We live on the crust of the earth and it is covered with different types of soil. Since PreK students are studying the ocean, we pretended we were at the beach and explored kinetic sand. Click here to learn more about the ocean.
Third grade scientists used balance, creativity, and their knowledge of magnets to create sculptures during a portion of their lab.
Third grade classes also investigated how light mixes with my red, green, and blue flashlights. (See previous post for more details.)
Play is the highest form of research. (Albert Einstein)
Since kindergarten scientists are studying frogs, I shared Yoda, our lab frog, with them. While he was out of his tank, I cleaned his habitat. When I returned him, he moved about exploring and I captured some fun photos. Click here to learn more about White’s Dumpy Tree Frogs.
Pre-First scientists analyzed their data and drew some conclusions after observing their experiment this week. Rust is formed when iron and oxygen react in the presence of water. However as we discovered, sometimes iron objects have a coating (galvanization) on them that prevents rusting. When results didn’t match our hypotheses, learning occurred.
Second graders are studying invertebrates and PreK scientists will begin an ocean unit, so both groups investigated shells in lab. All shells begin as a home for an invertebrate. If a shell is empty, the animal died, was eaten, or in some cases changed shells. A hole in a shell indicates a predator penetrated the protective covering.
Both groups classified their shells into bivalves and gastropods and then found new ways to sort their shells into groups.
The following picture shows you the spiral inside some gastropods. Next time you are shelling, don’t pass these by!
Second grade students also classified shells using two properties with a Venn diagram. The common attributes were placed in the intersection.
Third graders continued their investigation of magnets. They explored how magnets repel and attract with floating magnets.
Then, we aligned electrons to magnetize a paperclip and created a temporary magnet.
Magnets attract iron which is the 26th element on the Periodic Table and an essential nutrient. We discovered that iron fortified cereal contains pieces of iron. We used a neodymium magnet to pull the iron out of the cereal. Click here for more information.
A compass is a lightweight magnet and the needle lines up with the earth’s magnetic field. Lab partners used these compasses to demonstrate the magnetic field of the magnet they encircled. When we switched the poles, the needles turned. Click here to learn more. Fascinating!
Painted lady butterfly larvae or caterpillars arrived today for kindergarten, pre-first, and second grade classes. Second grade is studying invertebrates and kindergarten and pre-first classes are studying life cycles and animal families. Both groups will learn about metamorphosis. Click here to watch an excellent video about the life cycle of a butterfly. Such a fun project to do at home too! I order from Insect Lore.
In the second half of both of their labs, prefirst and first grade grade scientists connected math and science as they learned about anaglyphs. We learned that a 2D shape has two dimensions (length and width), while a 3D shape has three dimensions (length, width, and height). We looked at examples of anaglyphs and noticed that red and cyan were added to the photos. When we wore glasses with lenses of the same color, the pictures became 3D. These scientists especially enjoyed watching a 3D movie. Click here to take a ride on a roller coaster. Want to learn more about the art of anaglyphs? Click here.
Have 3D glasses at home? Click here to review shapes.
