Science News

Powering up using Potatoes

The room was buzzing (with electricity!) this week, when students used potatoes and metals of different activity levels (zinc and copper) to power up their LED lights. Students learnt about the flow of electrons and ions, and how even the humble potato can be used to help provide electricity.

Students experimented with how many potatoes were needed to provide enough energy to light up the LED, and also tested out oranges as a comparison to potatoes.

The possible large-scale use of this type of cell was also discussed, based on some very interesting research suggesting that, with the right set-up, potatoes can be used to provide lighting for a room for 40 days, or power up cell phones and personal electronics for one tenth the cost of typical AA batteries (see here for further details).

Year 8 Pink Oyster Mushrooms

In other news, the pink oyster mushrooms grown by some Year 8s in JF9 grew so rapidly and to such a large size that they had to be harvested immediately. They were marinated and cooked on the sandwich press and turned into vegan bacon/jerky and enjoyed by Year 8 students on their recent excursion. The students were pleasantly surprised by the tastiness of the snack.

Mia Sharma
Science Teacher