours can you see in the flame?
Is the candle wick straight or bent?
3. Draw a picture of the flame and colour the picture.
4. What happens to the candle?
Does the candle get smaller?
What happens to the wax just below the flame?
Where does the melted wax go?
Graph showing length of candle as it burns, at different times of day: | 8 a.m. | 10.0 a.m. | 12 noon | 2 p.m. | 4 p.m. |
5. The graph shows how the length of a candle changed while it burned.
How much of this candle burned in each hour?
At what time do you think the candle would have completely burned away?
Could the candle be used as a clock?
6. Candle experiments
Use 2 candles and several jars of different sizes.
6.1 Put a large jar over a burning candle.
Did the candle continue burning? How long did it keep burning?
6.2 Place a smaller jar over a burning candle.
Did the candle continue burning? How long did it keep burning?
6.3 Light two candles.
Cover one candle with a jar.
When the flame goes out, remove the jar and place it immediately over the second candle.
What do you observe?

2.45 Floating and sinking
Teach the children to observe things which float and things which sink.
Collect wood, ball, bottle tops, stones and other objects.
Use also plasticine (modelling clay) or putty, jars, water, bottle, little stones, container with water.
Grouping in pairs
1. Let the children make things float.
Are they all the same depth in the water? [No Give each group a bottle or show the children how to make a paper boat.
Add little stones to the floating bottle or paper boat.
Do you stay the same depth in the water? [No, you get deeper until you sink.
Give the children things which sink including a lump of plasticine what happens when things sink? [the water level in the container rises.
2. Make a canoe out of the plasticine.
If the walls are very thin it will float.
What is the difference between the plasticine sinking and floating? [When it floats the water level in the container is higher, the volume is bigger.
3. What other things can be made to sink or float? (galvanized iron canoe, iron boat.]

2.46 Simple wind detector
(by Christine Preston, University of Sydney, edited for this website)
See diagram 2.46: Simple wind detector
Teach children to make a wind detector and uses it to find the direction and strength of the wind.
1. Use a fan or hair dryer to blow some leaves around the floor.
What made the leaves move in the classroom?
Do leaves move in the same way in the school yard?
What makes leaves move in the school yard?
Does the wind always blow?
Is the wind always the same strength?
How can we tell if there is a wind?
Does the wind always come from the same direction?
What is wind?
2. We will make wind detectors to find the strength and direction of the wind.
Use scissors to cut cardboard in the shape of the wind detector in the diagram.
Insert the scissors into the cut made by the teacher and cut a hand hold.
Show the children how their hand fits into the hand hold.
Does the wind detector need anything else? [It needs streamers.]
Add streamers to the end, opposite the hand hold, and secure them with adhesive tape.]
3. Hold up your completed wind detectors in the classroom where there is no wind.
The wind is calm.
What do you notice about the streamers? [None of the streamers are lifted by the wind.]
Tell the children to draw streamers when the wind is calm.
4. Hold the wind detectors in front of a fan or hair dryer on low speed. The wind is a light wind.
What do you notice about the streamers? [In a light wind not all of the streamers are lifted by the wind.]
Tell the children to draw the streamers when there is a light wind.
5. Hold the wind detectors in front of a fan or hair dryer on high speed. The wind is a strong wind.
What do you notice about the streamers? [In a strong wind all of the streamers are being pushed out by wind.]
Tell the children draw the streamers when there is a strong wind.
6. Take the wind detectors outside to see if there is any wind and where it is coming from.
What will happen to the streamers on the wind detector if there is a calm wind, light wind, strong wind?
7. Winds may blow at different strengths.
Scientists have developed instruments, like our wind detectors, to measure and record strength and direction of the wind.
8. What happens to smoke from a chimney, in a calm wind, light wind, strong wind?
9. Windy poem
"Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I
But when the leaves are rustling,
the wind is passing by."