Year 4’s First Lab Practical… Does it Float or Sink?

Year 4 have been learning all about safety in the science lab and how to do risk assessments to avoid accidents and most importantly, know what to do if something goes wrong. 

We had an exciting tray of brightly coloured items which we had to individually assess if they could cause any injury and what the chances were of that happening. This meant we were all very well prepared for when we used them. We had some excellent suggestions involving potential pokes, prods, splinters, scratches, scrapes, swallowing and splashes.
All were rated as ‘very unlikely’ or ‘unlikely’ as we are all very aware of the basic lab rules: 

• Using equipment for the intended purpose
• Checking materials before using 

And 

• Never putting anything in our mouths or to our faces 

 We all knew that no matter what issue arose, the ultimate action would always include the golden rule of: ‘Tell the Teacher’. 

We set up our iPads so we could film our investigation to review later. We made predictions to camera and gave reasons why we thought something would float or sink, and then with much excitement, we took the plunge to see if our predictions were right. It was an excellent practical investigation, which everyone executed safely and accurately and demonstrated what a strong set of scientists we have at Caterham Prep.  

Well done Year 4!