5A enjoyed another trip out of school today: a science transition session at Lord Lawson Academy in Birtley. The session took place in one of the Academy’s science labs and was run by one of their science teachers. The children were introduced to cells, from both plants and animals, as the smallest building blocks of living things. They learnt about their basic structure and were shown microscope images of some of the huge variety of cells found in living things. Helped by some sixth form students, 5A were given their own microscope slides and a thin slice of onion skin to place onto it. The onion skin was then dyed using two drops of iodine to help make the cells visible. After a demonstration of how to use a microscope, the children were then allowed to experiment for themselves to see if they could see the individual onion cells. This was a great success and the children were excited by how much they could see. They were then able to view other pre-prepared slides of cells such as heart tissue, red blood and sperm cells. There was a lot of excitement at seeing something so small in such detail. Hopefully this has enthused them about learning science at secondary school, and given them a bit of a head start.
