I had a great time meeting students and families at the open house on the 23rd of September. The water experiments were a big hit, and I saw some amazing scientific reasoning and experimentation! As well as all of the great experimentation, I noted hesitation from some students to make guesses before trying out their plan. I hope I can address this with some estimation games throughout the year.
All of the experiments we did are very accessible, because the materials are so readily available: water, cups, pennies, string, tin foil. I hope you will try some of these at home, and come up with your own variations. We had one tin foil boat that held 169 pennies....!
Here is a list of the experiments that were in the enrichment room..Have Fun!
Materials:
pipette
nickel
water
Directions: Carefully place a drop of water on a nickel. Keep adding drops. What do you notice? Are you surprised at how many it holds?
Skin on Water?
Materials:
Clear Glass
Water
Pennies
Directions: Fill the glass to the brim with water. How many pennies do you think you can gently add to the water before the glass overflows? After you have made your guess, gently place pennies into the water. Look at the surface of the water. What is happening?
Water on a String
Materials:
Bowl
Pitcher
Wet String
Water
Directions: Place a cup of water in the pitcher. Pouring over the water containers in case you spill, can you pour the water down the string and directly into the bowl? Why do you think this works?
Build a Boat
What makes a boat float? What shapes are common for boats?
Materials:
Tin foil rectangle
Pennies
Water
Directions: Using one piece of tin foil, construct a boat. Your goal is to see how many pennies your boat can support before it sinks.
Measurement Guidelines: No other materials can be used in making the boat except the tin foil. If any penny touches the water, the boat has sank. If any part of the boat touches the bottom of the container, your boat has sank. Think you came up with the best design? Share how many pennies you supported and your design on the board!
Water Can Flow Uphill!
Materials:
Glass of water
empty bowl
damp and twisted paper towel
Water Play
*Dunk sieves and colanders in water. Pour water through funnels. What does the size of the holes have to do with how fast the water flows?
*Use measuring cups and spoons to figure out the volume of some containers.
*Can you empty containers faster by changing the motion you use when emptying them?
All of the experiments we did are very accessible, because the materials are so readily available: water, cups, pennies, string, tin foil. I hope you will try some of these at home, and come up with your own variations. We had one tin foil boat that held 169 pennies....!
Here is a list of the experiments that were in the enrichment room..Have Fun!
Experimenting with WATER!
How Many Drops of Water will a Nickel Hold?Materials:
pipette
nickel
water
Directions: Carefully place a drop of water on a nickel. Keep adding drops. What do you notice? Are you surprised at how many it holds?
Skin on Water?
Materials:
Clear Glass
Water
Pennies
Directions: Fill the glass to the brim with water. How many pennies do you think you can gently add to the water before the glass overflows? After you have made your guess, gently place pennies into the water. Look at the surface of the water. What is happening?
Water on a String
Materials:
Bowl
Pitcher
Wet String
Water
Directions: Place a cup of water in the pitcher. Pouring over the water containers in case you spill, can you pour the water down the string and directly into the bowl? Why do you think this works?
Build a Boat
What makes a boat float? What shapes are common for boats?
Materials:
Tin foil rectangle
Pennies
Water
Directions: Using one piece of tin foil, construct a boat. Your goal is to see how many pennies your boat can support before it sinks.
Measurement Guidelines: No other materials can be used in making the boat except the tin foil. If any penny touches the water, the boat has sank. If any part of the boat touches the bottom of the container, your boat has sank. Think you came up with the best design? Share how many pennies you supported and your design on the board!
Water Can Flow Uphill!
Materials:
Glass of water
empty bowl
damp and twisted paper towel
Directions: Place one end of the twisted paper towel into the glass filled with water and the other into the empty glass. In the empty glass the paper towel should sit just at the rim. Watch what happens (this experiment takes a little bit of patience). How did water go uphill to get to the bowl?
The Magic Egg
Directions: Take an egg from the table and gently place it into a glass of water. Does it float or sink? Look at Mrs.Rankin's egg----how did I do that? Hint: I used one kitchen item used in cooking, but I did nothing to the egg!
Water Play
*Dunk sieves and colanders in water. Pour water through funnels. What does the size of the holes have to do with how fast the water flows?
*Use measuring cups and spoons to figure out the volume of some containers.
*Can you empty containers faster by changing the motion you use when emptying them?
No comments:
Post a Comment