We are very interested in mixing things. We wondered what would happen if we tried to mix oil and water. First we tried putting water into a cup and pouring oil on top. The oil floated on top of the water (because oil is lighter). One of our class wondered if the water would float on top if the oil was put in first and the oil addded afterwards. 
We tried this but found that the oil ended up on top of the water, regardless of which order they were put in the cup. Next teacher dropped a few drops of red food colouring on top of the oil. It sat on the oil for a while, then the drops fell down on top of the water and stayed there for a while. Eventually they sank to the bottom where the red colour mixed with the water, in the layer under the oil. 
Our next investigation was whether we could make a lava lamp from the oil, food colouing and water that we had. We found that by dropping a fizzy tablet into the oil and water mix, that we could make a great lava lamp. 
The fizzy tablet dissolved in the coloured water, and the bubbles of gas rose through the layer of oil, taking bubbles of red gas through the oil. This looked very like the lava lamps that you buy, but it lasts only as long as the tablets are dissolving to give off fizz. We didn't need electricity for our lava lamp, as you would with the lamps that you buy. Our next investigation was to test syrup to see whether it is lighter or heavier than oil or water. We got a cup, poured in water and oil, (the oil sat on the top) and then poured in syrup. 
The syrup sank to the bottom of the cup. We are now pretty sure that oil is the lightest, syrup the heaviest, and water is in the middle. We lined up our liquids from lightest to heaviest, and then from heaviest to lightest. 
Our last investigation was to check are the liquids in fact in the right order. We weighed all three to see which is lightest, and which is heaviest. We used a balancing scale to weigh 3 cups of liquid, all with the same amount of liquid in each (we used a ruler to be sure there was the same amount of liquid in each cup) and we found that: oil is lighter than water, 
oil is lighter than syrup 
and water is lighter than syrup. 
This means that oil is the lightest and syrup the heaviest, exactly what we expected having mixed all three in a cup. How interesting!
We tried this but found that the oil ended up on top of the water, regardless of which order they were put in the cup. Next teacher dropped a few drops of red food colouring on top of the oil. It sat on the oil for a while, then the drops fell down on top of the water and stayed there for a while. Eventually they sank to the bottom where the red colour mixed with the water, in the layer under the oil. 
Our next investigation was whether we could make a lava lamp from the oil, food colouing and water that we had. We found that by dropping a fizzy tablet into the oil and water mix, that we could make a great lava lamp. 
The fizzy tablet dissolved in the coloured water, and the bubbles of gas rose through the layer of oil, taking bubbles of red gas through the oil. This looked very like the lava lamps that you buy, but it lasts only as long as the tablets are dissolving to give off fizz. We didn't need electricity for our lava lamp, as you would with the lamps that you buy. Our next investigation was to test syrup to see whether it is lighter or heavier than oil or water. We got a cup, poured in water and oil, (the oil sat on the top) and then poured in syrup. 
The syrup sank to the bottom of the cup. We are now pretty sure that oil is the lightest, syrup the heaviest, and water is in the middle. We lined up our liquids from lightest to heaviest, and then from heaviest to lightest. 
Our last investigation was to check are the liquids in fact in the right order. We weighed all three to see which is lightest, and which is heaviest. We used a balancing scale to weigh 3 cups of liquid, all with the same amount of liquid in each (we used a ruler to be sure there was the same amount of liquid in each cup) and we found that: oil is lighter than water, 
oil is lighter than syrup 
and water is lighter than syrup. This means that oil is the lightest and syrup the heaviest, exactly what we expected having mixed all three in a cup. How interesting!
Have a look at our school yard, our ash trees and our school garden, all under a layer of snow.
We went outside to play in the snow - it was fun, but very cold. We wore our coats, hats and gloves. 
We could make it snow by shaking the ash trees.
We needed only 4 things to make our hovercraft - a top from a drinks bottle, blue tack (or play dough or sticky tape), an old CD or DVD and a balloon. First of all we stuck the bottle top to the CD with blue tack. We were careful to make a good seal between the bottle top and the CD. 
Next we blew up the balloon, and put a twist in the neck of the balloon to make sure that the air didn't escape from the balloon as we were stretching it over the bottle top. When the balloon was untwisted, the air from the balloon went through the bottle cap, and through the hole in the CD, and under the CD. This caused the CD to sit on a layer of air (caught between the CD and the floor). The whole hovercraft slid nicely across the floor. We wondered if we could make a hovercraft with other materials rather than the CD, so we tried a cardboard hovercraft, a plastic cup hovercraft and a hovercraft made from tin foil. We thought they might travel better because the materials we were using were lighter than the CD. 
The hovercraft made from cardboard didn't move at all. The air was escaping from the balloon but the cardboard was probably too soft to let the hovercraft move. 
The hovercraft made from the plastic cup did work, but not as well as the CD hovercraft. 
And finally - the tinfoil hovercraft didn't move at all, probably because the tinfoil was very soft which meant that the air could easily escape from under it, without making the hovercraft float on the air at all.
We tried turning the bottle upside down (couldn't do this in the sea though), shaking the bottle and holding it sideways. The way to get the fish to sink was to squeeze the bottle.
When you do this, the fish sinks to the bottom, and when you stop squeezing, the fish floats again. This happens because the air in the pen top helps the fish float. 
The boat floated, but didn't move. When we put just one drop of washing up liquid at the back of the boat, the surface tension is broken and the boat shoots forward.
This was really impressive, but we could only do it once. (Actually, we did manage to try again, but only after the basin had been washed and dried to get rid of all traces of wash up liquid). We can't wait to try this in the bath!
We could get water to spill sideways. First of all we tried lots of things - pouring it out of the side or the back of the jug, using our fingers or hands to get the water to spill sideways. 
We managed best of all when we used a piece of string, and got the water to run sideways along the string.
The second time we tried this, we only took our hand away when the bottle was under water. This time the water stayed in the bottle. This is because the water in the bottle wanted to get out, while the water in the basin wanted to get in, so the water ended up going nowhere and stayed in the bottle. 
Surprise, surprise, the card stayed on the bottom of the pot without falling off. This is because the air on the bottom of the card is pushing the card up into the pot, and the water is trying to get out, so both end up going nowhere at all.
We got an acitmel bottle and put newspaper round it so that it looked like a volcano, and a tray underneath in case we made a mess. To make an ordinary volcano you need bread soda and vinegar, but we wanted a delux model so we used red food dye and wash up liquid as well. Bread soda and vinegar mixed together make a fizzy gas called Carbon Dioxide. This gas comes rushing out of the bottle. To make the foam red we used red food colouring, and for lovely bubbles we used a little wash up liquid as well. 
The third and final time we put the bread soda into a balloon and the vinegar in the bottle. When we stood the balloon up, the bread soda dropped into the bottle with the vinegar in it. The gas that was made blew the balloon up. It was exciting!
The powder and vinegar mixture began to fizz. We heard that when you mix vinegar and baking powder together, a gas called CO2 or Carbon Dioxide (bad air) is made. This gas is heavier than air, so it sits at the bottom of the glass. When enough CO2 is made, it pushes the Oxygen (O2 good air) up higher in the glass. Now that the candle can't reach the O2, the flame goes out.
We also learned that we breathe in Oxygen and breathe out Carbon Dioxide. Plants and trees do the opposite - they breathe in CO2 and breathe out O2. That is why it is so important to have lots of trees planted around us, and lots of trees in the world.