The carbon cycle is the continual movement of carbon throughout different systems on Earth The carbon cycle includes four primary reservoirs for carbon: the atmosphere, land-living animals and plants, the oceans and in sediments, including fossil fuels. Some objects can store carbon for many years and are known as carbon sinks. One example is…
Smart Facts on Healthy Diet
Smart Facts On Healthy Diet Ten things you never knew about healthy diet – share these fascinating facts with your KS3 science students A healthy diet is a balanced one. This means eating a wide variety of foods in the right proportions A healthy diet helps protect against malnutrition including obesity and deficiency diseases Most people…
Smart Facts on Convection
Smart Facts On CONVECTION Ten things you never knew about convection – share these fascinating facts with your KS3 science students. When a balloon is full of hot air, it lifts off the ground because the hot air inside it is less dense than the cold air outside it. Convection also takes place within the Sun….
Smart facts: Earth Structure and Composition
Here’s our top ten facts on Earth Structure and Composition: We can’t see the layers that the Earth is made up of but scientists have used data from the seismic waves produced during earthquakes to predict their properties. The inner core of the Earth is mainly iron at a temperature of around 5 000 °C….
Smart facts: Electrostatics
Here’s our top ten facts on electrostatics!… A normal spark of static electricity can be thousands of volts, but has very little current and lasts for a very short time. Hence no injuries! Electric fields work in a similar way to gravity! Except gravity always attracts but electric fields can either attract or repel. A…
Smart facts: Bacteria in the Human Digestive System
Half the dry weight of faeces consists of bacteria. Some bacteria can digest substances that humans cannot, e.g. some carbohydrates. Some bacteria produce vitamins that humans need such as vitamin K and some B vitamins. The oesophagus, stomach and first section of the small intestine are mostly bacteria free due to the strong stomach acid…
Smart Facts – Forensic science and separating techniques
Forensic scientists analyse evidence to help solve crimes. They often use separation techniques. Chromatography is used to separate substances in a mixture. They are different types including paper, TLC (thin layer chromatography) and gas. In chromatography the plate or paper used is called the stationary phase. The solvent that travels up it is called the…
Smart Facts: Gravity!
Tides in the sea are caused by the gravity of the Moon actually pulling the oceans towards it as it orbits the Earth. Splat! Falling off a high mountain on the Moon is even worse than on Earth as there is no air resistance to stop you accelerating. To escape the Earth’s gravity in a…
SMART FACTS – THE PROPERTIES OF OXIDES
An oxide is a chemical compound made up of at least one oxygen atom and one other element which can be a metal or a non-metal. The reaction between an element and oxygen is known as an oxidation reaction. The opposite reaction, where oxygen is removed from an oxide is called reduction. Metal oxides are…