PUPILS at a school in Chard have examined the results of their Mars-analogue experiment.
Schoolchildren at Chard Independent School joined the MARSBalloon project that carries capsules on its high-altitude balloons 30km where they will be 99 per cent up into the Earth’s atmosphere, with conditions of gas pressure, temperature, and radiation that are very similar to the surface of Mars.
They investigated reaction times for producing carbon dioxide by mixing vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, carried out a test to see how much a balloon stretched with a kg weight, and also checked if quail eggs would remain intact during the mission.
A message from the school said: “The children were amazed to see how the elasticity of the balloon that had experienced 33km altitude, -55 degree Celsius temperatures and pressure dropping to a fraction of what is on earth had changed.
“The returned balloon stretched more than 5cm than the one that had not left the surface of the earth “The bicarb and vinegar had reacted in the capsule so could not be retested.
“This showed us that the material used to make balloons would not be used to take to space because its properties are affected by pressure and temperature change.
“The quail's egg had gone very smelly. The controls that had stayed in school were still fresh but the one that went to space had totally exploded in the capsule.
“Well done science club for opening it. We were well protected as can be seen from the photos and videos.
“We were so proud to be one of the 84 schools involved from the whole UK and to send three out of the 240 experiments. Well done budding scientists.”
Recently, to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, Chard School Wyndham class chose to make some cards and posters to say thank you to some of the hardworking NHS staff.
They said: "We delivered them to the pharmacy in Chard. The children were very proud to have been able to share some of the ways that they or their families had been helped by the NHS
"In class, the children learnt about a few of the jobs that are in the NHS such as therapists, porters, engineers, cooks, and midwives as well as doctors, nurses, paramedics, and healthcare assistants.
"The children were even prouder of the NHS when they learnt that, on average, about one million people are helped by the NHS every single day across the UK."
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