March 30

Spring Hike

My prefirst scientists joined me for a spring hike. As we strolled around our beautiful campus, we watched for signs of the seasonal change and checked them off our scavenger hunt board as we discovered them. I sent home another game board, so families can hike in a park or around their neighborhoods and search for these items again.

We spotted a toad and a crane fly too.

One of my scientists observed the ripples in the grass around the storm drain. How did they form?

We found a magnolia sapling in the woods. How did the seeds travel there?

Look at the male cones that are filled with pollen!

I knocked these male pinecones and we watched the pollen fall out.

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March 30

Pollen

I’m always amazed at the pollen in Atlanta each spring! After a rainstorm, just look at the pollen that washed into the retention pond! It was interesting to watch the patterns Percy, our silver appleyard duck, created as he swam through it.

March 25

Chromatography

Prefirst physicists used chromatography to determine the colors that each manufacturer used to create a black pen. We learned that some pens are water soluble while others are not, like Expo and Sharpie. Click here for details of this investigation. We tested some other colors too.

Mrs. Daniel read Purple Green, and Yellow by Robert Munsch and connected reading with science.

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March 25

Light Mixing

Scientists will tell you that red, green, and blue are the primary colors and cyan, magenta, and yellow are the secondary colors. The three primary colors of light mix to make white. Green, red, and blue additive mixing is used in television and computer monitors, including smartphone displays, to produce a wide range of colors.

Are shadows always black? PreFirst and second grade physicists had so much fun investigating my new red, blue, and green flashlights. Click here for order information. Look closely at the shadows. What do you notice? What do you wonder?

 

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March 23

Explosions

Before we began our matter lab, we reviewed static electricity concepts from last week and I demonstrated the static flyer. Click here to find out more. We are training to be Jedi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I opened a carbonated beverage, and poured the liquid into a baby bottle. The nipple did not have a hole inside it, so look what happened when I shook the bottles! What gas filled the nipples?

Exploding Diet Coke and Mentos was a fun way to review matter concepts. We dropped solid Mentos into liquid Diet Coke to create a gas, carbon dioxide. We changed a variable and placed three, then five, then seven Mentos into the launcher. Click here  to read why this reaction occurs. I noticed that Diet Coke streamed higher in afternoon classes. Why? Could the warmer temperatures have made a difference?

The reaction when three Mentos dropped:

Five Mentos:

Seven Mentos:

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March 23

They Hatched

Animals that lay eggs are oviparous. Can you name animals that are oviparous? Click here to watch this video (with your scientists) for the answer. Can you see the difference between the two types of tadpoles? Hmmm, or are those salamanders?

March 19

Light

And let there be light…

Fourth grade physicists had a fast-paced lab about the properties of light in the IT conference room rather than the science lab, so that we could perform our investigations in complete darkness. The following are the highlights of some of our investigations.

We viewed an amazing light show through our refractive glasses. We used our glasses to look at a variety of lights. The colors of the visible spectrum are always in the same order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But when we looked at the light produced from a laser, we saw something completely different because it wasn’t white light. The rest of the visible spectrum was missing. Since light moves so fast, we couldn’t see the beam move across the room, but when an acrylic block was placed in its path, the beam was visible because the block caused the beam of light to slow down. We also used spray haze to see the entire beam.

When I moved this light stick, we could see the three colors of light inside the tube. When the light ball was swung, the colors appeared and seemed to mix before our eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We reflected light by bouncing a beam around the room with flashlights and mirrors and then used the plasma ball to demonstrate energy efficiency. Click here to watch how we used the plasma ball to light up the bulbs and an energy stick. Fascinating! The items never touched the plasma ball.

The 3D standing wave machine is a perfect visual of a wave. Click here to learn more.

How do you measure light? Does a larger flashlight produce a brighter beam? We looked at the beams produced by several flashlights and learned that light is measured with lumens. The size of the flashlight is not indicative of brightness. When you visit a store that sells flashlights, look at the packaging and compare the number of lumens.

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March 19

Updated Tadpole Post

As you arrive to school in the morning, you can hear the frogs peeping now. Maria brought me some tadpole eggs. We know they are frog tadpoles because they are in a cluster.

Then Patrick found toad eggs on a nature walk. Toad’s eggs are arranged in a chain.

March 19

Airplane Lab

My second grade scientists have studied force, motion, and space, so a paper airplane lab was a perfect fit. We reviewed gravity and friction and then I introduced three new forces: lift, thrust, and drag. Click here to watch a video about these forces.

Paper Plane Flying Contest - Science World

My aerospace engineers made paper airplanes at home prior to lab. They were free to ask others for help and to research designs online (with parental help) because scientists collaborate! We reviewed the Engineer Design Process: Define the Problem, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, and Improve. As we looked at all our classmates’ planes, we noticed a variety of wing designs and nose shapes. Some planes were stapled or taped together. Planes were a variety of sizes and made from different types of paper. I was so excited by the work my engineers put into this project. Many of them told me that they made several designs, and tested them before they chose the design to bring to school. Want to try more designs? Click here for a great paper airplane design resource.

After we shared our designs, we tested them. We discovered that the way we threw our airplanes directly impacted how far they flew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we looked at the airplanes that traveled the furthest to see if there were any similarities. The following engineers had the most successful designs.

This design flew double the distance of any other airplane-almost the entire length of the gym. It was constructed of cardstock.

Mr. Swegman demonstrated how to throw an airplane.

March 17

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Because it’s St. Patrick’s Day, my youngest scientists studied rainbows. After learning how to form a rainbow with water and sun or with a prism, we used refractive rainbow peepholes to view rainbows in the lab. The colors are always in the same order – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

The rainbows that we can see in the sky form an arch. How can we complete the arch on these rainbows? We dipped the ends of the rainbow in water and watched as our rainbow connected. What a fun way to investigate absorption!


Primary color food coloring was dropped in whole milk. When my scientists placed dishwashing soap on a Qtip into the milk, the colors exploded and mixed to form secondary colors. Click here  for details about this investigation. It’s a fun one!

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