Science

Spring Break Day 3: Science

Resources:Science for kids, Science concoctions, Kids Science Experiments

Today, I started by writing the activities I wanted to do on the chalkboard. They got to choose the order in which we did things. We had another friend join us today, and they were excited to tell him we were going to learn about Science. Here are the activities we chose...and how things went:

Parachute Fun - Each boy got to choose a hero figure and tie it to a bandana. We dropped them in the stairwell to test which one was the fastest, which one dropped straight, and if it made a difference the length of the string/ribbon we used. They ran up and down the stairs, switched men and learned a little about gravity.

Eye on the Ball - We went downstairs to throw the ball around, and did a science experiment with senses. They each got 5 throws with both eyes open, then we blindfolded them on one eye and gave them 5 more throws. They found out just how hard it was to catch a ball with one eye open.

Lunch: Funny Faces..keeping with our healthy theme from yesterday, I gave them a ton of options, and they got to make funny faces with the things they love to eat. 

We took a break after lunch to build with Bionicles. They had fun creating their own hero and only fought over a few pieces. They showed immense patience with Luke who wanted to break apart their men, as soon as they built them.

Fishing for Treasure - Learning about magnets, I attached paper clips to small tickets, and they got to go fishing. I decided to give a quick lesson on "buying things". I opened up a treat shop, and they could use their tickets to buy treats. Big treats were worth more, so they had to learn quickly how to get more than one ticket on the fishing pole magnet. One of them figured out how to get 5 tickets in one turn. Afterwards, we took all the magnets and tried out some magic tricks with them.

Egg Float - We did a quick experiment on the density of salt water. We poured 6 tablespoons of salt into a half glass of water..then filled the cup up the rest of the way with tap water. The egg floats right in the middle of the glass. They couldn't believe it.

Blubber - 2 Tablespoons of Borax in 1 1/2 cups of water...mix well...let sit....add 2 Tablespoons of regular white glue and you get some really neat blubber. Stretch it, roll it into a ball and watch it bounce. The more times we put it into the borax solution, the harder it got. Adding more glue made it more gooey. Here is what it looks like after sitting out for a while.

Magic Mud - 5 tablespoons cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water can make a wonderful substance that is fun to play with for hours. I made a huge amount so each boy could bury plastic animals (they were sinking in quicksand), and let it "melt" over their hands. Here is what it looks like...he is about to grab some of the goo and bury this little man in the "ice". It is amazing to talk about liquids and solids when this stuff is all over your hands and you can feel the difference.