Technicians’ lists of equipment
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Catalyst 3, Unit L:
Pressure and moments
Lesson L1: Under pressure
Starter activities
Capture interest
 walnuts in shells
Main activities
L1a Foot pressure
For each group:
 squared paper (1 cm squares)
 newton scales
Lesson L2: Taking the plunge
Starter activities
Recap last lesson
For each group:
 nine identical drawing pins (type with fairly blunt tips);
 one potato trimmed to have a flat base
Brainstorming
 Inflated balloon
Main activities
L2a Pressure in liquids
 liquid level demonstration (sometimes known as Pascal’s vases)
 pressure at a depth demonstration (sometimes known as spouting cylinder)
 equal pressure demonstration
L2b Hydraulics
For each group:
If some sets of syringes can be permanently set up for this experiment, then the tubing joining the
two syringes can be glued to make a permanent seal. The size of syringes is not critical, small could
be e.g.
5 cm3 and large could be 20 cm3. It is not essential for all groups to use the same sizes.
 one syringe filled with water and closed permanently at the end
 two small syringes (same size) filled with water and joined together
 two large syringes (same size) filled with water and joined together
 one small and one large syringe filled with water and joined together
 two syringes joined by a long tube (about 10 cm)
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 3, Unit L:
Pressure and moments
Plenary activities
Group feedback
 a spirit level
Brainstorming
 scissors
Lesson L3: Pressure in the air
Starter activities
Recap last lesson
 ‘pressure at depth’ and ‘equal pressure’ demonstrations (see Activity L2a)
Problem solving
 helium balloon if available
Capture interest (1)
 sink plunger
 method of attaching weights
 weights
Capture interest (2)
 rotary pump or Bunsen burner and dry cloth for handling hot can;
 tin can with screw lid (can be supplied for experiment by Philip Harris)
Main activities
L3a Air pressure
Access to the Internet if pupils are going to follow up demos with research.
1 The Magdeburg hemispheres:
 Magdeburg hemispheres
 rotary pump
 pressure tubing to connect
2 The collapsing can: (pump method; see Starter L3 for steam method)
 rotary pump
 can for experiment (e.g. Philip Harris)
 pressure tubing for connecting
3 The barometer:
 glass or clear plastic tube approximately 50 cm to 1 m in length closed at one end
 trough of water
 safe access to mercury barometer if available
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 3, Unit L:
Pressure and moments
L3b The pressure is on!
For each group:
 syringe of water with end closed off permanently
 syringe of air (same size)
 balloon (not inflated)
Plenary activities
Sharing responses
 a small plastic fizzy drink bottle with lid, with three holes drilled in the bottom
 the bottle is filled with water and the lid replaced
Looking ahead
 a jar with a tightly fitting lid; a cloth
 jar opening tools if available
 a chain wrench or mole grips (some tool that increases leverage and enables you to open the
jar)
Lesson L4: Where’s the pivot?
Starter activities
Problem solving
 a rusty bolt to be undone;
 a hammer;
 several spanners that fit the bolt but have different length handles and/or a hollow metal tube
which fits over a spanner to make the handle longer (a hollow metal tube is a convenient
way to extend the length of the spanner provided for changing a car wheel, where the nuts
are often difficult to undo)
Main activities
L4a Pivots and levers
For each group (or arrange as a ‘circus’):
 limb or joint model. Models of joints are available to buy (but if you have none pupils can
think about their elbow or knee joint). A moveable, not static, joint is needed. A complete
limb or skeleton or animal joint would be OK.
 access to cupboard door
 access to tap
 a nut and bolt to undo and spanners of different lengths
 a tin to undo (e.g. large coffee tin) and screwdrivers of different lengths
 a pair of scissors, thick (almost impossible to cut) and thin card
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 3, Unit L:
Pressure and moments
Plenary activities
Share responses
 two felt-tip pens for each group in different colours
Lesson L5: Balancing act
Starter activities
Recap last lesson
 a forcemeter that can be attached to door handle and which measures force in the range
required to open the door
Problem solving
 a simulated tightrope, e.g. a 5 cm × 5 cm × 2 m piece of wood
Main activities
L5b Balance
For each group:
 a balance beam, e.g. a metre rule graduated with eight holes (equidistant) on each side. The
centre of the beam is where the blunt round nail (for safety) is put through as a pivot. This is
clamped to a stand with a boss.
 two hangers for masses
 three masses (two of 100 g and one of 200 g)
 Blu-Tack or something similar for balancing a beam if it is off centre.
Plenary activities
Review learning
 mechanical weighing scales such as kitchen scales
Looking ahead
 Lego crane or similar
Looking ahead (Teacher sheet)
 Lego set (or similar)
Alternatively:
 crane model
 load
 Blu-Tack
 metal counterbalance
 opening bridge or barrier model
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 3, Unit L:
Pressure and moments
Lesson L6: Moments in life
Starter activities
Recap last lesson
 beam balance
 hangers
 items to test including: two identical balloons, one inflated with air, one not, on identical
thread
 a large feather and a small lead weight
 an air balloon and a helium balloon
 a piece of lead with a mass of perhaps 10 g
Capture interest (1)
 toys that balance (see Teacher sheet)
 potato
 two forks
 glass
 2p coin
 Blu-Tack
Capture interest (2)
 fork
 scissors
 garden spade
 other unbreakable objects, preferably symmetrical as pupils can ignore one dimension and
see what is happening more easily
Problem solving




Scissors
rulers and some way of supporting rulers standing on their edge (e.g. Blu-Tack or mirror
stands)
string for suspending the animal
two ducks already cut out with holes and string, one that goes beak down and one that goes
tail down
Plenary activities
Group feedback
 scissors
 rulers and some way of supporting rulers standing their edge (e.g. Blu-Tack or mirror
stands)
 string for suspending the animal
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 3, Unit L:
Pressure and moments
Lesson L7: Getting balanced
Starter activities
Bridging to the unit
 model ‘seesaw’ with a ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ ‘child’ (could be a beam balance with two
different masses)
Setting the context
 beam balance
 Blu-Tack
Concrete preparation (2)
 plank or beam of wood
 pivot; 1 kg bag of sugar
 large mass (several kg)
 ruler
Main activities
L7a Getting balanced
For each group:
 a balance beam, e.g. a metre rule graduated with eight holes (equidistant) on each side. The
centre of the beam is where the blunt round nail (for safety) is put through as a pivot. This is
clamped to a stand with a boss.
 10 × 1 N slotted weights and holder
 retort stand and clamps
 Blu-Tack or something similar for balancing the beam if it is off centre
 access to computers if pupils are to set up a spreadsheet for the results and subsequent
calculations.
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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