S2 Pupils in Whalsay school have been celebrating the important and amazing world of the biosciences during Biology Week 2023.

Three questions were posed and various science techniques were used to help them understand the answers.

Why do leave change colour in Autumn?  This involved a practical where the pupils used Chromatography to separate the pigments in leaves.    The results showed that there are orange and yellow pigments present, as well as the overpowering green pigment, Chlorophyll.  In Autumn, chlorophyll disappears first leaving the orange and yellow pigments in full view.

Why do snails and slugs need slime?  Snails and slug slime is made of water and glycoproteins which make up a non-Newtonian fluid.  This is the same type of fluid as “oobleck” (water and cornflour mixture). When snail’s foot presses down hard on their slime it provides a hard surface to press against; when the foot relaxes the slime turns into liquid, making it easier for the slug/snail to glide across.  Pupils had great fun making oobleck and then pretending their fingers were snails.

How do butterflies drink?  Some of the pupils already knew about the straw-like mouthpart of butterflies and flies.  This practical looked at capillary action, examining how the different widths (or bores) of a tube, affects how high fluid in the tube will rise.  The conclusion was that the smaller the tube bore the higher the fluid will rise against gravity.  Who knew a drinking butterfly was so scientific?

There are loads of other activities and fun facts detailed on the Royal Society of Biology website if you fancy doing more of these at home J www.rsb.org.uk/getinvolved