Discuss Have you ever
Discuss Have you ever dropped a can and seen it roll? What happened? Getting started Roll each can down a slope and watch how they roll. How high will you make the slope? How will you make sure that you are rolling all the cans in the same way? How will you know how far they have rolled? Can you think of other ways to find out? Test your ideas You might like to record your results in a table like this one: Distance rolled from a 30 cm high slope Distance rolled from a 50 cm high slope Distance rolled from a 1m high slope Share your ideas Talk about which can might have beans inside it and why. Compare your cans with ones with labels to help you to decide. Open the can and see what’s inside! Extra things to do Can 1 Can 2 Can 3 Find out what happens if you roll cans or plastic bottles with different things inside. There are lots of things you could use e.g. dry sand, cotton wool, water, plastic beads. British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236 16
Plant Detectives Organiser’s Card About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking about where plants grow. Cosmic has found a plant growing out of the pavement. He can’t work out how it got there. Plants grow in gardens, not pavements – don’t they? Cosmic and Gem need to be plant detectives and look for clues! But where should they look to solve the mystery? Through this activity you will support your group to: • Think about where plants grow and how they get there • Investigate and discover plants in their surroundings • Record their results and present them in an album or poster Kit list • Access to a safe outdoor environment, ideally with a variety of surfaces such as brick walls, paving, concrete, grass • Magnifying glass or digital microscope (optional) • Identification guide • Camera(s) or drawing equipment What to do 1. Follow the instructions on the ACTIVITY CARD. Make sure you give the children time to talk about their ideas. 2. Read the story. Get the children to talk to each other about the questions and the opinions of Aunt Stella, Cosmic and Gem. 3. Talk with the children about where they can search for plants. Encourage them to think of unusual places to look. 4. Discuss with the children how they will record their findings and make sure everyone stays safe. 5. Children can collect samples, take photographs or create drawings. If you provide a map or plan of the area, they can add stickers or their images to record where plants were found. Confident children may be able to make their own maps or plans 6. Warn children not to eat any part of the plants that they find. 7. Encourage children to think how the plants they find have got there. 8. When the children finish hunting let them share their clues about what they have discovered. 9. Can they decide how the plants got to their locations?. 10. There are follow up activities for children who have finished or who want to do more finding out at home and earn a bonus sticker. 17
