Are you wondering: how do astronauts eat in space? Then this amazing video will answer your question!
Or perhaps you’ve read Whizz Pop Bang’s funny feature, 10 Awesomely Amazing Ways of making dinner and you want to watch astronaut Chris Hadfield cook spinach in space… Either way, here it is!
Wondering how to calculate the speed of light? We bet you didn’t guess that chocolate would have the answer to this sweet science conundrum! Check out this video to find out how it works…
This competition is now CLOSED.
We’ve got a set of eight Little Guides to Great Lives books to give away to one lucky reader, including the two newest titles to join the series: Ferdinand Magellan and Anne Frank, written by Whizz Pop Bang magazine’s very own science expert, Isabel Thomas!
Just answer this question to be in with a chance of winning:
Ferdinand Magellan was a famous…
This competition closes at midnight on 31st August 2019. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms
Great news! Our latest teaching resources linking to the Hello sunshine issue are ready to brighten your classroom.
Not yet a subscriber to Whizz Pop Bang downloadable teaching resources? Start a subscription today!
Investigate how we need light to see
Topic: Light and Vibrations and Waves
Year Groups: Year 3 and P4
A practical activity for year 3 and P4, linking to the topics light and vibrations and waves. This pack explains what the Sun is, how we can use it for energy, why we need to stay safe in the Sun and how we need light to see. We should never look directly at the Sun, but a pinhole camera is a simple gadget that allows you to take a peek.
This pack includes:
Investigate why we have day and night.
Topic: Earth and space
Year groups: Year 5 and P4
Linking to the topics Earth and space and space, year 5 and P4 pupils will investigate how Earth travels around the Sun by making a sundial. This lesson will take place over short intervals throughout one day, when children will mark the end of the shadow on the sundial, demonstrating how the Sun moves across the sky due to the Earth’s rotation.
This pack includes:
Investigate how light and temperature affect pondweed.
Topics: Living things and Habitats and Biodiversity and Interdependence
Year groups: Year 6 and P7
A practical investigation for year 6 and P7 linking to the topics living things and habitats and biodiversity and interdependence. It’s hard to see photosynthesis in action… until you get hold of some pondweed! Pupils will set up their own investigations to see how light and temperature affect the rate that oxygen gas is produced by pondweed.
This pack includes:
A scientist who changed our understanding of the Sun.
Topic: Earth and Space
Year groups: Year 5 and P6
This biography text for year 5 and P6, linking to the topics Earth and Space and Space, explains how Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin changed our understanding of the Sun. Cecilia thought maths was magical – especially algebra. In the early 1900s, girls didn’t receive the same education as boys, but Cecilia demanded to be taught science and maths. She went on to study science at the University of Cambridge. There she decided to become an astronomer. In 1925, Cecilia’s maths had led her to an exciting discovery – the main elements in stars, including our Sun, were hydrogen and helium. Up until then, everyone had assumed that the Sun was made up of a mix of materials similar to Earth.
The downloadable reading pack includes:
Lucie Green controls space missions
Topic: Earth and Space
Year Groups: Year 5 and P6
In this interview text for year 5 and P6, linking to the topic Earth and space, Lucie Green explains how she collects data to learn more about the Sun. She explains when she knew she wanted to be a scientist, a typical day as a solar physicist and her involvement with the European Solar Orbiter mission, which is due to launch in 2020.
This downloadable reading pack includes:
This text explains how solar panels work
Topic: Earth and Space
Year groups: Year 5 and P6
This explanation text for year 5 and P6, linking to the topic earth and space, explains how solar panels create clean electricity from nothing more than sunlight. From rooftops to space stations, solar panels are an increasingly important source of renewable energy. This text explains the following technical vocabulary: phosphorus, photovoltaic cells and boron.
This downloadable reading pack includes:
Space: Aurora from ISS
A close-up image of an aurora from space
A short discussion topic suitable for year 5 and P6 linking with the topics Earth and Space and Space. This is a super photo of an aurora taken from the International Space Station by astronaut Scott Kelly. These fantastic natural light displays happen when particles from the Sun collide with particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.
This ten-minute activity, linking to speaking and listening, is ideal for use at the beginning of the day or during transition times, such as after lunch. Pupils will be challenged to guess what the image is by answering the questions shown on the first slide of the PowerPoint. This could be done on the whiteboard or through discussion with a partner. Once pupils have finished, click through to the next slide to reveal the answers.
Great news! Our latest resources to accompany the Pee Power edition of Whizz Pop Bang are now available to download.
Not yet a subscriber to our downloadable teaching resources? Start a subscription today!
Explore how our bodies get rid of chemicals we don’t need.
Topic: Animals including Humans and Body Systems and Cells
Year Groups: 6 and P7
This lesson pack teaches children how our urinary systems work. Your body has a whole wee-producing department called the urinary system, including your kidneys, bladder and the tubes that connect them and carry the wee out of your body.
This lesson pack includes:
Topic: Animals including Humans and Body Systems and Cells
Year Groups: 2 to 6 and P3 to P7
A short discussion topic. This impressive image shows a close-up view of a kidney glomerulus. Each kidney has around a million glomeruli that filter toxic waste from the blood.
This ten-minute activity, linking to speaking and listening, is ideal for use at the beginning of the day or during transition times, such as after lunch. Pupils will be challenged to guess what the image is by answering the questions shown on the first slide of the PowerPoint. Once pupils have finished, click through to the next slide to reveal the answers.
Interview with a scientist who turns waste into energy.
Topic: Animals including Humans and Body Systems and Cells
Year Groups: 4 and P5
This interview text delves into what a bioengineer does. Yannis Ieropoulos has designed and created the ‘Pee Power’ toilet, a system that fuels itself and creates little waste. He spends most of his days thinking a lot about toilets, robots and other electronic systems that could be self-sustainable.
This downloadable reading pack includes:
Hennig Brand was an alchemist.
Topic: Animals including Humans and Body Systems and Cells
Year Groups: 4 and P5
This biography text describes the life of historical scientist Hennig Brand. He was an alchemist who lived in Germany in the 17th century and was the first to discover an element. Hennig found phosphorus whilst experimenting with wee!
This downloadable reading pack includes:
This month we look at:
Issue 47 – Pee Power
Find out what wee is, why it’s so important and how your body makes it!
Discover some of the wee-rder wonders of urine – did you know that the Romans used wee for cleaning their teeth? Which animal can pee whilst doing a handstand?! Have a go at brewing up some fake wee, create a model urinary tract system and put up the wee colour chart in the classroom.
Have you tried the word wheel puzzle in the Wild Wheels issue of Whizz Pop Bang? See how many words (or two letters or more) you can make from the letters in the wheel – they all must contain the letter ‘O’! There’s one seven-letter word hiding inside, too…
Find loads more wheel-related puzzles, experiments and more in WILD WHEELS, on sale now!
Scroll down when you’re ready for the answers… no peeking!
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Here they are…
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Did you find the 7-letter word? It’s SCOOTER!
Here’s our full list – but have you found any more? Let us know in the comments!
1) escort 2) roscoe 3) torose 4) rectos 5) scoter 6) coster 7) cooers 8) sector 9) corset
1) roots 2) store 3) escot 4) torso 5) roost 6) score 7) scoot 8) rotos 9) roset 10) rotes 11) crest 12) roose 13) ceros 14) cooer 15) torse 16) coots 17) toros 18) cores 19) tores 20) corse 21) coset 22) torcs 23) recto 24) cotes
1) rets 2) rote 3) rose 4) root 5) rocs 6) roes 7) roto 8) tors 9) toro 10) tore 11) torc 12) toes 13) sort 14) sore 15) soot 16) scot 17) rots 18) sect 19) erst 20) oots 21) eros 22) cote 23) orts 24) cots 25) cost 26) cero 27) core 28) recs 29) orcs 30) coot 31) rest 32) coos 33) ores
1) coo 2) set 3) sot 4) toe 5) too 6) tor 7) cot 8) cor 9) ser 10) cos 11) ret 12) ors 13) rot 14) ort 15) ose 16) rec 17) res18) roe 19) roc 20) ore 21) orc 22) sec 23) ers 24) oot 25) oes
1) to 2) oe 3) so 4) re 5) et 6) or 7) os 8) er 9) es
See the force of the wind in action with this easy science experiment from the Wild Wheels issue of Whizz Pop Bang!
Snip and fold some wonderful wind wheels and race them on a windy day. You’ll see the force of the wind in action, as the moving air pushes against the folded paper to make the wheels spin.
This simple science activity allows you to see changes in the speed and direction of the wind.
Wind blows horizontally from areas of high pressure to low pressure, and the speed depends on the rate of air pressure change, or gradient, between the two pressure areas. The greater the pressure difference, the faster the winds, and the quicker your wind wheels will roll!
Find some epic cut-and-fold wind wheels in issue 49 of Whizz Pop Bang!
Dr Leigh Hoath is Editor of the Association for Science Education’s Primary Science journal. Her work reaches out to teachers across the whole age phase of primary schools in order to try to support engagement and interest in science. Her interests lie predominantly in improving learning and teaching in Primary Science, pedagogy and working in the outdoor setting.
Here’s @leighhoath with her top tips for teaching primary science 👇#GreatSciShare pic.twitter.com/3KRRa91zx9
— BBC Teach (@BBC_Teach) 18 June 2019
One of the easiest ways to make science relevant for kids, whilst keeping to the curriculum, is to subscribe to a magazine like Whizz Pop Bang. Our subscriptions for schools allow children to independently read up-to-date news articles every month about things that are happening in their world, as well as the big news stories written in a way to inform children, without worrying them.
To accompany each issue of Whizz Pop Bang magazine, there’s a library of online resources for schools, all planned and ready to download and teach – with a handy kit list of inexpensive household items to carry out the investigations.
Teachers can deliver hands-on science lessons that are both fun and hands-on for children, getting a ‘deep dive’ experience they’ll remember.
“Using Whizz Pop Bang has revitalized our science teaching. The quality of the resources are first class and particularly support cross curricular links through the reading comprehension activities. We have found these to be particularly useful at the upper end of KS2 where science can be used as a vehicle to support SATs, making use of skills of inference and deduction based on relevant scientific topics. In addition the planning offers exciting practical ideas, particularly useful to teachers who are not scientific specialists. The children absolutely love carrying out the real-life experiments.”
Sally Cowell, Head teacher at Shaw Ridge Primary school, Swindon
Issue 49 of Whizz Pop Bang is all about the wonders of wheels, and one of our 10 awesomely amazing wheeled vehicles is the whacky Dynasphere! This was a single-wheeled vehicle built in 1930 but inspired by a sketch made by Leonardo da Vinci more than 400 years earlier. The vehicle could reach 48 km/h but was almost impossible to steer!
Check out the Dynasphere in action here:
Every month we receive emails, letters and photos from our readers telling us how much they love science, and reading Whizz Pop Bang. We often read them out in the office and love being inspired by our readers, aka scientists of the future! With permission, we also share them here on our blog – enjoy finding out about Apollo and his mission to save the Earth…
Dear Whizz Pop Bang magazine,
My 5 years old son is mad about science and is a fervent reader of your magazine. We went to Kew’s Science Festival two weeks ago and when we came back he told me that he wanted to let other children know about the importance of seed preservation and the work that the scientists are doing. He decided that the best way was sending it to you! He feels very deeply about the environmental problems and really wants to help nature!
I am attaching his letter and some photos – he was really excited about explaining what he saw!
Thank you immensely for all the wonderful work you do for our youngsters and children. Your magazine is a invaluable source of inspiration and information.
Thank you from a mum of two science lovers and eager Whizz Pop Bang readers!
Elisabeth Bulbena Vela
Apollo’s report on his trip to Kew science festival
On Sunday 26th May I went to the Kew Science Festival at Wakehurst and I went inside the Millenium Seed Bank. This is the place where scientists store seeds of all the plants in Earth. Scientists travel around the world collecting seeds, then they dry, clean, select and sort them. Finally, they put them inside cold rooms so that they can survive for hundreds of years.I think this is important because if all the trees or plants of one specie die, Kew scientists have the seeds and can grow the same plant or tree again. Plants are extinguishing because humans create problems to Earth like pollution, fires and deforestation that destroy food chains and ecosystems.
I also learnt that bees help to grow plants (pollination), I extracted DNA of a strawberry and sorted seeds in the lab. I like this Festival because I love science, nature and to save the Earth! I have started a seed collection tool!
Apollo Premadasa
5 years old
Do you have a science-mad child, grandchild or pupil in your school? Are they passionate about taking action and doing something to help make changes? Tell us all about it, we’d love to hear from you!