Science
Scientists and Engineers in Action!
Kindergarten scientists learned how primary colors of red, yellow and blue combine and created secondary colors of orange, green and purple. We also observed water "walk" over into other cups where they had been empty before!
Young engineers listened to the story of Made by Maxine and constructed a device to solve the problem of bringing a pet to school for a class parade. Some of our pets were wild animals such as lions or hippos and required a pretty special cage!
Engineering Challenge: Using limited materials, how can you elevate an object 5 inches off the table for 10 seconds or longer?
STEM and SEL Connection: How can we create a playground and model where ALL students, regardless of mobility, can feel included?
We placed our activities together and created a new playground for OHS where students of ALL abilities would be happy to play together!
Scientists created a "tin foil person" and shone a flashlight on it to cast shadows, testing at various times such as early morning, noon, and late afternoon and examining the results of where the shadows were.
Our youngest scientists explored liquids and predicted which would dissolve a candy cane. We were shocked that warm water dissolved them faster than vinegar. We observed that they did not dissolve in oil.
Our oldest scientists predicted and examined the results of melting ice with different types of metal pans.
First grade explored the concepts of transparent, translucent and opaque by testing how much light could pass through.
We discovered that thick wool socks are opaque. We had a lot of fun practicing that word!
Kindergarten made paper rockets for Forces and Motion and tested them by directing a "push" of air through them at a bullseye target.
Grade 2 Engineers created a beaver dam to divert water away from an area and test our affect on the land around us.
Grade 4 Engineers created bridges. They tested their bridge's ability to be safe, strong, and hold a desired amount of weight for 30 seconds.
Grade 4 Engineers created bridges. They tested their bridge's ability to be safe, strong, and hold a desired amount of weight for 30 seconds.
Taking advantage of the weather, Kindergarten scientists explored snow. We melted it with friction from our hands and tested to see if 2 cups of snow equaled 2 cups of water.
We were excited to see that 2 cups of snow did NOT equal 2 cups of water! We learned some of the snow became oxygen that we released out of our ziploc bags!
Our Kindergarten explorers tested a variety of objects to determine which ones created friction for our matchbox cars. We used these objects in push and pull experiments!
Third grade scientists tackled the forces of push and pull and also gravity with an exploration of dominoes. We demonstrated how we could move objects without touching them directly through the force of a push or a collision with another object.
Third grade students also explored varying our "push" forces and moving other objects indirectly through an activity styled like the Olympic "curling" competition. We had to work together to move our donuts as close to the bullseye as possible. We had three different lines to "push" from and three different points areas.
Crystals were made with borax and hot water. We learned that precise measurements helped them become solid and sparkly!
Grade 3 prepared for severe weather by building a shelter using limited materials. We learned it is important to listen to the weather forecasts from meteorologists!
Grade 5 tested the timing of chemical reactions with Alka Seltzer in hot water, room temperature water, and cold water and compared the data to prove our predictions!
Grade 3 students practiced using a paper ruler to determine the length of a bench. We observed that the ruler was the exact length of a perfect square cube so we were able to measure in feet, and then by folding the paper ruler in half, in inches too!
The Big Bad Wolf could not blow down our houses of sticks and straws, no matter how much force he used!
Grade 2 examines a large map of the United States and places paper butterflies on it from students from states that participated in Monarchs Across America.
We observed that some states had a mountain range or lakes across them and other states were where we've gone on vacations!
We took advantage of the Winter Olympics happening this year, so we invented some new sports to be considered, This is the new Capture the Flag event, where snowballs are launched at competitors and you have to climb a snowpile to get the flag!
Kindergarten created a "wrecking ball" and worked as a team to demolish a plastic cup wall carefully without landing on nearby houses.
We created a magnetic "chain" while exploring the magnetic field of our magnets. We were surprised with how many objects we could lift using various magnets!
We created our own experiment using iron filings and a powerful magnet. We were amazed to see that the ends of the magnet were using more "attraction" than the middle.
We were able to maneuver a magnetized car through an obstacle field using the power of "repel."
Stay tuned for more exciting activities!