We just finished a very fun Water/Weather Unit. It has quickly become one of our favorite science units. Today we will share a few activities that we did to kick-off and begin our unit. We know you can't use these this year, but it might be a great way to start off your next school year.
We began with an inquiry based lesson that required the students to make observations and inferences, and to draw conclusions. We handed each group of students two cups of Insta-Snow that we got from Steve Spangler. We also handed them two cups of clear liquid. One was water and one was rubbing alcohol. The students did not know what the liquids or powders were. They had to make observations about these items. Then, we poured the water into one cup of the Insta-Snow, and the rubbing alcohol into the other cup of Insta-Snow. This caused quite a reaction with our students. They couldn't believe what they saw. They were then able to draw conclusions about the liquids and the powders. They were amazed that mere water created the snow. That's what led us into checking out the cool properties of water.
 |
| Before adding liquid. Snow is crystal-like. |
 |
| After adding liquid. Water made the Insta-Snow fluffy and rubbery. The alcohol didn't absorb at all. |
Then, we made a water molecule, and talked about how these molecules are sticky, or cohesive, and want to stick together. This was the perfect time to introduce the concept of surface tension. We watched a BrainPop video about it, and then did The Amazing Race from AIMS Education. The kids never knew how much fun it could be playing with a drop of water. They had a grand time competing to see who could stretch their drop the farthest.
 |
| Water molecules in liquid water flow over each other. |
Our next step was to focus on evaporation and condensation. We used the Insta-Snow with water to demonstrate evaporation. We left it out for a week. When we went back to observe, we had the crystals back and not the fluffy snow. Even though we didn't see it, we drew the conclusion that the water had evaporated. To try to see water evaporating we put a wet toy under a clear vase. After about a week, we saw that the water droplets were clinging to the side. We could infer that the water from the toy must have evaporated and then condensed. Once again the kids were amazed at what water could do!
 |
| Insta-Snow after water evaporated. |
 |
| Water droplets are clinging to the side of the glass. |
It feels so great to be back! Most likely, we will be blogging every other week from now on. Have a great weekend!
Kim and Anne
No comments:
Post a Comment