Amazing Practical Science, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

Hands on KS1 & KS2 Science

Using our unique system of magnetic gutters, wheels and switches and water, balls or other materials, Moti-Lab provides an excellent base for practical science for Ks1 and Ks2.

Blow your kids away with WOW Science experiments that are easy to perform, repeatable and most of all FUN!

The whole system is amazingly intuitive and interactive. Games, competitive challenges, and experiments can be all facilitated via unstructured learning through play, semi structured child led investigation or more structured teacher led tasks.

The magnetic system allows easy adjustment meaning all the tasks can be performed through trial and error and as there is no real “right or wrong” answers  so children can investigate, test, adjust and retest with consummate ease.  This facilitates risk free learning for all children allowing them to discover their best answer.

Throughout all the experiments children are encouraged to develop their scientific thinking – formulating hypotheses, testing them, recording data and evaluating their success with the plethora of tasks that can be performed.

Just using water children can easily investigate forces, fluid dynamics, materials, energy and lots of other scientific concepts.

But don’t forget the WOW Experiments that can be performed by bringing in other resources you will already have.

• Make muddy mixtures and filter them out
• Dissolve substances in the gutters
• Line the gutters with different materials to test friction
• Experiment with different objects to learn about shape, materials and forces
• Use different materials to “stop the flow”
• Colour and mix water to learn about primary and secondary colours
• Explore the water cycle
• Chromatography experiments
• Making icicles (watch here)
• Make boats and sail them in the reservoir to investigate speed and stability
• Make the wheel spin as fast as possible with a set volume of water or time frame.
• Explore “efficiency” of a system that they have built themselves (watch here)
• Use displacement to calculate the volume of a rugby ball.
• Explore sound and waves

The possibilities are almost endless!

As with all the experiments we provide they can be made simpler or more complex dependent on the needs of the groups using Moti-Lab or tailored to a particular learning outcome you are looking for.  You will also be provided with lesson plans that are year group specific and highlight the areas of the KS1 Science and KS2 Science curriculum covered.

We are here to help teachers and children have amazing STEM learning experiences and will be providing CPD for teachers through our social media channels and instructional videos  – Helping ensuring that you and every teacher in your school is a STEM ace!

Slime Time (You can see a video of a fantastic Y4 NQT doing this this experiment here)

Build a run using 4 or 5 gutters.  Take 5 jugs and get a litre of water in each (measuring).

Jug 1 just water

Jug 2 water & ¼ teaspoon of Gelli Baff

Jug 3 water & ½ teaspoon of Gelli Baff

Jug 4 water & ¾ teaspoon of Gelli Baff

Jug 5 water & 1 teaspoon of Gelli Baff

(Measuring, dissolving, changes of state, changes of colour, reactions etc)

Time each solution down the same run and record the results making sure to collect the solutions from your run.

(Timing, fair testing, recording, predicting etc)

Plot your results on the Moti-Lab wall in graph form.

Reverse the reactions using salt!

All children ages 2-11 and beyond will love learning with Moti-Lab but it needs to deliver real and measurable learning outcomes.  For this we have teamed up Sheffield Hallam Institute of Education and other academic partners to bring teachers the background resources needed to help teach STEM in a fun and engaging manner.

Science can be one of the hardest subjects to teach in primary and so we are producing learning guides specifically designed for Key Stages 1 and 2.  The guides can be used as a general overview of learning outcomes or adhered to more strictly for teachers who prefer that style.

Each guide will give pointers on what the specific learning outcomes are and where the tasks fit into the curriculum, as well as guides to adapting the teaching for different age groups or abilities.

Moti-Lab learning guides also come with suggestions for background learning resources or further learning if the themes really capture the imagination of the kids.

See some examples here.

At Moti-Lab we want to engage teachers and make teaching STEM fun, accessible and effective.  We will be supporting teachers through videos of experiments – these can be accessed at anytime saving precious time on preparation.  Have a look at, and please subscribe, to our YouTube channel here to see some of the experiments you can do on Moti-Lab.

We also want teachers to become involved in the Moti-Lab concept.  It’s open ended nature means that teachers are able to innovate with what they can use Moti-Lab to teach.

Teachers are in a best position to judge what is effective and can come up with their own lesson ideas for Moti-Lab and you can be sure that we will share these freely with other Moti-Lab users.

If you’d like to share your ideas and successful lessons please do so by joining and liking our facebook page here or tweeting us here. Once we’ve had a look and checked for duplication we will add them to our growing archive of learning resources, these can be accessed by all users of Moti-Lab for free and for life.  Who knows you might win a prize for your school.

Get involved!