PUPILS and teachers at The Hermitage School put their knowledge to the test during Science Week.

This week-long interactive event started with an assembly at the St John’s primary school, and was followed by classroom demonstrations of science at work. Every pupil joined in to bring science alive. 

The children were shown how the apparent simplicity of dominos falling over is really both kinetic and potential energy creating a chain reaction. 

They made their own seismographs to measure movement using simple physics and donned medical scrubs to investigate the world of medicine – exploring the surgical use of plaster casts and artificial limbs.

There were experiments to understand the reaction between chemicals and pupils took early steps in the world of computing, becoming involved coding and programming. 

All the experiments and demonstrations involved the core subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Experts visited to share their love of science and in-depth knowledge, which included how aerodynamics reduce drag, the power behind kinetic energy, the energy behind thrust – a force that pushes or spurs a body to move in a particular direction – and hands-on practical chemistry.

Year 5 class teacher Tara Iqbal said: “Science Week brought out the pupils’ curiosity. The practicalities of the experiments, while entertaining, also threw up a lot of variables that require the children to think ‘what if’ and to then follow the thought processes and arrive at a conclusion”.