What science experiments did you do until high school?

Hello.
I am a high school student in Japan.
In Japan, science subjects are taught in four separate sections: physics, chemistry, biology and geology.
In these, we do various experiments.
For example, they can observe spores of fertile shoot of field horsetail under a microscope, dissect a pig's eyeball, make a battery out of coins, or make a metallic tree out of silver nitrate and zinc.
Horsetail seems to grow in Britain too - it's amazing how the four tentacle-like bullet threads wriggle in the damp.
Please introduce us to the experiments you are doing.

Reply 1

DoctorJorts

There are lots of experiments in school. More than I could list here!

In chemistry, we might do acid-base reactions - when the reaction is complete, the colour changes. If you mix hydrochloric acid with magnesium, it gives off hydrogen gas - you can test this by collecting the gas, and lighting it with a squeaky 'pop' sound! We could also do some electrochemistry - two electrodes in some silver nitrate causes one of them to become plated with silver.

In biology, we also will do some dissections - I remember doing lungs and hearts. We also might do some field work - going out into the local area and counting species of plants or insects in a certain area. At this time of year, the bluebells, snowdrops, daffodils and cherry trees are just starting to flower. We could also do some biochemistry - simple tests to see if sugars, fats, or other things might be found in different foods. Have you ever looked at onion cells under a microscope?

In physics, we might build electrical circuits, split light with prisms, test springs, and more. I remember once we tried estimating the speed of sound - our teacher stood at the other end of the schoolground (about 170m) and clapped his hands - it took about half a second for the sound to arrive, so you can get a good guess at the speed of sound.

Geology is a bit harder to find experiments for, but we do have rock samples and I remember someone modelling a stream using water and sand. Our island also has lots of different kinds of geological features - on field trips, it's not hard to find fossils or lots of different rock formations, so we find them there!

Reply 2

kaitata

Thank you for answering.
You carry out a lot of experiments.
Onions were observed under the microscope for cell division at the root end and permeabilisation of the scale leaf.

In fact, high school students from London are planning to visit our school.
They are going to experience a class together and I want to give them an experiment that they have never experienced before. I'm doing research on behalf of the teacher in the UK.

It looks like the teacher is planning to do some biology experiments, such as observing spores in the boxwood, volvox in the rice paddies and doing 'Find Wally' under a microscope.

How do you like it?