Famous Scientist of the Month: Pierre Curie

Born on May 15^th 1859, Pierre Curie is my famous scientist of the month. Many of you will have heard of his very famous wife Marie Curie, the namesake of a charity dedicated to helping those terminally ill cancer sufferers, however her husband Pierre is less well known.

Early Life

Source: nobelprize.org

Pierre Curie was born in Paris, the son of a medical practitioner, who educated Pierre. He went on to study at Sorbonne, a university in Paris, where he met his future wife Marie Curie. Pierre began studies with his older brother Jacques into crystallography (the science that examines the arrangement of atoms in solid materials), and discovered piezoelectric effects, the electric charge that occurs from crystals in certain solid materials when they are put under mechanical stress. The pair invented the piezoelectric quartz electrometer, a piece of equipment designed to measure the faint electric currents produced when certain crystals are pressed. Two decades later, this equipment assisted his wife Marie Curie in her studies.

Pierre’s solo studies led to discovering the effect of temperature on paramagnetism (a type of magnetism that occurs in certain materials when a magnetic field is externally applied), now known as Curie’s law, and the material constant in Curie’s law is known as the Curie constant. Pierre also showed that the magnetic properties of materials change at certain temperature, now known as the Curie point. All in all, lots of things are named after this chap!

Discoveries with Marie Curie

The Curie’s married in 1895, and began studies into radioactive substances in very difficult conditions; their laboratory equipment was not up to standard, and both were also teaching to help fund their studies. The Curie’s in fact coined the term ‘radioactivity’ Alongside his wife Marie and another scientist, Professor Henri Becquerel, Pierre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 in recognition of their discoveries in the field of radiation. Together with Marie, he also discovered the radioactive substances radium and polonium.

Later Life

As a male in a male dominated profession, Pierre received more recognition for his work in his time than his wife Marie, but was still denied entrance to some esteemed French scientific institutions, due to his unorthodox education.

Whilst crossing the road in Paris in 1906, Pierre sadly slipped and fell under a horse drawn cart, killing him instantly.

Well folks, I’m off to continue conducting my own experiments with my ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart; perhaps I’ll make a great discovery one day!

Sources: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/pierre-curie-bio.html and http://www.aip.org/history/curie/pierre.htm

Students missing out on practical science

I felt deeply saddened last week to read this shocking report from the BBC about pupils at many state-funded schools in England who are missing out on practical science experiments because of a lack of basic equipment.

The report also highlighted that ‘school laboratories were inadequate in a fifth of state secondary schools’, with “insufficient bench space, a lack of access to fume cupboards… and insufficient space to run and store long-term experiments”.

I believe we should be teaching our children more science in the classroom because it’s important for ours and our children’s future! Perhaps in schools where space is restricted and a traditional science laboratory is not an option, the ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart can offer the ideal solution for science lessons, as it has a small footprint and offers a lower cost than completely upgrading a traditional science lab.

The science cart allows teachers to easily demonstrate science experiments, or carry out PowerPoint presentations. With its lockable doors, the mobile science cart also offers a safe place to store chemicals away from pupils when not in use.

So how do I get the schools and government to see this as a fantastic and exciting option for our schools and colleges?

How do I get children enjoying the delights of science and the wonderful opportunities of trying experiments in their own classroom environment, whether students are key stage 1, 2 or 3?

Well, I’m the great Professor Smarty Pots and I’ll do what I do best; I’ll keep plugging away, making sure that I get to meet more wonderful children, more inspiring teachers and interested MP’s, and show them exactly what can be done with the ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart and how much of a difference can be made to the teaching of science today in our classrooms.

Please have a scroll through my blog for lots of fun and simple science experiments that won’t cost the earth that you can do at home or at school!

Me and students from Great Berry Primary School at Bett 2013

The world’s coolest science lab

Hello there folks! Today on my science blog, I’m going to be taking a look at the world’s ‘coolest’ science laboratory, the Vostok Station.

Now, I can tell you’re wondering why I call this the world’s coolest science lab? This amazing station is located in Antarctica in an area called the southern Pole of Cold, named this because it is where the coolest natural temperatures on Earth have ever been reliably recorded. How cold I hear you ask? A whopping -89.2 °C (that’s −128.6 °F!) was recorded here on 21 July 1983. Chilly is an understatement!

The Vostok Station is owned by the Russian Federation, and scientists’ main experiments involve ice drilling into Lake Vostok, the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica (that means the largest lake under a glacier). This amazing lake is roughly the same size as the whopping Lake Ontario in North America and scientists believe that it’s been cut off from the surface of the Earth for millions of years. It is concealed under an estimated two and a half miles of ice! Scientists are working hard to recover samples of water from the lake to find out if it hides secrets of ancient bacteria or micro-organisms that have been untouched by the human race.

You might recognise the name because the station appeared in the news last month; Russian scientists who are based at the Vostok Station discovered what they believed to be a new bacterial species because its DNA was less than 86% similar to other known species. Critics say however that this could in actual fact be a contamination from the fluid used during the drilling process. The bacteria is still being analysed by scientists to determine its true nature.

So, it looks as though science really can be taken anywhere in the world, even the coldest place on our planet! If you would like to take science away from the conventional science lab, why not take a look at my mobile science cart, the ExplorerLAB™ and you could take science to any classroom.

Chocolate Science Experiment

Well good morning folks and I hope you all had a fantastic Easter! If, like me, you still have some chocolate left over from the weekend you can try out my simple chocolate science experiment. If not, you could always buy some more chocolate and give it a go!

You’ll need:

• Dark or milk chocolate (not white! Dark works best)
• A source of heat (like a sunny windowsill, warm radiator or even the microwave)

Firstly, heat your chocolate until it starts to melt – be careful if you’re using a microwave to do this as it will melt quickly! I suggest melting it in 30 second bursts. Kids, make sure you get an adult’s help with this if you use a microwave to melt your chocolate. Once the chocolate has melted, pop it in your fridge and let it harden. This may mean leaving the chocolate overnight.

If you don’t see any change in your chocolate, try re-melting it then leaving it to cool again. Eventually, you will start to see lighter brown or even white streaks and spots all over the chocolate. But why?

When these lighter streaks and spots appear in chocolate it is known as chocolate bloom. With this experiment, you’ve actually revealed one of the ingredients in the chocolate which is cocoa butter. When the chocolate is melted and then cooled again, some of the cocoa butter, which is a type of fat, pushes past the solid particles in the chocolate and comes to the surface, forming white crystals which is the bloom you see. The chocolate is still perfectly edible, although might not taste as good as it did before!

National Science & Engineering Week

National Science & Engineering Week 2013 is in full swing and I’ve been having a blast. I’ve been travelling all over with my ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart trying to spread the love of science and carry out some of my simple science experiments.

National Science & Engineering Week runs for 10 days every year and consists of about 4500 events running throughout the UK. The whole week and all of the events celebrate science, engineering and technology which is a huge part of our everyday lives, although we may not always realise it. The British Science Association coordinates the whole week, but anyone can organise an activity and it’s not too late to get involved; you can go to the website and find activities in your local area or download activity packs and carry out experiments at home or at school.

There’s lots of brilliant activities available on the British Science Association’s website and I thought I’d give some of them a try with the help of my trusty ExplorerLAB™. Here’s my favourite experiment below and details of my findings.  Extra special thanks to the British Science Association for sharing these great experiments.

Cascading Colours Experiment (Colour Chaos, Activity 9)

You’ll need:

• 60ml cooking oil
• 60ml water
• Small glass or beaker
• Food colouring of your choice
• Pipette
• Pencil

Firstly, pour the water into your glass or beaker, and then very slowly pour in the oil. Notice what happens; the oil will float on top of the water! Next, use your pipette to add just a few drops of your chosen food colouring into the glass. Gently touch each drop of food colouring with the tip of your pencil and observe what happens; some of the food colouring sits underneath the oil and some of it sinks!

As you saw when you added the oil, it does not mix with the water but instead sits on top. That’s because water and oil are immiscible, which means they don’t mix together to form a new solution. The oil is less dense than the water, so forms a layer on top. Because food colouring is water based it will mix with the water in the glass or beaker, but won’t mix with the oil. When the colouring sinks through the oil and reaches the water, it immediately breaks and apart and dissolves into the water. Brilliant!

Easy Orange Science Experiment

Today in the UK it’s the hottest day of the year so far and I am really enjoying having a cuppa in the sunshine! All this sunshine made me think of a great and simple science experiment using an orange, so I got my ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart out this morning and carried it out. You can do this at home or in the classroom too! You’ll need:

• An orange
• A bowl or container
• Water

Firstly, fill up your bowl with water, then pop the orange in and see what happens. Next, remove the orange from the water and peel off the rind, the put it back in the water. Record what happens.

If your experiment went the same way mine did this morning, you probably noticed that the orange floated when you first put it in the water, but once you removed the rind it sunk. But why?

Well, it all comes down to density. Density is the mass of an object in relation to its volume. Anything with a lower density than water will float, whilst anything with a higher density than water will sink. The orange rind is full of tiny little air pockets which help to give it a lower density and so it is light enough to float on the water. However, once you remove the orange rind, all of the air pockets allowing the orange to float are gone, so the orange’s density increases and it sinks to the bottom. Fascinating!

Enjoy the sunshine wherever you are folks, I’m off the think up some more experiments with the help of my mobile science cart.

Sources: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/orangefloatorsink.html

Famous Scientist of the Month: Nicolaus Copernicus

Hello folks! I thought it was high time I wrote another in my series of posts about famous scientists, and who better to write about today than Nicolaus Copernicus on what would be his 540^th birthday! There is even a Google doodle to mark the date.

So we know Nicholas Copernicus was born on the 19^th February 1473, but what was he famous for? Well, we credit this Polish astronomer for being the man who first realised that the sun, and not the Earth, is in fact the centre of the universe. Copernicus’ heliocentric theory was a revelation in its own time, and today Copernicus is still considered the founder of modern astronomy.

Early Life

Copernicus was born in Thorn, Poland (modern day Toruń), the son of a merchant. Sadly his father died when Copernicus was just 10 years old. His uncle was a bishop in the Catholic Church and ensured that Copernicus had a good education by sending him to Krakow Academy (now Jagiellonian University) before he travelled to Italy in 1496 to study law. Copernicus stayed in Bologna with a mathematics professor, who encouraged his curiosity in geography and astronomy.

 Heliocentric Theory

Copernicus returned to Poland in 1503 to work as a private secretary to his uncle, who was now the bishop of Ermland. When his uncle died in 1512, Copernicus took on an administrative post and moved to the city of Frauenberg where he spent more time studying astronomy.

In 1514, the Catholic Church was looking to make improvements to the calendar and so appointed Copernicus, as he was now a well known astronomer. Through his many observations of the skies, Copernicus concluded that all planets, including Earth, revolved around the sun, and he also realised that the Earth rotates daily on its axis. In 1530 he concluded his major work ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’ (‘On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres’).

I think one of the most amazing things about Copernicus’ discovery is that he made all of his observations with the naked eye, and it would be over 50 years after his death that Galileo would become the first person to study our skies using a telescope.

Death

Copernicus’ work was finally published in 1543 and he died on 24^th May that year.

Up until Copernicus’ theory, astronomers generally believed the theory of Greek astronomer Ptolomy, who had stated that the Earth was static at the centre of the universe, with all other heavenly bodies moving in complicated patterns around the Earth. This is why Copernicus’ is celebrated as the father of modern astronomy.

Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/copernicus.shtml and http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/feb/19/nicolaus-copernicus-birthday-google-doodle

My visit to Bett 2013

Hi folks! I hope everyone had a brilliant week last week and had the chance to pop along to the Bett Show; I was there on Friday 1st February on the LapSafe® Products stand carrying out my duties as Official Ambassador for the ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart. David Price from Science Made Simple was there carrying out a presentation with children from Great Berry Primary School taking part, and David was also science busking all day. I had a fantastic time and you can see some of the pictures below.

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My plans for 2013

Morning folks! As this is my first post since Christmas I suppose I ought to wish everyone a very Happy New Year, and I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I’m getting very excited about everything I’ve got planned for 2013.

The first thing I’ve got lined up in my role as Official Ambassador for the LapSafe® ExplorerLAB™ mobile science cart is that I’m going to be making a few special guest appearances on the LapSafe® stand F130 at the Bett Show 2013. The Bett Show has moved this year to ExCel London, and will take place from Wednesday 30^th January to Saturday 2^nd February. I’m so excited I cannot wait! You can register to attend the show for free here.

As part of their series of on-stand workshops at the Bett Show, LapSafe® will be holding a science themed day on Friday 1^st February. At 11.30am, David Price from Science Made Simple will be hosting a workshop titled ‘How Science Can be Fun in the Classroom’, demonstrating a series of fun and simple science experiments which teachers can carry out in lessons. David has previously worked with the BBC and TV show ‘Brainiac’ which I’m sure many people will be familiar with. The first 25 people to attend David’s workshop will also get their hands on a science themed goodie bag! Alongside this, David will be Science Busking on the LapSafe® stand throughout the day, where he’ll be performing science tricks and live demonstrations using everyday materials, to show us how science relates to our daily lives. This coincides with the fact that the brilliant Professor Brian Cox will be appearing at the show on the Friday.

If you can’t catch me on the LapSafe® stand on Friday 1^st February, then don’t worry because the ExplorerLAB™ will be on the stand all week, and I’ll be making guest appearances throughout the Bett Show.

Christmas Science Experiment

Well folks, the festive season is upon us and I hope you have your Christmas trees up and your stockings hanging ready by the fire!

As for me, I was thinking about a fun and festive science experiment you could carry out this Christmas, and I decided on creating Christmas crystals. I use my mobile science cart, the ExplorerLAB™, but you can do it at home in your kitchen. Children will need an adults help with this! You’ll need:

• 3 cups of caster sugar
• 1 cup of water
• Pencil
• Piece of string
• A jar
• Food colouring (optional)

Firstly you’ll need to prepare your jar. Tie a bit of string around the middle of the pencil, so that when you put your pencil over the top of your jar, the string hangs down. It shouldn’t touch the sides, or be so long that it touches the bottom of the jar. Don’t rest your pencil over the jar just yet though!

Next, pour the sugar into the water, and gently heat the mixture until all of the sugar dissolves, then leave it to cool down a little.

Once it has cooled, pour into your jar. You can now rest your pencil across the top of the jar, so that the string is hanging into the mixture.

You’ll need to leave the mixture for a few days, then you should start to see crystals form around the string! If you want to make coloured crystals, add a few drops of food colouring to the water before you dissolve the sugar into it.

So, what exactly is happening here? Well, the sugar is a mineral, and most minerals dissolved into a liquid will form crystals over time. Whatever shape the mineral’s molecules are will determine what sort of shapes the crystals will make. Evaporation is the first process, whereby the water slowly evaporates from the mixture, meaning it becomes more and more saturated, and the sugar molecules from the mixture cling to the string in the jar.

Precipitation is the next process. Because there was too much sugar to remain dissolved in the remaining water, it started to precipitate, which is how the crystals formed!

I hope you get a chance to try this experiment, please let me know in the comments if you do!

I’m off on top secret science business from Friday 21st December to Wednesday 2nd January, so I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2013!