woodchurch science

try this flash for revision. it helps you understand (a) what goes in, (b) what happens inside and (c) all the equations.

the year 10 separate science group visited stanlow refinery today. here’s some interesting information about it, as well as some aerial photos. someone asked what will happen when all the oil runs out and stanlow has nothing to do. here’s shell’s answer - shellrenewables.com. here’s a handy flow chart showing how stanlow works.

flue gas desulphursation systems are used to remove sulphur dioxide. “wet scrubbers” are the most widespread method and can be up to 99% effective. a mixture of limestone and water is sprayed over the flue gas and this mixture reacts with the SO2 to form gypsum (a calcium sulphate), which is removed and used in the construction industry.

this site gives a printable explanation of the process of converting vegetable oil into biodiesel. the printout is not that easy to find so here’s the link

many plants produce useful oils which can be converted into consumer products including processed foods. vegetable oils can be hardened to make margarine. biodiesel fuel can be produced from vegetable oils. a printable explanation (pdf file) of the process can be downloaded from this website: greenfuels

if you are studying chemistry in year 10 then you will know that oil is not just for energy. you will learn that scientists are developing new plastics and so-called ’smart’ materials.

kettles that change colour and signs that glow-in-the-dark are two recent examples of products becoming ‘smarter’ as a result of new materials. colour-changing thermochromic pigments are now routinely made as inks for paper and fabrics - and incorporated into injection moulded plastics. a new type of phosphorescent pigment, capable of emitting light for up to 10 hours, has opened up entirely new design opportunities for instrumentation, low-level lighting systems etc. more examples can be found here, here for power boots, stunners and minority report stuff and here for more news on new materials.

the discovery channel charts the rise of the oil industry. here’s a (very brief) excerpt:

the united states has about 5 percent of the world’s population, but the 21 million barrels of crude oil that it consumes each day amounts to nearly a quarter of the world’s usage.
numbers, however, don’t convey the full magnitude of america’s dependence upon oil.

in this radio program howard stableford discovers how jurassic plankton ends up in our petrol tanks, why oil dominates world politics and what we might do when it starts to run out. its worth getting pupils to listen to the first 10 minutes or so of the program (including the bit about using a mars bar to illustrate the formation of sedimentary basins!), then get them to, for example, produce a timeline or cartoon strip to illustrate how plankton is converted to oil.

channel 4 have released a bank of clips for use in science lessons. you can buy a licence to access them all but there are free ones for use when taching about particle theory, energy changes in chemical reactions and crude oil etc.

15 y9 pupils took part in a project to prepare perfumes. fragrances were extracted from rose petals, lavender, rosemary, mint, orange peel, cloves and stock by maceration and steam distillation. after break pupils then made simple soap from vegetable oil and caustic soda.




resources for this project can be found here:
teacher guide/technician guide/soap making instructions/pupil booklet