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8TH AUG 2008
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 Sky Learning – The Big Experiment Series 5 Study Guide.
Sky Learning has teamed up with Graham Warren, science teacher at Woodchurch High School Specialist Engineering College and author of woodchurchscience to create a GCSE Science study aid to accompany the Discovery Channels, “ The Big Experiment” six part series which is about the explosive, mind blowing power of science and how it can change lives. “The Big Experiment” series will air on Discovery Channel, Sky Channel 520 on Thursday’s at 9pm (each episode will also be repeated on Sundays at 6pm).
The series consists of six one hour shows with three top scientists working with a GCSE class to help them pass their GCSE Science exams. Each week, Sky Learning will produce a study guide for each episode highlighting key points from the show, provides hints and tips, as well as practice exam questions all of which will help you in your studies.
This week’s guide accompanies the fifth programme in the series, “Out of this World”. This programme takes the students on a journey from the centre of the earth right into space and examines the elements found along the way. An inspiring satellite link up with Buzz Aldrin reveals what it’s like to be one of the first men on the moon. The students also get to experience zero gravity first hand before being brought crashing to the earth with a simulated meteor strike.
Episode 5 – Out of this World
In this episode the three scientists introduce the students to the metals which make up our world, the energy released during displacement reactions, positive g-forces and weightlessness. They also experience the vastness of space and our solar system and finally look at the devastating power of comets and meteors. The students are given an unforgettable introduction to the wider world and beyond.
Molten Metals (Click Here)
The students are introduced to the structure of the Earth using a standard diagram of the layers beneath our feet; the crust, mantle, outer and inner core made from iron and nickel.
They are also shown the dramatic Thermite reaction, a displacement reaction used by the railway industry to weld railway lines together. The reaction shows that when Aluminium ‘steals’ the oxygen from the Iron oxide, enormous amounts of energy are released. An example is shown over water in a bath. The reaction is so energetic that it decomposes the water down into it’s constituent elements; it’s so hot that the hydrogen then ignites.
Exam Tip: Understanding displacement reactions is a staple of many exams. There are numerous ways of remembering what happens but it helps if you know where the metals are in the reactivity series. The higher up they are the more reactive the metals and more likely to displace those lower down. Remember that in the reactivity series of metals there are other non-metals; carbon and hydrogen. These are important ‘signpost’ elements which help to predict the outcome of reactions.
Exam Questions:
In the blast furnace what is the function of the carbon monoxide that is produced?
Explain how carbon monoxide can be used to produce molten iron from iron ore (haematite).
There are five main reactions taking place in the blast furnace. Explain the role of each of these two substances: (a) coke and (b) limestone.
 Crude Oil (Click Here)
The students are shown various fractions from the distillation of crude oil. Crude oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and this is the reason it isn’t used as a fuel., but when it’s separated or distilled into fractions it becomes much more useful. In fact our modern lives wouldn’t be the same without it.
The scientists have soaked various lengths of rope with some of the fractions and then the ropes are lit at one end. The other ends are rigged with explosives. This is to show that the different fractions burn at different rates. The longer the chain length the slower they burn. The shorter the molecules are the more easily they can mix with oxygen and the more flammable they are.
Exam tips: Starting with a blank diagram of a fractional distillation column, practise labelling the different fractions. Challenge yourself to include the relative lengths of the hydrocarbon chains.
Exam Questions:
Petrol (gasoline) and diesel fuel are separated because they have different boiling points. Explain why the difference in boiling point causes the two fuels to come out of a fractionating tower at different places.
Explain why the fuels in a fractional distillation column get very hot and yet they do not burn.
Explain why of all the fractions gasoline is the most valuable.
What further processing can be done to make the longer fractions more useful?
Positive g-force (Click Here)
The students are taken to a funfair ride to introduce them to the forces required to escape the Earth’s gravitational pull. As they spin around in the ride, centripetal force acts at 90° to the direction they are travelling. As the speed increases so does the counterbalancing force exerted by the cage. At the rides top speed the force is the same as that experienced when a rocket lifts off, three times the gravity on Earth.
Visit Sky Learning for the rest of the study guide and more clips from the show.
The Big Experiment will continue next week with the sixth and final programme which will bring the students face to face with the wonders of their own bodies. From growing bio-hazardous bacteria from their own mucus, investigating the extreme elasticity of skin and following the digestive process as it happens. The study aid to accompany this episode will be full of more useful exam tips and questions to help you prepare for your GCSE Science Exams. After six weeks of science at its most intense, the scientists’ theory of bringing their subject alive is finally put to the test when the students take their Science GCSE 18 months early. Has science really changed their lives?
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