Thursday, April 30

Hello again scientists!

Check out some of your scientific work!

  

Today we will check on our egg soaked in corn syrup.  I wonder what happened to it?  Did you make your hypothesis?  Let's find out!

We discovered that the egg shriveled back down to it's normal size and that it was bright yellow.  The corn syrup was watery and thin! When we held a flashlight up to it we could see through the egg and see the yolk inside!

Why did the egg shrink in corn syrup?

This is because the corn syrup is full of sugar.  The sugar can't pass through the thin membrane of the egg like the vinegar could.  The vinegar passed through the membrane of the egg, making the egg larger.  (Osmosis!)  The sugar could not pass through the membrane, so the water that was already inside the big vinegar egg moved outside the egg again, back into the corn syrup!  The egg got smaller and the corn syrup got more watery!

Let's see if I can turn the egg green!  Will it be green?  Or will it stay yellow?  Will the egg get smaller? Or will it get bigger?




Now, let's test the bouncy egg experiment again.  I have one egg that was soaking in vinegar and one normal egg.  Let's see how high I can drop each of the eggs without them breaking. How high do you think I can drop the normal egg without it breaking?  Make a prediction!  How high do you think I can drop the bouncy egg without it breaking?  Make a prediction!


We will use a tape measure with inches to measure the height.  Ready?  Here we go!

















It's time to finish what scientists called, "the scientific process".

1.  We asked a QUESTION.  What will vinegar and corn syrup do to an egg?
2.  Then we created HYPOTHESES
3. Next we conducted EXPERIMENTS to test the hypotheses.
4. Then we OBSERVED and TOLD ABOUT what we saw after the experiments.
5.  The last step is to SHARE your work with others.  What did you learn?  What happens to eggs when they are soaked in vinegar and corn syrup?  Draw your answer in your notebook and then share it with someone in your family.  You could share the information with someone who lives with you or do a virtual phone call with someone else!  Who would you like to tell what you learned?

Lastly, I just got news that the first egg in the nest at Emma's house hatched! Check it out!

Wednesday, April 29

Welcome back, scientists!

I am really enjoying these egg experiments.  Are you?

Let's go back to our egg in vinegar experiment.  Today we will make our observations, check our hypotheses and test 2 new experiments with the egg!

Get out your notebooks!  What did you observe today?  How did the egg look and feel?

What do you hypothesize will happen to the egg after it sits in corn syrup?  

Why did the egg shell go away and become bouncy?  

Explanation:  The vinegar reacts to something called calcium carbonate, which is inside the egg shell.  The reaction creates a gas, creating the tiny bubbles on the outside of the egg.  The shell dissolves, or goes away, and leaves a thin layer of the shell called a membrane.  The vinegar can pass through the membrane. Since the vinegar can now get inside the egg, the egg gets bigger, or expands!  

The vinegar has a large amount of water in it.  The egg has a small amount of water inside.  When water moves from something with a lot of water, through a membrane, to something with less water, this is called osmosis!

 

Let's end today with some alphabet exercise!  Ready?  Stand up and exercise with Jack Hartman!

Tuesday, April 27

Hello scientists!

Check out these awesome pictures of our scientist friends in their safety goggles!
  



Are you ready to check the egg experiment?  Let's observe!

I wonder what will happen tomorrow?  Go ahead and check your hypothesis from yesterday.  Were you right so far?  Do you have a new hypothesis?

Ok scientists, it's time for another egg experiment!  Do you think I can make an egg slide through a bottle?  Find out below!

Wow!  Can you believe that I squeezed an egg through a bottle?  Isn't science cool!  Why do you think the fire sucked the egg through the bottle?

(Parents, here is an explanation of the experiment from coolscienceexperimentshq.com)

How Does the Experiment Work?

Air pressure is the reason the egg to moved into the bottle without us touching it. Let’s explain exactly what happened:

• When we started the experiment, the air pressure inside the bottle was the same as the air pressure outside of the bottle.
• After we placed the burning paper in the bottle, the air inside the bottle began to heat up and expand.
• A few seconds after we placed the egg on top of the bottle, the fire went out and the paper stopped burning. This caused the air inside the bottle to cool down and contract.
• When the air contracts, the air pressure inside the bottle was less than the air pressure outside the bottle.
• Then the higher air pressure outside pushed the egg down into the bottle.

Now let's check back at the nest in Emma's wreath on her door.

Wow!  I see more eggs than last time!  Last time I saw three eggs.  Now how many eggs are there?  How many more were laid?  There were 3 and now there are 5.    3 + what = 5? 

2!  3 + 2= 5!  There are 5 eggs now.  Emma learned that one egg was laid each day. 

Thanks for sharing Emma!  If you find a bird's nest at your house please send me a photo or video so I can share it with the class!  Enjoy the day scientists!  

Monday, April 27

Hello friends!

We have exciting news!  Magdalina also has a nest at her home!  It's in her porch light. I wonder what kind of birds built this nest?  I wonder when the bird will lay its eggs?  This is exciting!

We have a special week! We are going to be scientists this week!  Each day we will do a new science experiment with an egg!  I am so excited!  You can be a scientist too. What is a scientist? 

A scientist is somebody who...

observes 

tells about 

and experiments

with an idea. 

We are going to be scientists all week!  Here is a picture of a real scientist!

Scientists use many tools to help them.  What tools do you see in this picture? I see safety goggles, gloves and a microscope.  I wonder what these tools are used for?  Hmmm...

Before we start our first experiment, we are going to make some safety goggles!  

Here is a picture you can print out, color, cut and use.  Or, create your own safety goggles with other materials you can find in your home!  

Are you ready for our first science experiment?  If you have the materials at home, go ahead and try the experiment at home too!  

Get out your notebooks!  Make your hypothesis, or your prediction, first!  What do you think will happen to the egg when it sits in vinegar for 1 day?  For 2 days?  Draw a picture. 

If you are doing the experiment at home, don't forget to wash your hands after touching the egg!

See you tomorrow, scientists!  

Thursday, April 23

Hello friends!

How was you Earth Day?  Did you do anything special to celebrate the Earth?

Here are some of your great projects!

 

 

Today we will finish our Earth Day project by improving our plans!  What did you do yesterday?  How can you make it even better?

Today, if it's not raining, I challenge you to go outside and look for birds!  We are going to keep track of how many birds we see doing different activities. Print out the observation sheet below or use your notebooks.  Each time you see a bird doing one of the activities, put a check mark in the box.  When you are finished observing, count up the check marks in each box and write the total number.

Which activity were birds doing the most?

Which activity were birds doing the least?

Were any of the activities equal, or the same?


Did you know that a chicken is a bird too?  What do you know about chickens?

I know that chickens live on farms, lay eggs, and cannot fly well.  I also know that farmers often keep their chickens in coops.  A chicken coop is like a home for chickens!  I found this fun chicken counting game!  Check it out and practice counting!

https://pbskids.org/peg/games/chicken-coop

Do you think chicken coops really look like the coop in the game?

No, it's just pretend.  Many things we see in books, games, or on tv are just pretend.  What is the opposite of pretend?  Real!  We have learned that we call books with real information nonfiction and books that are just pretend stories are called fiction. We are going to end with some storytelling.  I am going to start a fiction (pretend) story about a chicken and I want you to finish it!  Get out your notebooks and finish the story below by drawing a picture and/or writing the words.

Ready? Go!

Once upon there was a chicken named Ralph.  Ralph lived in a chicken coop made out of pizza!  Chickens do not eat pizza, so he never wanted to eat his coop, but he did enjoy smelling it!  There was a problem though!  Some of the other animals on the farm did like to eat pizza!  The cows, the dogs, the pigs and the horses all wanted to eat Ralph's chicken coop.  One day the cows...

What will happen next?  You get to finish the story!  Will Ralph find a solution?

Wednesday, April 22

Happy Earth Day, Friends!

Today is the day to do the Earth Day projects you have planned.  I can't wait to see what you did for the Earth.  Make sure you take a photo and share it with me!

Try this Earth Day game! https://www.starfall.com/h/holiday/earthday/?sn=main

When you look at the creation cycle, we are on the "Do it or build it!" part.  Today is the day to do the plans you created yesterday.  I will be planting a tree and Charlie will be picking up trash.  What will you do?  Tomorrow we will think of a way to make our plans even better!

Now let's do some Earth Day yoga!  Try the poses below!

Now that you are relaxed after doing yoga, let's say a prayer to God thanking Him for our earth!  

Dear God, Thank you for the trees. Thank you for the rain.  Thank you for the sun.  Thank you for the flowers.  Thank you for the earth.  Amen

What part of the earth are you most thankful for?  Get out your notebooks and draw what you are thankful for on Earth Day!  

Let's end with a story!  

Did this story give you any other ideas on how to take care of the earth?  So many of the choices we make every day can help the earth!  Can you make any changes to take better care of the earth?  

Have a very happy Earth Day!

Tuesday, April 21

Hello friends!

Did you think about what you'd like to do for your Earth Day project?  You are going to make the earth so happy!  Today we are going to make a plan for our projects.  Let's start with a story called The Curious Garden.  Sometimes during playtime we listen to a song called The Curious Garden.  Do you remember it?  See below for the story and the song.

https://soundcloud.com/emilyarrow/curious-garden  Can you dance to this song?  Find something you can dance with like a scarf or a ribbon! 

Let's make our earth day plans!  You will need your notebook, a pencil, and the idea in your brain!

(Parents, you will differentiate this for your child as necessary.  This is how I would teach it to the whole group if we were in class.  Then I would differentiate for each child as necessary as we worked in small groups.  Some children might be scribbling and drawing wavy lines, some might be drawing pictures with simple shapes, some might be able to write phonetically.  It's all about helping your child where they are at!  The goal for some of our younger children is to understand that oral language can be represented in print and that we can use pictures to depict our thoughts.) 

Are you excited for Earth Day tomorrow?  I am and I can't wait to see your projects.  

Let's do a couple bird activities!  Did you make a bird feeder?  What did you use?  We used a toilet paper tube, peanut butter, and sunflower seeds!

Check this out!

What?!?! Is there an eagle in my house?  What do you think?   No, it's just a picture of an eagle in my house!  Try it at home if you can!  (Parents, use your phone and google eagle, scroll down and click on view in 3D. It should pop up in your phone as a 3D image in your house wherever you are directing the camera on your phone.)

Do you know what an eagle sounds like?  Click here to hear a bald eagle call. 

https://www.bird-sounds.net/bald-eagle/  

Can you make that sound?

Here are lots of bird sounds to listen to.  Which one is your favorite?

https://www.aaastateofplay.com/50-bird-species-sounds-they-make/

It's supposed to rain today, but if you can, go outside see if you can hear different bird sounds.  Once you hear one, can you find the bird making the sound?  You will have to listen closely, follow the sound with your ears, and then look with your eyes!

Monday, April 20

Hello friends!

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything outside?  We went on a long hike to a waterfall and planted lettuce and carrot seeds in our garden!  Do you have a garden?  Did you know there is a holiday this week called Earth Day?  I wonder what Earth day is all about?

This week while we continue our bird project but we will also do activities to celebrate Earth Day!

Let's start with Earth Day!  Earth day is a day to celebrate...our earth!  We should take care of the Earth that God made for us every single day.  Earth Day is the day to think of something extra special we can do for the earth.  Today I challenge you to plan something you will do for the Earth with your family.  Today we will think of an idea.  Tomorrow we will make a plan.  Wednesday we will DO the plan.  And Thursday we will improve the plan!

(Parents, help your child use this Creation Cycle to demonstrate where they are in the process each day.  Today we are on the lightbulb labeled "Think of an idea"!)

Today let's think!  What would you like to do to help the Earth?  Here are some ideas to get your brain thinking!

-Plant flowers or trees  

-Pickup trash

-Make a bird house 
-Make art out of recycled materials  

What is your idea?  Think about some activities you could do.  Tomorrow we will draw out a plan!


Putting up bird feeders or bird houses is a way to help the earth too!  Do you have any bird feeders, bird houses, or places where birds can make nests in your yard?  I have a funny story to share with you about a silly spot a bird chose to make a nest!

In the last pages of the story we saw the mama and daddy birds feeding their baby birds worms.  What else do birds eat?   Birds eat lots of different things!  Let's play Stand Up Sit Down.  If the answer is yes, stand up!  If the answer is no, sit down!

Do they eat pizza?  

Do they eat fruit?

Do they eat seeds?

Do they eat chocolate?

Do they eat bugs?

Do they eat hot dogs?

Do they eat nuts?

Some bigger birds also eat small animals!  Today we will make a bird feeder!

You will need...

String

Bird seed, sunflower seeds, or plain cereal (like Cheerios)

Nut Butter

A toilet paper tube, halved orange, halved apple or pinecone

Directions:

1. Wash your hands first!  Your germs can make birds sick!

2. Get your toilet paper tube, orange, apple or pinecone ready.  Ask your grown up to help you tie a string around it so you can hang it outside.

3. Use a plastic knife to spread the nut butter on your object.

4.  Pour your bird seed, sunflower seeds or cereal in a paper plate or tray.  Roll your object coated with nut butter in the seeds or cereal. 

5.  Hang it outside for the birds to enjoy!  If you can, hang it by a window so you can watch from inside your house!

If you see a bird eating from your bird feeder, try to take a picture and draw/write about it in your notebooks!  

Have a great day!