Science Lab

Try it at Home! Make a LavaLamp!

Here's how to make a (temporary) lava lamp at home:

You will need a tall, slender bottle (we used a test tube in the lab; a water bottle will work but consumes a lot of oil. Use the smallest bottle you have), any type of oil, liquid (not gel) food coloring, and an alka-seltzer tablet.

Fill the bottle 2/3 to 3/4 full of oil and add enough water to bring the total within 1/2 inch or so of the top (do not completely fill). Add a few drops of food coloring. We used 2 drops for the test tube; you may need 5 or so if using a water bottle. Add a chunk of alka-seltzer. We used about 1/10 of a tablet; you may need up to 1/4 depending on the size of your bottle.

Don't shake it! Just watch as the tablet sinks to the level of the water and begins fizzing; the bubble will rise thru the oil, taking the food color with it. You can "recharge" it 2-3 times with additional chunks of tablet,  but the results diminish each time.

Try it at Home: Create a Fossil

Here is an easy way to demonstrate how fossils are formed! Most children think that fossils are bones that are buried in mud which hardens around the bone over millions of years, and when the fossil is excavated the bone and the impression of the bone in mud are found. This is partially true, but what they don't realize is that minerals seep into the bone and fill in the spaces to create a mineralized bone that is quite different in composition from the original. This is also how petrified wood is formed. This process is easy to model, as follows:

Take a sponge and cut it into a fun "bone" shape. Put it in a margarine tub or similar-sized disposable container that has several small holes punched in the bottom. Mix 4T very warm water with 4T Epsom salts or other bath salts until completely dissolved. Set the margarine tub in another shallow container and pour the mixture over the sponge "bone." Let it sit for 24 hours, empty the shallow container, and repeat the process. Do this every day for a week, then allow it to sit an additional 48-72 hours without adding more liquid, and let it dry. The sponge will have hardened into a rock-like model!

This models the process of hundreds of thousands, even millions of years of rain and minerals leaching into the ground and gradually relacing bone material while maintaining the shape and even details of the surface texture. Note that the liquid passes through the sponge on the way down, and can be drawn back up again from below as the surface dries.

Science Lab Update

9/5/11

As we close out our third week of school, I am happy to report that the students are right back in the swing of science. It's been interesting watching the dynamics of new classmates and new teachers begin to take effect; each class seems to have its own personality. As always, although we can become very excited and wrapped up in an activity, it is important that the students remember to "give me five" when necessary. We will continue to work on that skill!

One thing I am very impressed and pleased with this year is the students' enthusiasm for Science outside of the classroom. Many of them come in with fanastic stories of something science-related that they did or saw at home or while on vacation. I've had students bring things in from home or from the playground: cicada exoskeletons, interesting insects they have found, home-made playdoh, science experiments done at home, cool rocks and minerals...one student even brought in a periscope he made with a shoebox and his mother's makeup mirrors! I really love to see these precious objects and make sure that we make time during the lesson to allow the student to share what he/she discovered with the class.

Homemade Playdoh

I've had many requests for the "recipe" for homemade playdoh, so here it is! Very easy, and the pan cleans up well. Don't let the kids eat it, it's full of salt.

1 C flour

1/2 C salt

1 T cream of tartar

1 C. water

1 T veg oil

Stir flour, salt and cream of tartar together in saucepan. Add water and oil, stir over medium heat until desired consistency is reached (will begin to form a ball). Remove from heat, allow to cool for a few minutes, then knead a few times until smooth. If colored playdoh is desired, add a few drops of food coloring with the oil and water.

Guidelines for Parent Volunteers

8/15/11

A big "thank you" to everyone who has signed up to help out in the Science Lab this year! If you have done this last year, you know that the students can tend to get a little excited in here. "A little" is a good thing, but the key is to keep them focused, and that is so much easier to do when I have a second set of hands, so your participation is invaluable to me.

This year the class periods are longer: 45 minutes instead of 40. Time between classes has compressed from 10 minutes to 5. Five minutes between classes, especially when they are different grade levels doing vastly different activities, is not a lot of time. It will be very important to spend the last 5 minutes of each class period having the students help to clean up the area, put materials away, etc. The tables should be spotless and ready for the next class when their teacher arrives to pick them up. In most cases, the next set-up will be staged and ready for the Lab Assistants in the next class, but for more complicated set-ups I may need your help for a few minutes after the students leave.

During class time, I usually begin by reviewing what they learned the previous week and creating a bridge from that lesson to this one. They love to participate in this as long as we keep it to 5 minutes or less! I then introduce the lesson of the day, and begin passing out materials. Each class should have 2 assigned "lab assistants" to help, so your job will be to help the lab assistants get to the supplies and get them distributed.

Once the directions are given and the students begin work, your help is needed to walk the room, helping those who need it, clarifying instructions, keeping voices to a low volume, etc. Because most of what we do is team-oriented, the students must be able to talk, but they have to work cooperatively and as quietly as possible.

Periodically throughout the lesson I will be asking the students to "Give Me 5" while we assess how the activity is going, add some insight, get feedback from the students, etc. They are expected to get quiet the FIRST time I ask them to; doing so earns them a "tally." At the end of class, tallies are added up and communicated to the classroom teacher, who can use that info in conjunction with his/her own discipline system in the classroom. Additionally, small squares of paper are handed out to students who are working cooperatively and participating well. They write their names on the squares, and hand them in at the end of class; I then draw 2 names at random, and those 2 students are next week's Lab Assistants. The more slips of paper they earn, the greater their chance to win.

Please have fun in here, get involved with what the kids are doing, ask them open-ended questions to get them thinking, etc. And always, if you have feedback for me regarding your thoughts on the lesson, I'd love to have your input. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Thanks again,

Karen Jarvis

 

Welcome Back!

8/15/11

It was wonderful to see some of you as you stopped by during Meet & Greet! I hope everyone had a fun and restful summer, had their batteries recharged, and are ready to come back to school. I'm very excited to be back and am looking forward to a great year in the Science Lab.

This year, as last, we will be starting off with an introduction to the Lab, a look at what's new, and a fun, interactive, team-oriented activity to set the tone for the year. As you know, Science Lab is the place where students can work together, exchange ideas, and enjoy hands-on science in a more-or-less relaxed, but controlled, environment.

If you have signed up to participate as a parent volunteer, thank you! I always appreciate the support from parents, and the parents seem to enjoy being here as much as the students do. Please see a separate post, "Guidelines for Parent Volunteers" for more insight.

Please check the blog frequently....we will have lots of information about the specifics of each lesson and comments from the students. Please contact me by phone or e-mail if you have any questions or comments throughout the year. I appreciate all of you and enjoy your children immensely. Have a great year!

Karen Jarvis