This year, I was supposed to be taking the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination. However, COVID-19 cases started to increase in Malaysia and that led to the announcement of Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). It struck me when the Government announced that UPSR was to be cancelled this year. I had mixed feelings when my father told me that UPSR was cancelled. I was a little bit frustrated but at the same time relieved since a lot of the syllabus needed to be covered as we could not finish it this year. Then, the drama at my house began. I was little bit bored even though we were having online classes. It was not the same like the physical classes that I went to before CMCO. Then, my parents suggested to me to look on the internet to find interesting activities that we can do at our home. Surprisingly, there are lots of interesting experiments that we can do at our house. I am going to show you four of my favourite experiments.

First, I am going to share an experiment to prove that air pressure exists. To do thisexperiment you will need a plate, a candle, coloured water and a transparent glass cup. The first step is to pour the coloured water on the plate and place the candle on top of the plate. Then, light the candle up and put the cup over the candle. Now you will see the coloured water sucked into the glass due to air pressure.

Secondly, I am going to explain how to make a volcano at home. The things you will need are, 10ml of soap, 100ml of cold water, 400ml of white vinegar, baking soda slurry (add half a cup of baking soda then fill the cup with water, one empty bottle, and food colouring (optional). To start, you have to combine the vinegar with the water, dish soap and 2 drops of food colouring into the empty bottle. Then, you have to add the baking soda slurry in the mixture and quickly step back. You’re done!

Next I am going to show you how to make floating dry erase markers. The things we will need are a bowl or a plate, a dry erase marker and water. To begin, draw anything you want using the dry erase marker on the bowl then slowly pour the water onto your bowl or plate and the ink of the marker will slowly float! You can swirl the water around to make the figure move.

Finally, I am going to show you how to make milk art. The things you will need are, half a cup of milk, various food colouring, dish soap, cotton swab and a bowl. First, pour the
milk into the bowl and make sure the milk is as still as possible. Then add one drop of food colouring (one for each colour).After that put a tiny amount of soap at the end of the cotton swab and touch the food colouring with the cotton swab. You will see that the food colouring expands!

In conclusion, even during the Covid-19 outbreak we can make our life more interesting and fun by doing these experiments! It is challenging but insya-Allah we will
survive.

Prepared by Ammar Rasyid Bin Remy Azrai, Guest Blogger