woodchurch science

the chinese government has bought an entire mountain in peru and plans to ship it back to china - every last ounce. why? it’s one of the largest copper resources in the world and china is desperate for copper which it is planning to use to re-wire its entire infrastructure. this from the bbc…

The Peruvian government is happy with the $3bn (£1.53bn) that Chinalco will invest in the Toromocho mines. The Chinese will be even happier. They have got themselves a bargain. The copper Chinalco extracts from Toromocho will cost something like US$410 (£210) per ton. Today, the price for copper on the London Metal Exchange was $8,255 (£4,220) - 20 times more. Chinalco stands to make a 2,000% profit on its investment.

here’s a short video clip.

here’s a video showing some of the displays in the chemistry department on open evening. (it was made using a flip video camera with embedded software and editing suite).

if you are using educationusingpowerpoint be aware that the username and password has changed. obviously i can’t post them here so please do ask your science teacher to give you them.

here’s a link to word searches for every ks3 unit from 7a through to 9m(!) all in pdf format and ready to download.

come and join us tonight at woodchurch high school open evening. visit the science department in action! loads of stuff to see and do…
in chemistry, experiments include…turning copper into gold (!), big explosions, plant indicators, making soap and of course if it’s chemistry it must mean coloured liquids!
physics has the van der graaf generator, energy conversions, light and sound demos, electrical circuits and electromagnetic spectrum.
and over in biology get to see our snakes and lizards, look at jaws, teeth and skulls, and try your hand at food tests.

yes really…it’s been calculated (by someone?!) that if all the men on the planet stopped shaving then we wouldn’t have to worry about the negative effects of carbon dioxide any more. here’s some reasons:

less hot water used in the shower or at the sink; less or no need for disposable plastic razors or shaving cream or foam(which often comes in those huge unrecyclable containers) and hair on your face keeps you just a bit warmer outside and inside. turning the thermostat down just 1 degree can also save you 5% on your heating bill!

here’s a load of resources for 8a. some are projectable for use in classrooms. this one is particularly good.

here’s a link to a few videos to watch whilst you are doing 7L solar system and beyond. scroll down and click the ‘download .wmv files.

the world’s most powerful physics experiment is ready to be powered up…today. there’s been a lot of interest in this over the last few weeks (not surprising really), and some scientists have been receiving death threats about the potential dangers, but now it’s almost ready to go and now 30 years after the idea was born scientists at cern are ready for the big switch on. the bbc has a good guide here, and if you thought particle physics was not something that you could ever rap about then this one has been doing the rounds for a week or so…

thanks for logging on. this is your science blog, written for you to help you with your studies. have a root around, check out the categories down the side, hit the tabs across the top and get involved in keeping this place fresh and vibrant. best of all you can get involved. every post has a comments area where you can let us know what you think. why not drop us a message and let us know what you’d like to see here? now it’s even easier for you to keep in touch with what’s going on by putting your email address in the ’subscribe’ box in the sidebar. you’ll get an email every time the site gets updated. you should get used to using the site…it’s written especially to help you!
(ps there are some small prizes available for people who sign up using the subscribe box…do it now!)