Cliddesden Primary School

Oak Class went to visit the Winchester Science Centre to complement our learning in Science about Space.

We first went to the amazing planetarium, which projected lights onto the ceiling. It showed us that our galaxy is part of many within the universe. We saw the whole Solar System and loads of moons. We learnt that Saturn and Jupiter are both gas giants, and Neptune and Uranus are both ice giants. We also learnt that there are over 2 billion galaxies in our universe. As we looked up into the night sky, we had a glance at all of our constellations. We saw ones like the big dipper and the great bear. Looking at all the stars and planets, you started to notice that space is bigger than you think. It felt like you were floating in space as if we had a space suit on. Many of the planets, such as Neptune (the god of the sea), are named after Roman gods and goddesses. We thought that it was spectacular to see our Solar System in a matter of minutes. As we made our way back to Earth, we headed outside into the rest of the Science centre.

Downstairs, there was a space suit that you could go inside for pictures. We went in to the small big room, which was really fun. On our way around, we saw wobbly mirrors that made you tall and small. There was also a game where you would roll balls around but they would slowly lose momentum and fall through the middle: this represented a black hole sucking in stars. There was a balloon which was in a chamber and you could change the air pressure. This meant that you could get rid of all the air in the balloon. Further along, there was a little Mars rover that you could control through a keypad and it was put on a Mars-like terrain. There was a globe that could be switched to different planets and you could search the surface for any cool spots or storms on that planet. There was also a pumpable rocket where you pumped air inside to launch it in the air. This demonstrated how fuel amounts matter. There was a table on which there were multiple cans and you could feel the effect of gravity on each of the planets. Collectively, we enjoyed the black hole ball game and the little big room most of all.

Upstairs, we went all around the whole exhibit and found a lot of interesting things. We were able to build Lego structures in ten minutes and when the ten minutes was up, the table we built them on shook. We learned that a pyramid shape is better than a square. Also, there was this interesting plastic bottle inside a water tube. You had to press a button to make the bubbles to go up and it dragged the bottle down. Next, there was a metal wire: you needed to get a straw and put it in the wire and bite it and cover your ears. Then you would feel the vibrations through your teeth to your ears and hear the twang noise.

To finish our day, we had a rocket workshop, led by the staff of Winchester Science Centre. We enjoyed designing our rockets and we realized the lighter they are, the better they fly. We had to shake the bottles for them to launch properly. The rockets were made in bottles and had methylated spirits in them to help it launch. There was Velcro on the bottle so we could stick accessories onto it. Most of us didn't stick much on it so it could go further. After we made them, we watched the instructor light the vapour of the methylated spirits and they flew across the room.

We all had an amazing day – it was a brilliant place to visit and we would love to go again!

By:  Oak Class children

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