Our International Group is a great opportunity for our children to learn and experience other cultures. Each month we talk about a different country. We try to cover history, geography, music, sport, traditions, costumes etc. And the best of all, we always finish with a yummie lunch with tradition food from that country.
Every now and then though we like to do a bit of Science and start conversations like "where do we come from?"; "how did it all start?"; "how did planet Earth was formed?". So this was exactly what we did in our last meeting. We had a meeting to discuss how our beautiful planet was formed and how life started on Earth. To make things more interesting we invited Sarah, the Scientist to show us some experiments so the children could understand the science behind it.
We were lucky to have had a beautiful sunny day, so all experiments were carried outdoors and the children had a great time. Check all pictures below.
We started the meeting talking about the Big Bang 13.8 billions of years ago, clouds of dust and gases spinning around the Sun and the planets of the Solar System. Then we moved to how the surface of planet Earth cooled down to form its crust about 4.6 billions years ago. We talked about how the surface was covered in rocks and erupting volcanoes which caused to rain for millions of years creating our ocean and seas. Somehow, this created a "chemical soup" which was the perfect condition for the first life cell to appear! A single cell lifeform, a form of bacteria that could survive in this highly toxic environment. Then the first multicelled organism appeared in the ocean. It would use sunlight and water to feed itself (photosynthesis) which released oxygen into the atmosphere. Once oxygen appeared in the atmosphere life forms multiplied and became more complex and diversified.
After our little introduction we went outside to start the experiments.
Our first experiment was making a water cycle to see how water has been recycled here on Earth since the planet was first formed.
Next, we made a bracelet with beads that change before your eyes using energy from outer space! Pretty cool!
Then finally we made a plant bomb which will use sunlight and the water cycle to grow flowers.
The day was filled with fun and learning for our children. And of course we had a great lunch afterwards for the parents to catch up.
Thank you to everyone who came and a special thank you to Sarah, the Scientist for making our day so wonderful!
