Science Backlog: Part One

One of the ongoing challenges that we as teachers (or parents, for that matter) face is balancing the desire to participate in engaging activities along with the children with the need to document said engaging activities. This dichotomy was especially apparent during our recent, Science focused curriculum. We teachers were so taken in by wondering along with the kids, we almost forgot to stop and document our process. Now we have a backlog of stories from the last few weeks that really deserve to be heard. So, Here's where we do our best to catch up before we start posting about our current slew of projects!

We chose to focus on applying the scientific method by setting up a variety of experiments exploring different concepts,- such as density, phases of matter, chemical reactions, and, physics- over the course of several weeks. Before we carried out each experiment, we asked a question, gathered a list of theories based on the children's observations- or in some cases imaginations- then put those theories to the test;

For one of our earlier experiments, we filled the sensory table with water and a variety of containers for pouring and filling. After the children had filled all of the containers to the brim with water we asked, "What do you think would happen if we put these on the front porch and left them there all night long?" Here are a few of the hypotheses that the Frogs offered up;

"They're going to melt!"

"They might get tipped over!"

"They are going to turn into ice!"

Keep in mind this happened in mid-February in New England...

What do you think happened?

Another experiment that invited a lot of lively speculation, was a variation on the classic "Will it sink or will it float?" game...

To prepare, we gathered a clear container, rubbing alcohol, water, corn syrup, vegetable oil and food coloring. We also collected a variety of small, relatively waterproof objects. We added food coloring to the water and rubbing alcohol to make it easier to tell the two apart. Then came the fun part!
We gathered all of the Frogs together for circle time, then asked "What do you think will happen if we pour all of these liquids into this container?" The general consensus was that the liquids would get all mixed up. We slowly poured each liquid into the container, and watched as each liquid quickly separated into it's own layer, making distinct stripes! We then asked each child to select an object from our collection. We went around the circle and asked "what do you think would happen if you dropped that into the container?" at first, almost everyone predicted that their object would either float on top...

Ping pong ball, Cork, Plastic Astronaut & Wooden Clothespin

Ping-pong ball & Pom Pom.

...or sink to the bottom.

Sugar Cube

Until this happened;

Some objects started to sink, then stopped in the middle!

We asked the kids what they thought happened, and they were stumped! Then we tried to explain the concept of density, with mixed success. We think the majority of the Frogs preferred to think it was magic! Of course, if we can teach them that Science is kind of magic, maybe we can inspire them to keep asking what makes that magic happens.