Cool Science videos

More on the theme of material on you tube.

If you are looking for coll videos to watch, with high production values and accessible learning, check out these two sources:

The Royal Institution. (find out about them here). have their own you tube channel with videos to suit all age ranges and tastes.
Here's a taster, click the Royal Institution icon to access the channel. Find it here!


Interested in Physics? Try out these videos!

Let us know if you have come across any interesting videos or if you have or plan to make any yourself!

Enjoy!!

How wolves changed the course of a river and more....

This is a video recommended by Erik S. in Bachillerato. Well worth watching and a great introduction into the workings of food webs and how a change in one part can affect the other parts (and sometimes in a most peculiar way!).

Thanks Erik!

Experiments in Science

Experiments (practicals) make up a vital component of all of the sciences wherever or however you study them. It is through experimentation that scientists are able to determine the cause or effects of the area which they are studying.

Here at Oak House School, the Science department takes experimentation very seriously. We use a three pronged approach in training our students in the art of experimentation.

The first is getting our students used to being in the lab, getting to know the equipment and how to use it accurately and precisely.

Secondly is getting the students to become aware of the variables that can affect the result of an experiment and how they can be controlled, during experimental design, in order to get a repeatable and reproducible result.

Lastly there is the ability to analyze results to extract meaningful conclusions and also determine the trust with which you can give that result through error analysis.

These three aspects are covered in different ways in different year groups. Whether it's in the weekly practicals in 1st and 2nd ESO, the training for the IGCSE practical exam in 3rd ESO, the Science enrichment afternoons for both cycles of ESO where students can pursue their own projects or the extensive practical training they receive in 4th ESO. All of this training prepares the students to then handle the internal assessment for IB and the research components for both the treball de recerca (Bachillerato) and the extended essay (IB).

None of this would be possible without the dedicated efforts of our lab technicians who are always available for the requests of both teaching staff and students in their practical pursuits.

If you want to know more, please feel free to contact us at r.troy@oakhouseschool.com 

How quickly would your trump spread?

Year 7 students have been working out the conditions in which a trump would spread the fastest, here's some photos:

The consensus was that you would have time to escape on a cold winter day as gases and liquids diffuse more slowly when they are cold. But you would be in trouble on a summer's day as the gas will diffuse (spread) more quickly. Good work Year 7.

First meeting of the Oak House School Environmental Committee (OHSEC)

On Wednesday the 4^th of November at 11am when the students normally have their break, these students (see photo) chose to listen to a brief explanation of what the newly formed OHSEC would be doing and what they could do to help. As teachers, we were all pleased by the number of students who turned up and this is an indication of the students concerns in the environmental issues facing us today.

So the next step is assigning different students to different projects and getting these projects underway. 

The projects include:

Environmental assessment of the school

Bachillerato Roof Garden Plan and pre-planting

Energy consumption (electricity & gas)

Composting

Recycling (paper,   plastic & other)

Monitoring waste

The uptake of these projects so far has been impressive!

If you are a student and interested in getting involved, then contact your tutor or your Science teacher or email us r.troy@oakhouseschool.com with your name and the project you are interested in.

A big thank you to all of the students for coming to the meeting and the teachers who passed on the information and whipped up enthusiasm!

Let’s see if we can reduce Oak House School’s ecological footprint!

Pensamiento computacional. ¿Por qué programar?

Nadie se cuestiona por qué aprendemos a leer o escribir, ¿verdad? Parece obvio, entre muchas otras cosas, para poder comunicarnos y expresar nuestras ideas. En cambio, aún nos parece muy lejano el entender el lenguaje de las máquinas, aquellos aparatos que ya envuelven nuestras vidas de alguna o otra manera. Entender cómo están programadas nos ayuda a comprender cuál es su principio de funcionamiento, qué pueden llegar a hacer y qué límites tienen.

El pensamiento computacional (PC) es una competencia básica para los empleos del futuro, donde la programación impregnará muchos ámbitos, desde la robótica a la economía pasando por la biotecnología, cirugía, etc... El PC nos permite generar un modelo del entorno físico mediante un programa informático para crear sistemas automáticos de control mejorando así nuestra vida cotidiana. También nos proporciona habilidades a la hora de abordar la resolución de cualquier tipo de problemas ya que nos entrena en la disgregación del mismo en partes sencillas facilitando así su resolución. Así mismo, pone a prueba otras competencias matemáticas, como son el uso de la lógica, el trabajo con variables o el uso de matrices para el almacenado y posterior utilización de la información.

En definitiva, os invitamos a un viaje por un campo que sin duda no os dejará indiferentes.

Os dejo este enlace muy interesante acerca de la programación computacional. !Espero que os guste!