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Rough Guide to Gas

Age range
9-11 years
Science topic
Materials, States of matter
Type of enquiry
Comparative/fair tests, Observing changes over time, Problem solving

The materials in this resource are aimed at teachers of 9-11 year olds. The activities build on units of work on rocks and soils, solids liquids and gases, and the properties and chances of materials. The activities are set in the context of natural gas, and how it is prepared for commercial and domestic markets. In the first activity the children create a display of the route natural gas follows from underground extraction and storage in a reservoir, to treatment for use in heating and electricity production. Subsequent activities focus on each part of this route, identifying the scientific features of the different phases.

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Rough Guide to Gas (PDF , 2,842kb)

How do we get gas?

  • Science topic: States of matter
  • Type of enquiry: Problem solving
  • Keywords: Y5, states of matter, gas, present, secondary sources, research, reporting

Children create a wall display showing how natural gas is stored and piped to the mainland for domestic use. This activity sets the scene for all subsequent activities.

What is a gas?

  • Science topic: States of matter
  • Type of enquiry: Observing changes over time
  • Keywords: Y5, states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, pressure, investigation, observe, precise measurements

Identifying gases in everyday settings and the creation of canister rockets to understand how gas expands when it is produced.a

Reservoirs

  • Science topic: Materials
  • Type of enquiry: Comparative/fair tests
  • Keywords: Y5, materials, states of matter, change of state, solid, liquid, gas, absorbent, porous, reversible, non-reversible, dissolve, solution, soluble, insoluble, compare, fair test, precise measurements

Investigating the absorbency and the porous nature of different materials which could be used to store natural gas in the reservoir.

Pipeline shapes

  • Science topic: States of matter
  • Type of enquiry: Problem solving
  • Keywords: Y5, materials, states of matter, gas, pressure, STEM, problem solving

Investigating the effects of pressure on a range of pipe shapes.

Sinking pipelines

  • Science topic: Materials
  • Type of enquiry: Problem solving
  • Keywords: Y5, materials, states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, mass, volume, STEM

Exploration of materials which could be used to keep a pipe on the sea bed.

Separation

  • Science topic: Materials
  • Type of enquiry: Problem solving
  • Keywords: Y5, materials, states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, separate, filter, heat, evaporate, precise measurements

Using different techniques to separate solids, liquids and gases from each other.

Designing safety wear

  • Science topic: Materials
  • Type of enquiry: Problem solving
  • Keywords: Y5, materials, states of matter, gas, problem solving, STEM, data loggers, precise measurements

Investigating types of protective equipment, and collecting data using data loggers. Designing new equipment using appropriate materials. This is a standalone activity and could be carried out at any point in the sequence, or completely independently.

Partners

Centrica Storage

Supported by Centrica Storage.