Getting ready for year 7:
Make sure you can access our Website
What you need extra:
whiteboard marker, earphones (cheap ones) to keep in your pencil case
1. What do scientists use?
1.1 Explain safety rules for the Science laboratory.
1.2 Name, construct scientific drawings, and identify uses of common laboratory equipment.
1.3 Use a Bunsen burner safely to heat water.
2. How do scientists observe?
2.1 Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative observations.
2.2 Identify a range of measurements used in Science and their appropriate units.
2.3 Make accurate readings using common numerical scales.
3. How do scientists use their observations?
3.1 Distinguish between observations, inferences and predictions.
3.2 Design fair test experiments, identifying the independent variable, the dependent variable and important controlled variables.
3.3 Record data by entering into tables, identifying and discarding outliers, and calculating averages.
3.4 Construct an appropriate column or line graph to represent data using the relevant steps of CUTLASS.
3.5 Discuss experimental results using a “defend your position” approach.
3.6 Construct a scaffolded experimental report.
4. How do scientists explain their observations?
4.1 Describe the states of matter in terms of particles with varying amounts of energy.
4.2 Use the particle model to explain the physical properties of solids, liquids and gases.
4.3 Use the particle model to explain evaporation, condensation, boiling, melting and freezing.
4.4 Explain density in terms of the particle model.
4.5 Calculate density using density = mass / volume, and record with appropriate units.
4.6 Identify the benefits and limitations of using models to explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases.
Rosalind Franklin: English chemist whose work on DNA, RNA and viruses formed the basis for Watson and Crick’s DNA work that won them a Nobel Prize in 1962.
Irène Joliot-Curie: Daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, Irène’s scientific discovery with her husband of artificial radioactivity led to a Nobel Prize. She and her husband created radioactive isotopes of phosphorus, radioactive nitrogen, and silicon. She too suffered the long term effects of radioactivity, and died of leukemia in 1956.The Curie family’s legacy extended to numerous awards, element discoveries, and five Nobel Prizes.
Dorothy Hodgkin: English biologist and chemist: helped determine the structure of penicillin, which allowed multiple new antibiotics to be prepared.
Barbara McClintock: American scientist and geneticist, she won many prestigious honors including a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1983 for her theory that genes could move among chromosomes. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize unshared.
Marie Curie: Marie Curie was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes (and one of only two people today who hold that honor), in Physics and Chemistry. Her research forms the cornerstone of radioactivity, developing techniques to isolate radioactive isotopes. Curie also discovered the elements polonium (named after her native Poland) and radium.During World War I, Curie made 20 mobile radiological vehicles, known as Les Petites Curies, that housed x-ray equipment. Together with her teenage daughter Irène, they helped install x-rays, generators, and essential supplies for the war effort. These Petites Curies saved the lives of around one million soldiers during the war. Sadly though, her work in radioactivity eventually led to her early death. Even today, her papers and even cookbooks are stored in lead boxes to prevent radiation leaking.
Catherine Coleman: Catherine Coleman is a living example of the impact women have on the world of science. Following a career in chemistry and as a former United States Air Force officer, Coleman was selected to join the NASA Astronaut Corps. She has two Space Shuttle missions to her name including Expedition 27 to the International Space Station – the final mission to the ISS with the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Cecilia Payne: A British-American astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia discovered that stars are made of helium and hydrogen. She was the first woman to earn a doctorate degree from Radcliffe College (now a part of Harvard University) in astronomy. Cecilia studied the stars to understand the structure of the Milky Way. Through her studies, she and her team made well over three million observations that help us understand our galaxy today. Payne’s career was also an exceptional pathway for women in scientific fields. Her impact laid the groundwork for Harvard College Observatory to offer more opportunities to women in astronomy than any other institution at the time.
Lise Meitner: Meitner and her laboratory partner Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of uranium. In 1944, Hahn was solely awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics and earned the title as the ‘father of nuclear chemistry’. Meitner was left off the award, and after the Nobel committee released their selection documents 50 years later, the scientific community discovered her significant role.