THE appliance of science was explored by young Einsteins who celebrated the festival season with a bang.

Year five pupils from 17 local primary schoo s took part in Bolton’s annual science festival which this year was themed on sports.

The young scientists worked in teams of four taking part in five different activities through which they could examine biology, chemistry and physics.

Bolton School staged the festival using the labs in both the boys’ and girls’ division.

In chemistry, the teams were tasked to find out which sports drink was the most effective at replacing the salts lost through sweat during exercise — finding out that the one with the most electrolytes would be the most effective.

In the Harry Kroto Chemistry Building Bolton School staff led the children through running a test on jelly babies to see how much sugar, starch and protein they contain, as jelly babies are recommended to eat immediately after or during sports training.

At the end of the session, a teacher set a jelly baby on fire to demonstrate how much energy they contain.

In biology one of the activities included children gained a better understanding of anatomy by looking at muscles and bones. They looked at x-rays of fractures and had the opportunity to put on gloves and manipulate a chicken leg to feel how muscles, bones and tendons work.

The scientists were asked to explore the forces of physics to create a high-jumping model mouse.

Each mouse was designed to fit over the end of a plastic bottle so that when the children smacked the sides, it would be propelled into the air. Youngsters had to think carefully about what they would have to do to make their mouse jump as high and as straight as possible, such as the addition of differently shaped ears and different lengths of tail shape and the size of the Blu-tack ‘nose’

A competition was held to see whose mouse could jump the highest.

The youngsters received a certificate and special pencil and each school received a set of books to be used in future science lessons.

Samantha Tomlinson, Bolton School Primary Liaison, said: “It was wonderful to be able to welcome so many of our local primary schools in to work alongside our current pupils and our subject specialists in both the boys’ and girls’ division science departments.

“Our visitors were able to work in the labs to discover the Science behind sport — very fitting with Wimbledon upon us.

“This event continues to be extremely popular for the able and talented children in the area and we look forward to its continued success in future years.”