Week 2: April 13-17

Learning Goal:

• The student will be able to support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by the Earth is directed down by creating a “house” for a raw egg and dropping it from 10 feet above.
• I can investigate and observe gravity, forces and the laws of motion.

Estimated Time for The Week:

60 - 90 minutes

Type of Lesson:

Gravity

Materials:

• Newspaper
• Notebook paper
• Tape
• String
• Styrofoam cup
• Egg cartons
• Cotton balls
• Rubber bands
• Paper plates
• Popsicle sticks
• Other household items that can create a “house” for your egg

Learn & Practice:

1. Question:
   • How can you protect a raw egg when dropped onto a hard surface?
   • How does the size of the egg, height from which it is dropped, and the characteristics of the surface affect the safety of the egg?
   • Watch this video Gravity: A Crash Course
2. The Challenge: Design a device that will protect the raw egg from breaking when dropped from 10 feet (an adult will need to help you with this) onto a hard surface.
3. Directions:
   • Use materials from the list above.
   • Get creative on what you think will protect the egg most effectively.
   • A parent may be the only one that can drop your egg “house” for safety purposes.
4. Predict:
   • Which materials will provide the best protection for the egg?
   • "My hypothesis is…" (write down your hypothesis on a piece of paper, document on Seesaw, Google Classroom,or a Google Doc and share it if you'd like).
5. Plan and Test:
   • Step 1 - Plan out and draw your egg “house” that you want to create on a piece of paper.
   • Step 2 - Build your device (get creative).
   • Step 3 - If you’d like, take a picture of your “house” and put it on Seesaw, or email a picture to your teacher.
   • Step 4 - Insert your raw egg into your “house” and make sure it is ready to be dropped.
   • Step 5 - Wait for a parent/guardian to drop your egg “house”. Have your parent/guardian stand and throw the egg “house” high into the air (10 ft.)
6. Reflection:
   • What happened to your egg when it was dropped?
   • What would happen if you dropped your egg and “house” from a tall building? Do you think your egg would survive?
   • What causes some objects to fall faster than others?
   • When dropped from the same height, what would reach the ground first - a plastic bag or a gallon of milk? Why?
   • What could you do to improve your results next time?
   • Write or type out your reflections to share with your teacher through Seesaw, Google Classroom, or just email it to them if you'd like!
7. Extension: If you finish this assignment, and want to continue to do more science, then continue with this.
   • In the beginning of the school year, we discussed the different phases of the moon. This would be an additional skill that would be worth reviewing. Below is a link that allows you to journal and track the phases each night. It is not required, but might be fun who really enjoyed the Earth and Sun Foss unit! Moon Phase Journaling

Learning Goal:

• The student will expand their understanding of the Four C’s of Engineering: collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication.
• I can think like a chemist using pennies, vinegar and salt to create a model and observe chemical reactions.

Estimated Time for The Week:

30 minutes of set-up; 5 days of observation

Materials:

• Water
• White vinegar
• Salt
• 10 small paper or plastic cups (Dixie cups work great!)
• 10 pennies (pre-1982 work best)
• Paper or fabric towels for accidental spills
• Drying worksheet (page 3 of link provided below)
• Observation worksheet (page 4 of link provided below)

Learn & Practice: Procedures

For the Google Slides to click-through the below directions, click here!

1. Set up your "lab." (30 minutes)
   • It will be any flat space that won’t mind a little vinegar being spilled on it — kitchen tables and counters work great! The experiment then needs to be left out for five days.
   • Label 5 of your small cups:
     • vinegar + no salt
     • vinegar + ¼ tsp. salt
     • vinegar + ½ tsp. salt
     • vinegar + ¾ tsp. salt
     • vinegar + 1 tsp salt
2. Add Chemicals. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and the labeled amount of salt to each cup. Gently stir to dissolve.
3. Repeat & Rinse. Label the other 5 cups H2O (water), and add 2 tablespoons of water (to be used for rinsing).
4. Initial Experiment (5 days of observation)
   • Add two pennies to each vinegar/salt cup and let them soak for 5 minutes.
   • While soaking, make initial hypotheses — what do you think will happen? Then observe the pennies and record or discuss your observations.
   • After 5 minutes, take one penny out of each cup and put it on the Drying Worksheet in the corresponding square (not rinsed).
   • Take the remaining penny out of each vinegar cup and place in its own cup of rinse water. (Note: You may want to keep the vinegar cups for the nail experiment on Extension 1 below.)
   • Rinse for 30 seconds, then place each penny on the Drying Worksheet in the corresponding square (rinsed with water). All done! For now…
   • Let the pennies sit for at least 5 days.
   • Predict: What might happen? What do you think will be the difference between the rinsed pennies and the unrinsed pennies over time?
   • Each day, check back and record your observations on your Observation Worksheet.
5. Explanation:
   • The Statue of Liberty is made of copper, but why does it look green?
   • Copper changes color when it is oxidized. Oxidized means that the copper atoms in the object react with oxygen atoms in the air. The oxygen atoms bond with the copper atoms and the copper atoms lose some of their electrons to the oxygen when they bond.
   • Click the link for printable instructions & worksheets: Green Pennies

Here are the links to 2 Mystery Science video lessons similar to this lesson you can try too. Mystery Science is free for students without needing to sign up, or parents can sign up for a year free trial of all the lessons.

• Magic Potions
• Gold Transformation

Extension 1: Create Copper Coated Nails

Grab those used vinegar solutions and 5 steel nails. Add a steel nail into each cup and wait about 15 to 20 minutes. What do you observe happening? Why?

Extension 2: Cleaning Oxidized Pennies

• Now that the pennies are oxidized, try experimenting with removing the patina. Patina is a green or brown film on the surface of metals, produced by oxidation over a long period of time. Can you reverse the reaction?
• Grab another set of cups or rinse out the old ones.
• Select several different combinations of salt and acid solutions such as cola, lemon juice, vinegar, or orange juice. Get creative! What other liquids around the house could you try?
• Try running the experiment just like you did with the vinegar solutions, with two pennies in each cup and rinse cups of water. Which solution is best at cleaning the pennies? What happens if you don’t rinse the solution again? What do you observe? What do you think is happening? Does this give you any new ideas of substances to try?

If you want to, document your experience as you go and upload your work through photos or video to Class Dojo, Seesaw, Google Classroom, or whatever format you are using for your teachers to see! Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!