Explore the Lab
Kindergarteners have been learning about weather. They made wind flags and tested them in front of fans at different speeds to estimate the speed of wind. Then then learned about the water cycle and how clouds cause it to rain by making a model of a cloud in a cup. They added water drops to explore how when a cloud gets full it begins to rain.
1st graders have been busy learning about light and shadows. They investigated with different objects to see what kind of shadows they created. They learned that clear objects made very light shadows and objects that didn’t let light pass through made dark shadows. Finally, they made shadow puppets to investigate how they could make the shadows move differently.
2nd graders have been learning about land and water on the Earth’s surface. They created a model of the earth out of paper and simulated rain on the model to understand how rivers work. Then they created a 3D model of an island with water and land features. Finally, they drew a map of their model and coded Ozobot robots to take a trip around the island.
3rd graders have been investigating the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the movement of an object. They learned about different designs for bridges and then competed to make a bridge out of paper that was strong enough to hold the most pennies. Then they built and coded a Lego pull robot to make it move. With the robot, they investigated how adding different weights and different tires to the robot affected its movement.
4th graders have been investigating how energy is stored, released, and transferred. They made and compared two models of an amusement park ride (one with a thick rubber band and one with a thin rubber band) to see which one would spin the most and the fastest. Then they created a chain reaction to investigate how energy is transferred from one object to another.
5th graders have been investigating mixtures based on their properties. Students investigated different methods for separating mixtures back into their original components; they used a screen, magnets, water, and a funnel. Then students used the method of chromatography to help Mrs. Calvert solve a crime to find out who stole Mrs. Calvert’s Jolly Ranchers.
