Messages from Markus Powling

Fantastic fibres -- Part I.

24/5/2019

It can be difficult to tell which kinds of fibres have been spun into a yarn or woven into a fabric. Is that yarn wool, cotton or a synthetic? Is that fabric linen or polyester?

At the Marist laboratory, the children in Year 6 are keen to see how a burn test and microscopic observation can help distinguish one kind of fibre from another. They talk about their observations and record them.

How did the swatch react to the flame? Which continued to burn after the flame was removed and which tended to self-extinguish? What was left after burning? And how did the fibres of two different textiles compare at 40x magnification?

Many thanks to Prue who kindly supplied fibre samples for the children to examine.
Click on a photo to enlarge, use side arrow to scroll.

0 Comments

The little things in life.

4/5/2019

0 Comments

In the 17th century, Robert Hooke marvelled at a flea through his flea-glass.

This week, Year 6 students were fascinated by what they could see and draw using microscopes in the high school laboratory. Of course, these instruments were considerably more sophisticated than the magnifying glass used by Hooke. They had multiple lenses, in-built light sources and precise controls to adjust movement and focus.

When the specimen was finally brought into sharp view, how beautiful, grotesque or puzzling it often seemed! Look here: the tip of a corn root; a blood smear; the mouth parts of a butterfly; the cells of a fern. -mjp

0 Comments

Fantastic fibres -- Part I.

The little things in life.

Teacher Messages

Archives

Categories