A simple science lesson led to the manufacturing of Rocket Fuel in Year 4 this week!
As part of our science topic on Electrical Circuits, Year 4 were asked to test whether water acts as a conductor or insulator of electricity. With the very small charge (3 batteries) that we were using, it appeared that the water was an insulator. However, when children returned from breaktime to discover that bubbles had formed on one of the connecting wires, they began to think that the water actually was conducting a small amount of electricity.
We learned that salt water (and other impure water solutions) will conduct electricity. As soon as we added salt to the water, each connecting wire began to fizz.
Children immediately wanted to know what was happening. Instead of finding out right away, we enlisted the help of Year 6 (and all their experimenting experience) to capture the gasses that were being created.
By working together in small groups, we managed to manufacture 6 test-tubes of rocket fuel!
Watch our video to find out how we did it. And, more importantly, how we proved that we really did have rocket fuel…