Science Champions!

Our #1 Scorer!
Back in March, my class competed in the World Education Games.  This annual competition is a Global Online Event open to all schools and students around the world.Today we received official word and a beautiful country that we scored 7th in the world in the World Science Day competition for our age division. Over 1.5 million students competed in the World Education Games this year!

The students in my class all participated during the school day and many also continued competing at home that evening. Everyone did very well and we had a lot of fun! It's pretty amazing that the students are actually competing against other students close to their age in real time, all over the world. 

We actually finished in second place in our age division in the United States! Congratulations students, on this incredible victory! 

Gak Attack!

After a week of serious, heavy duty testing, what better way to celebrate and relax than to get involved in a messy, sticky, hands on science experiment like making Gak?

Why does this reaction occur? In the simplest terms possible, the mixture of glue with Borax and water produces a putty-like material called a polymer, which is a long chain of molecules. Glue is an adhesive polymer made of polyvinyl acetate, which can be modified by a chemical process called cross linking. The Borax (sodium tetraborate decahydrate) can be used as the cross linking agent. Properties of long chain molecules change when they are cross-linked. The glue changed into slimy glob. That process is known as vulcanization. Watch the students react to the Gak in the video clip below!

Our Class "Pets"

Have you heard the exciting news? The mealworms we have been observing have started metamorphosizing into darkling beetles!

The students have been very interested and excited to watch their mealworms go through the life cycle and undergo such dramatic changes right before their eyes. 

We have learned some excellent vocabulary during this unit like larva, pupa, metamorphosis and exoskeleton. We did a few simple (and harmless) experiments with the mealworms and students have been recording their observations daily. 

Mealworms

Have you heard talk about new classroom "pets"? We are studying mealworms in Science class and each student has a tiny mealworm habitat on his or her desk. 

We are learning about the lifecycle of a mealworm, doing a few experiments and lots of observing! Experiments today included journaling about what happens when a mealworm is touched and what happens with a gentle gust of air.

The students have taken their new responsibility fairly seriously and have diligently made sure their mealworms have plenty of food and water. Ask your 2nd grader what we give the mealworm to drink and why. This unit has been a lot of fun and a nice break from the almost-over test prep!

Day Two of the Egg-Speriment

Much to the delight of (most of) the class, when we observed our eggs this afternoon they had become soft, squishy and rubbery. 

The Eggs Felt Like They Were Made Of Rubber Today!

The egg shells were dissolved by the vinegar. The acetic acid broke apart the calcium carbonate crystals in the egg shell. The bubbles we observed was actually the calcium carbonate being carried away from the egg. 

Eggs and Vinegar Don't Always Smell Very Pleasant
The students decided to extend the experiment even further. We cut one of the rubbery aggs in half, we left two out of the vinegar overnight, and we left two in the vinegar for another night. We wonder what the eggs will be like tomorrow?

Vin-Egg-Ar

Today during Science class we worked in small groups on an experiment involving acids, bases and chemical reactions. Students predicted what will happen when we soak an egg in vinegar overnight. 

We had a class discussion about the chemical makeup of vinegar and also talked about the difference between an acid and a base. The students spent some time observing their eggs and recording their observations. 

We are eager to see what changes occur overnight!

Galileo, Galileo!

Students Were Intrigued By The Thermoscope, Commonly Known As a Galileo Thermometer.

In Science we just finished learning about Galileo Galilei. After completing a webquest, the final project was to write an essay about Galileo impacted our world today. It was challenging for us to image life without the modern day telescope or thermometers.

The Galileo Thermometer Gives Us a General Idea Of the Temperature.

Last week in Science class, we churned butter. This integrated with a larger Social Studies unit based on Colonial life and Pioneers.

After writing all the materials and instructions for churning butter, along with predicting what would happen, how long it would take for their butter to churn and a few other things....

...students worked with a small group churning a small container of cream to turn it into butter. Students observed the results of their labor and tasted the buttermilk they helped create as well.
Everyone had fun churning the butter but I think everyone had MORE fun tasting the results of their hard work!

Crunch!

Yum!

The Prime Pumpkin Prediction - Part 2

After estimating and measuring circumference, weight and vertical lines of our pumpkins, along with pondering a few writing prompts and answering some critical thinking questions about pumpkins, the REAL fun began!

Students predicted the amount of seeds in their pumpkin and then predicted whether the size of the pumpkin determined seed totals.

Then we dug in! Students worked in partners or small groups determining the best way to count the seeds. Some chose to group the seeds into fives or tens, others counted by ones as they went along. Still others waited until every seed was scooped and then determined a method.

You might be surprised to hear how many seeds the average pumpkin contains. And regarding small pumpkins having fewer seeds than large pumpkins - what do you think? Ask your 2nd grader!

Changing the Freezing Point of Water

Last week we learned all about lowering the freezing point of water. Using salt, we slightly melted chunks of ice and watched as the water refroze around a piece of string. 

After sprinkling the salt on the ice we observed for about three minutes. We watched the ice change from one state of matter - a solid, into a different state of matter - a liquid. Then the liquid changed again, back into a solid as it froze around the string. 

We had to be very careful picking up the string. Sharp or sudden movements caused the ice to fall. We also tried changing this experiment with the ice in a cup of water. Ask your student what happened!

This experiment was the first of many hands on science projects we will do this year. Coming up this week... we will learn about colloids as part of our states of matter unit.