Science for Fun is an enrichment course which explores fun experiments that are related to our daily lives. I found most of the experiments easy to conduct and enjoyable to learn from. The hands-on experiments allowed us to understand the concepts better through experiencing the process. The experiments are mostly about physics and life sciences, which are pretty much applicable to our daily lives.
One experiment that really amazed me was the ‘Hand Boiler’. The set-up was made up of two glass bulbs connected by a tube with some liquid in it. We were tasked to hold the bulb at the bottom and when our hands touch the bulb, the liquid in the bulb began to rise into the tube and into the top bulb. It was a reaction that we did not really expect! The volatile liquid (liquid which evaporate at room temperature / vaporizes easily) actually evaporated under the heat on the hand and the gas exerts a pressure on the liquid and forces it to move up the tube. The expanding gas in the bottom bulb bubbled through the liquid and made it appear to be ‘boiling’. I also figure out that it works from heat of any direction like the top. I’ve have learnt more about volatile liquid through this experiment, which was really a fun and interesting way.
Oobleck was also an interesting experiment, where we get to place our hands in a bowl of slushy blob. There a force going against the applied force of your hand when you are retrieving it from the bowl. The force seemed to be holding the hand down at the bottom of the bowl. The fun in this experiment is actually getting all messy. We are usually not allowed to play with science mixture or chemical, hence the enrichment is really different from our laboratory lessons.
Of course, we did many other experiments like the Cabbage Catalyst, Growing Yellow
Crystals, Hydraulic Machines and many more. Personally, I felt that this enrichment course was very enjoyable as it employ independent learning. It allowed the students to explore the science concepts by conducting the experiments themselves. There were always experts around for us, the students, to consult and seek clarification. This enrichment course also allowed me to make friends with students from other consortium and learnt together. It was a really rare opportunity where we could learn and make friends at the same time. I had enjoyed this session of Science for Fun and I look forward to more interesting Science Enrichment courses.
