July 19, "Helicopters"

This class was the last class about air and its properties.

As a round up, we reviewed everything we have learned about the air so far. We recollected that wind is air, wind is strong and can move things; and that we cannot see air. We also remembered our song about bubbles.

Then we learned an action poem "Helicopter" to see how a helicopter moves through the air.

Helicopter goes up,
Helicopter goes down,
Helicopter turns and turns around,
Helicopter goes left,
Helicopter goes right,
Helicopter goes up, up, and out of sight!
 

Then we went on to make our own paper helicopters. We had 3 designs: a fish, a  triangle and a rotor one. They were premade so all we had to do is tape them together. The we experimented with the models: we saw the patterns of how they move through the air and figured the best model.

Home practice:  I recommend you to make a paper airplane or a kite with your scientist and help him/her fly it to explore how things move through the air.

July 15, "Bubble prints"

This class we continued studying air. We started off by remembering properties of air. We "made wind" and recalled that birds use air to fly and trees sway in the wind. We also remembered that we cannot see air.

Then we talked about bubbles, that we see bubbles and they are full of air. We learned a song "10 little bubbles".

One little, two little, three little bubbles,
Four little, five little, six little bubbles,
Seven little, eight little, nine little bubbles,
Ten little bubbles go POP!
 

Then we watched how air can go through the straw in the water and make bubbles inside. Then we each added food coloring and dish washing soap to out containers. Out bubbles then became miracles! They started growing and growing! We pressed white paper against the bubbles to see the prints that they make. This was amazing! See for yourselves in the pictures! Our little scientists really learned and enjoyed themselves.

Home practice: I recommend for your littel scientist to find other things full of air, like balloons and keep practicing bubbles :-)

July 12, "Blowing paint"

This class we started a sub-topic of our theme "matter", air. This is a little difficult because we cannot see air, yet air has its characteristics.
We started out by making air: blowing on our hands. We felt it but we did not see it. Then we read the book "Wind"
http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Marion-Dane-Bauer/dp/0689854439/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373788221&sr=1-1&keywords=wind#_
And found out that air helps birds fly and wind makes trees sway.
Then we went to the experimental part. First we made objects move with air: by blowing we can move some things. If things are light, like a plastic cup, then little air is needed. If things are heavier, like markers, then we need to blow harder.
For the experiment we had to color the picture with the poem "Who sees the wind". The unusual way to color it was with blowing paint through the straw.
It was very interesting because little scientists learned how to take paint with the straws and then  try to make different shapes as they blow.

Home practice: I recommend for your little scientists to practice watching the wind in the trees or flags as they blow. I also suggest to practice doing pictures with blowing paint.

July 8, "Sink or Float"

This class we investigated what sinks and what floats.
We started by recalling what we are studing right now. Littel scientists remembered that we are studing liquids, water to be exact.
Then we went on tot he topic of the class. Everybody has noticed already the poem. Since the poems have words and pictures, everyone is attracted, reading and learning. Our poem was "Sink and Float".

Rocks in the river,

Ice in a drink,

Some things float,

Some things sink!

(Before this class some children did not hear these wrods, some knew only "sink" as a spot where you wash your hands. )
Then we went on tot he experimental part. We recorded our observations in the journals.
Each scientist glued a picture of the glass. Then, after the experiment, they had to glue pictures to either bottom, if they sank, or top, if they swam.

We have figured out in the course of the experiment that a ball of playdough, a marble, a penny and an orange would sink, while an apple, a leaf and a pine cone will float. As you can see, one group of scientists have also figured out that playdough will dissolve in the water hence the dark color of the water in the container :-)
 Homepractice: I recommend to explore, while letting your little scientist prepare his fruit and vegetables, which will sink and which will float!

 

July 5, "Moving Liquids"

This class we investigated "thickness" of different liquids.

First, we started off by reviewing what we have learned about liquids. We sand our 2 songs and remembered that water makes us wet. Then we remembered that some things take in, or absorb, water, whereas other things do not. We had to start off with an experiment which results we would get only by the end of the class! We poured some water in cups and dropped in colorful capsules. I told the scientists that something will grow out of them by the end of the class.

After that we went on to investigate "thickness" of liquids. We took water bottles and poured in oil on top of the water. Then each scientist picked a color (red, blue, green or yellow) for their bottle. We observed how the food coloring drops move through the water. Then we added some baking soda tablets, closed the bottle and watched... It was very exciting to see all the fizzing and bubbling going on! Then our scientists decided to shake the bottle to make foam, watch how it happens and see what happens next.

After this was done, it was time to check on the capsules. It turned out; the capsules absorbed the water and turned into different animals. It was so much fun to see what animals we got!

I am sure this class was by far the most memorable about the liquids :-)

Home practice: You can repeat the same experiment. The bonus is that you can save the bottle. This bottle can serve as a calm-down instrument when your little scientist needs a break!

July 1, "Absorption"

This class we focused on the other feature of liquids - getting absorbed into things.

First we went over what we have already learned about liquids: kids of liquids, their shapes, smell, and color. Then we recalled that water can get you wet. We then learned a song

"She waded in the water and she got her feet all wet".

This class we mainly focused on journaling. We pasted a piece of construction paper and a piece of the wax paper into the journals and then wet them. As it turned out, the piece of construction paper got soaked and the piece of the wax paper repelled water altogether.

Then we tried to experiment: what takes water in and what doesn't. We took cotton balls, pieces of fabric and plastic buttons. Then we watched which changed the shape. As it turned out, it is hard to tell by touch solely because everything did get wet. Then we looked at the shape and color. Little scientists found out that color and shape changed for cotton balls and fabric; buttons, however, stayed the same. Therefore we concluded that buttons do not take in, or absorb, water and cotton balls and fabric do.

Homepractice: See with your scientist what does take in water and waht doesn't.
(I apologize, my camera did not save pictures again :-( )

June 28, "What is Liquid?"

This was the introductory class for the new form of matter - liquid.

First we reviewed what we knew about solids: they are like statues and have shape. Their shape does not change. Then I told the children that we will learn a new word today: "liquid". Everyone got very excited because this is a really fresh word but no one knew what it is. So we looked at 3 liquids I brought in for the class: milk, oil, syrup. We figured that they all have different smell and color.

We then discovered that water is liquid too and it comes in many form: tap water, rain, ocean, lake. We learned/refreshed the nursery song “Rain, Rain, Go Away!”

Rain rain go away

Come again some other day

Little children want to play

Rain rain go away

 

and went on to explore the properties of water.

As we read the book "I get wet" by Vicki Cobb http://books.google.com/books?id=Vg4aD9Zcpo8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false, we figured out that water makes us wet as well as cools us down and makes us clean. Then we got different shapes and filled them with water. As it turned out, water did not have a shape of its own! It merely had the shape of the container it was in.

We then figured out that besides getting us wet, water can make stuff stick. Our hairs, if we wet them, get stuck to each other. The hairs on the paintbrush, when wet, get stuck to each other.

Next class we will continue to explore the properties of water!