Prep the night before:
Make sure you have enough PVA made. Ask Shelley how to make it.
Make the cooling sleeves for the scarves. Make sure Shelley has made these. (You will actually need these for Tuesday)
Buy Bubble gum
Buy candy as reward ( I usually carry them around in my pocket and reward students I see doing good deeds without being asked etc)
Make sure that parents fill out a permission slip and that they know that need to sign their child in and out every day.
Overview: No one is waiting. As soon as the first student arrives, they start working on a project. This activity/challenge changes each day and may include straw towers or paper airplanes. Most of the solutions to these challenges will be taken apart at the end, but the best ones can be saved for the presentation at the end of the week.
Materials: What is needed for this challenge?
Keva Planks
Description: Have each child take 30 keva planks and build the tallest tower they can. Once they have built a tower, measure it for them. Keep track of the tallest tower and reward student with candy. If they want to, especially since it is the first day of camp, they can build whatever they want after one attempt to build their tallest tower.
Have each group or student present their unique solution to the challenge. Discuss some of the learning that took place in each group and what challenges they overcame. Try to keep the better projects, if at all possible, for the Friday “ Open House.”
Have both classes sit in a circle and have them introduce themselves. Have each child say their name, age, school, why they wanted to take the class or some variation thereof. Introduce and give a little background on yourself and have your co teacher do the same. If there is a volunteer (especially if they will be there the whole week) have them introduce themselves as well. Talk about expectations/rules. I know there are a lot of rules, but all of them have a reason and have had a problem with it in past years. While you are going over the rules, have them make name tags with index cards. Have them put their name on both sides in big letters, no cursive.
Materials:
Markers
Hole punch (punch holes in cards before you give them out)
Long pieces of string
3X5 blank index cards
General Rules
No wrong answers in science camp! Just answers in which we need to investigate further.
Try
Respect Everyone
Engineering Rules (explain these)
Work quickly
Try lots of things
Steal other people’s ideas
Break the rules
Museum Rules
No Running, skipping, grape vining, galloping etc
Use the bathroom
Do not push other children (especially those who have paid admission) out of the way in exhibits
Make sure that you know where at least one person from the class is at all times. If you notice there is no one from class on the floor, check in the classroom.
No one should be in the classroom while we are on break (other to check to see if class has started)
Bathroom Rules
Give each other privacy. There should be no picking locks, looking under etc. The first time this happens parents will be called and you will not be able to come back to a DCI camp.
If you are in classroom 2 and it is not a break in the museum, line up against the blue wall (not the doors) so that the teacher can count you.
Park Rules
No climbing trees
If there is a problem, tell an adult immediately
The playground is for 2-5 year olds. You may play on it if there are not very many children present. Please be aware of the small children.
Clean up all of your food mess before you go play. Zip up your lunch bags, the geese and seagulls will eat it!
The park should look nicer than we arrived.
Most everything that we will be doing in this class will revolve around the scientific method. We will never just make something outright, for instance, I will never tell you this is how we are going to do this. I will give you some background information and then we will experiment.
Here is the scientific method. PLEASE READ THIS TO YOUR STUDENTS!
The Question
Your science fair project starts with a question. This might be based on an observation you have made or a particular topic that interests you. Think what you hope to discover during your investigation, what question would you like to answer? Your question needs to be about something you can measure and will typically start with words such as what, when, where, how or why.
This step should be the easiest part and in this camp, the question is usually given to you.
Background Research
Talk to your science teacher and use resources such as books and the Internet to perform background research on your question. Gathering information now will help prepare you for the next step in the Scientific Method.
Your will be the one providing the background research. In this camp, the teacher will give you back ground information and conduct a classroom discussion to see if anyone knows about the topic we are studying.
Hypothesis
Using your background research and current knowledge, make an educated guess that answers your question. Your hypothesis should be a simple statement that expresses what you think will happen. MOST IMPORTANT PART
Is it okay to have a wrong hypothesis? Yes! That is when you learn the most is when you make a wrong hypothesis.
Experiment
Create a step by step procedure and conduct an experiment that tests your hypothesis. The experiment should be a fair test that changes only one variable at a time while keeping everything else the same. Repeat the experiment a number of times to ensure your original results weren’t an accident.
This will be where the class will have to figure out how to test what. This will be a group discussion.
Data
Collect data and record the progress of your experiment. Document your results with detailed measurements, descriptions and observations in the form of notes, journal entries, photos, charts and graphs.
Observations
Describe the observations you made during your experiment. Include information that could have affected your results such as errors, environmental factors and unexpected surprises.
Conclusions
Analyze the data you collected and summarize your results in written form. Use your analysis to answer your original question, do the results of your experiment support or oppose your hypothesis?
How are we going to analyze our data. For example: What is the criteria for the best slime?
Communication
Present your findings in an appropriate form, whether it’s a final report for a scientific journal, a poster for school or a display board for a science fair competition.
Overview: Introduce the topic of the week. Ask questions to assess the general level of knowledge of the topic so materials can be adjusted throughout the week to best meet the students at their level. Then begin a guided activity. There should be a chosen theme for the day. This time should be dedicated to talking about the subject matter of the day’s theme. This should be a guided discussion among the student and yourself.
Definitions:
Chemistry
Matter
Atoms
Molecule
Compound
Solids
Liquids
Gasses
Materials:
Flask of water
Balloon
Large piece of pumice stone
Pictures of Solids, Liquids, Gasses on a molecular level ( ask Shelley for this)
Description: Chemistry and Polymers
What is chemistry? It is the branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed; the investigation of their properties and the ways in which they interact, combine, and change; and the use of these processes to form new substances. Chemistry is the study of matter and the changes that take place with that matter.
First go over molecules and compounds. Then focus on the three phases of matter.
For solids: Pass around a large pumice stone. Ask the students if the rock would change shape if we put it in a box, up high or under water. No. Solids keep their shape.
For liquids: have a flask of water. Have one student come up and have them cup their hands so that little water will be able to get through. Pour some water into their hand (its okay if some spills on the floor). Ask the students what happened. The water took the shape of the flask, hands and floor. Liquids take the shape of whatever container they are in.
For gasses: blow up a balloon and let it fly through the air. Explain that you knew there was air in the balloon, but you did not see where it went. Where did it go? The air inside the balloon took up as much space possible inside the balloon (higher pressure inside the balloon than atmospheric). When you released the balloon, the air inside was under higher-pressure and wanted to equalize with the atmospheric pressure, thus propelling the light latex balloon around. The released air tried to take up the most space possible in the room.
Recap:
Solids don’t change shape
Liquids take the shape of whatever container they are in
Gasses take up the most space possible.
What about substances that act like both liquids and solids? Can you name any of them?
Jello, Plastic, Rubber, chewing gum etc. Today we will be talking about these substances. The word for them is POLYMER.
Make sure they know the break rules:
Go to the bathroom (show them where it is)
Do not run, gallop, skip etc
Be aware of the people who have paid to get into the museum
You should not push anyone out of the way of an exhibit
Overview: We will be making polymer chains out of paperclips, and ourselves. Then we will have a short discussion of polymers. Will also hand out materials for making PVA.
Materials:
Paperclips
Dry Borax
Borax Solution
PVA
Stir sticks
Ziploc bags or sealed containers
Sharpie (to write their name on bag or container)
Cups
Food coloring
Safety Goggles
Graduated cylinders
Definitions:
Polyvinyl Alcohol
Borax
Hydrogen Peroxide
Cross linkers
Graduated Cylinder
Overview: We will do a couple activities to understand what a polymer is, figure out the best way to test our polymer solution, talk about science equipment we will be using,
PVA: Polyvinyl Alcohol – The main ingredient in glue. This is already a polymer.
Borax: Borax is a powder that is mined out of the ground. It is a laundry additive that whitens clothes. When mixed with water, some of the chemicals react to form Hydrogen Peroxide. What is hydrogen peroxide? Fizzy stuff on wounds.
When Borax is mixed with PVA, the borax becomes what is called the cross link er.
Activity: Have each child make a long chain (approximately 10, but all of them should be the same length) of small paperclips. Explain that these chains they have just made are the PVA. Can they move around easily? Yes. You can grab one end and pull it around
Take each chain and add crosslinking paperclips to represent the borax. (Approximately three per 2 chains). Now you should have a ‘blanket’ of paperclips. Is it easy to move around? Not really. Grab opposing ends and show how the cross-linked paperclip chains do not move as easily.
Now think about what would happen if there were not enough cross linkers or too many? The slime would not turn out correctly. They can take their paperclip polymer home or they can give it back. Whatever they want to do.
Activity: Have each student walk around the room acting like they are monomers (single units). Is it easy to move around? Yes Have them then link arms with other students until there are three equal lines of students. Is it easy to move around? Not as easy. Now they are polymers. Then have them form a hook with one finger (while still linked with their arms) the fingers should link to other hooked fingers from different lines. The hooked fingers are cross linkers. Is it easy to move? Not at all. If you have questions on this because it is confusing, please let Shelley know.
Discussion: How are we going to determine what proportions of the PVA and Borax solution are needed to make the perfect slime? Remember the scientific method: Create a step by step procedure and conduct an experiment that tests your hypothesis. The experiment should be a fair test that changes only one variable at a time while keeping everything else the same. Repeat the experiment a number of times to ensure your original results weren’t an accident.
This will be where the class will have to figure out how to test what. This will be a group discussion.
What will our procedure be to test our slime recipe? What will be our criteria to evaluate the best slime? The students should guide this exercise. Keep record of what exactly the children choose to do. Possibly put them into groups to evaluate.
You should guide them to the conclusion that we should do about 5 tests, keeping the amount of PVA used the same and changing the amount of borax solution. Beware that if you use two different borax or PVA solutions, your results may vary.
Talk about graduated cylinders: Should you ever mix two chemicals in the same graduated cylinder? Take answers. No, it could make it so that the chemicals do not mix; one on top of the other and if we were to make slime in the graduated cylinder it would never come out. Should you put one chemical in it and then another without wringing it first? No, it could leave residue of the slime in the graduated cylinder. Graduated cylinders are just for measuring, not for mixing!
Explain to them that they will also be helping clean up. Show them the prep room and tell them that they will be going in there, filling up their graduated cylinder and leaving it in the sink. You will need to have your volunteer clean them out for you.
Hand out materials
Each student should get the following materials. Have them come up and grab their own supplies. This makes them feel more involved and gets them out of their seats and moving around. Call them up by birthdates or color of shirt; this keeps there from being a mad rush.
Ziploc bag or sealed container
Cup
Stir stick
Graduated cylinder
Sharpies
Have them write their name on their Ziplocs while they are waiting to be called up for the other supplies. Make sure you or your volunteer collect the sharpies after all the names are on the container.
Lunch in the park. There needs to be one (preferably two) adult(s) present at all times.. Make sure one adult has a cell phone. Make sure children know the rules of the park:
No chasing geese
No climbing trees
The play structure is for young children so please be aware of them. It is their play structure, not yours
If there is a problem, tell an adult
If a student forgets his lunch, you may need to go to Winco and get a lunchable. The parent will need to pay a $5 fee.
Materials:
PVA
Borax Solution
Ziploc bags
Sharpie Marker
Graduated Cylinders
Stir sticks
Cups
Camera
Markers
Funnels
Description: The children should determine how much PVA for the base. Everyone should get this same amount. Then vary the borax. I would recommend 20 ml and test 2, 4, 6, 8 10 mL of Borax. The best ratio is approximately 3:1. Maybe take pictures of the difference in the slime.
Using the best recipe found, have each child make their own slime to take home. At this point I usually do some math (with the help of the students) to figure out how much PVA each child gets. Divide the amount of PVA by the number of students. Determine the amount of PVA and Borax each child will need. Place PVA into sqeeze bottles. This makes it much easier for them.
Have each child drop one drop of food coloring into their cups. Have each child pour and measure (using a graduated cylinder) their own PVA, explaining that if they are not comfortable with pouring their own, they can ask for help. Come around with the correct amount of borax to pour into their cups. Have them stir with their stirstick while you pour in the borax. Allow them to play with the slime for a bit.
Note: Make sure that the students do not take the slime out of the bag unless they are in the DCI classroom. Ask them what would happen if this stuff got into hair or their mom’s white couch or carpet. Make sure they understand that this substance is sticky and does not come out of fabrics. It is okay to play with on flat, hard surfaces.
Overview: We will conduct a short “magic” tick for the stuents, allowing them to explore the result. Remember to use the scientific method for this exercise.
Materials:
Sodium Poly acrylate powder
8 oz foam cup
50-100 ml of water
Description : Add ½ teaspoon of sodium polyacrylate into cup before the students see. Then add 50-100mL of water to the cup in front of them. Then turn the cup upside down. The absorbent sodium polyacrylate will stay in the cup kind of like a blizzard. Ask them what they think happened.
Overview: We will make snow to go for the students to use the scientific method and sensory exploration. The will be able to take this home.
Activity: Snow to go
Have child come and collect all three cups and Ziploc bag (or lid for large container). Make sure they write their name on the cup or bag. Collect all the sharpies. Before you explain what sodium polyacrylate is, have them conduct this experiment. The powder will absorb 200X its weight in water. This is the same chemical that is in baby’s diapers. Why would they put this stuff in baby’s diapers? Do not tell the students what the white powder is.
Materials:
1 oz portion cup
2 oz portion cup
Larger cup
Water in a pitcher
Lid for larger cup or ziplock bag
Sharpie to write their name on the bag or container
Experiment:
Give each child a scoop of the white powder in their 1 oz portion cup. Ask them to make observations about the powder and make a hypothesis of what they think it might be. Tell them to place the 1 oz portion cup into the larger cup. Then fill up their 2 oz portion cup with water. Ask them what they think will happen if they pour the 2oz of water into the 1 oz portion cup with powder. Will it fit? Make hypothesis. Have the children pour the 2 oz of water QUICKLY into the cup with the powder in it. This should make the powder expand and overflow the 1oz portion cup into the larger cups. Allow them to play with it and make observations. Explain that this is what is called snow to go or sodium polyacrylate. It absorbs 100-200X its own weight in water. This is the stuff that is in baby’s diapers because it is so absorbent .We will be conducting experiments with this substance for the rest of the afternoon. Have the students put their snow to go in their cubbies
Overview: We will soak polyacryate crystals/ spheres in water, weighing them periodically to see what percentage of water they soak up.
Materials:
5+ types of sodium polyacrylate
Large cups
Water
Poster paper
Markers
Scales
Strainers
Experiment: Spilt class into groups of approximately 3. If they have been good, then let them choose, if not, randomly assign groups. Show them the 4-5 types of sodium polyacrylate. You should have the orbies spheres multiple sizes and multiple colors and sodium polyacrylate crystals. Each group should get the same amount of sodium polyacrylate. I would recommend approximately 1 gram per group. Have them note how many grams they started with on their poster sheet. Have the children fill up a cup with their sodium polyacrylate crystals and water. Tell them that they can observe, but once the water is in, they should not touch the sodium polyacrylate. This could affect the test results. They will need to make a graph. The graph should have even lines. The x axis should have 1 hour increments for at least 24 hours. The y-axis should have 5 gram increments going to 200 grams. Each line should be ½ inch – 1 inch apart. There is a mini example of what the graph should look like in the Chemical Concoctions ’15 folder. Have them start out with a pencil and then move to a marker to fill in.
After an hour, have them stain the sodium polyacrylate from the water and weigh. Show them how to tare out the container. They will need to do this every hour until they go home. Have them place their values on the graph. Go around and make sure they are doing this correctly.
Review rules
If they brought a snack, now is the time to eat it. Have them sit on the floor and eat their snack. If they did not bring a snack, I usually let them sit with the snackers or help to clean and prepare for the next activity.
Do this one hour after the children have placed the sodium polyacrylate in the water. It may not be exactly at 3:00. Put weight on graph.
Overview: We will be testing bubble gum to find the ratio of polymer to sugar.
Materials:
Bubble gum
Small cups
Small pieces of paper
Pencils
Calculator
Description: explain that bubble gum is a polymer, but it also has a ton of sugar in it. Wouldn’t you want to know how much sugar and polymer makes up bubble gum? Have each child weigh their bubble gum piece, writing down their intial weight. Then while we are doing the next experiment they will eat their bubble gum. The sugar will dissolve and be absorbed, while the polymer remains.
We will be playing with oobleck and bubber for sensory play as well as investigating other types of polymers.
Materials:
Water
Bowl
Cornstarch
Bubber
Description: The next polymer we will work with is called ooblec. This is just cornstarch and water, but it is very interesting because if you move quickly with it, it is solid and if you move slowly with it, it is liquid. Explain this to the children. Pour a few cups of cornstarch into the bowl and pretend like you forgot the recipe for the perfect ooblec. Ask them what you should do. Add ½ cups of water until it reaches the right consistency.
Split the children into two groups. One group will be in line for the slime and the other group can play with their slime, snow to go and Bubber which is another type of polymer. I can not find much scientific information about what it is exactly, but it is fun and interesting to play with.
Have each child come up and play with it for a moment. Have them first start off by punching the bowl and then have them play with it for a few minutes. Make sure you hold the bowl down. They will need to tap their hands on the ooblec to clean it off the best they can and then allow them to go to the prep room or bathroom to wash their hands.
The children can now reweigh their bubble gum. Make sure they write down the final weight. You can help them figure out what percentage is a polymer by taking their final weight and dividing by the initial weight. You can also tell how many grams of sugar were in their gum by taking the initial weight and subtracting the final weight. You may want to show them how many grams of sugar that looks like with real sugar. Weigh out the average amount of sugar in the gum of real sugar just to show them how much sugar they ingested, just with gum!
While the groups are waiting to weigh their SPA, have the rest of them clean up. Once they are done weighing their SPA have them place them back into water. We will weigh them again first thing in the morning.
One more challenge for the students so they are active participants when the parents arrive.
Overview: Explain that a cantilever is a fancy name for a “hangy over thingy”. Tell them to remember the rules for engineering. This is how engineers build bridges. Have children build the longest cantilever they can. Have them clean up the materials when their parents come to pick them up. They can aslo take home any materials that they have made and are in their cubbies.
Materials:
Keva Planks
Overview: No one is waiting. As soon as the first student arrives, they start working on a project. This activity/challenge changes each day and may include straw towers or paper airplanes. Most of the solutions to these challenges will be taken apart at the end, but the best ones can be saved for the presentation at the end of the week.
Materials:
K’nex
Description: Have children build the coolest contraption (invent something).
Have each group present their unique solution to the challenge. Discuss some of the learning that took place in each group and what challenges they overcame. Also, discuss the closing engineering challenge from the evening before. Keep some of the better project, if at all possible for the Friday “Open House.”
Reweigh the SPA and mark on graph. Fill the sleeves with the SPA. Tie a knot 6 inches in, fill till about 6 inches to the top and tie again. Ask students to figure out what percentage the SPA absorbed in water. Have children mark this on the graph.
Make sure they know the break rules:
Go to the bathroom (show them where it is)
Do not run, gallop, skip etc
Be aware of the people who have paid to get into the museum
You should not push anyone out of the way of an exhibit
Overview: Introduce the topic of the week. Ask questions to assess the general level of knowledge of the topic so materials can be adjusted throughout the week to best meet the students at their level. Then begin a guided activity. There should be a chosen theme for the day. This time should be dedicated to talking about the subject matter of the day’s theme. This should be a guided discussion among the student and yourself.
Guided activities differ from Engineering Challenges. Here everyone is expected to get to roughly the same outcome such as creating a simple circuit or looking for life in pond water. Engineering Challenges and Structured Build Times are opportunities for students to creatively solve problems. Each solution may look completely different and achieve varying degrees of success. For the Engineering Challenge, a measureable goal given, but little direction for how to achieve the goals. In Guided Activities, most/all of the steps along the way are given, sometimes (though rarely) without stating what the end result will be.
Materials:
Spoon
Fresh clean CLEAR cups
Tang
Class Discussions:
Introduce Solutions
Solubility is defined as the maximum amount of solute dissolved by a given amount of solvent at a definite temperature.
The solubility of the given substances in a given solute is temperature-dependent.
Solution containing the maximum amount of solute at room temperature is saturated. When more solute is added into the solution the solute will no longer dissolve.
If the solution contains the maximum amount of solute at an elevated temperature the solution is supersaturated. When more solute is added into the solution, crystals will form.
If the solution contains less quantity of solute than what can be dissolved at room temperature it is unsaturated. When more solute is added into solution the solute dissolves.
Description:
Look at how tang works. Give each child a cup of water. Administer a small amount (not enough for it to taste good) to the water. Have them stir and try it. Ask them if this is unsaturated, supersaturated or saturated. The correct answer will be unsaturated. Give more and more tang until it reaches saturated (no sugar can be seen at the bottom of the cup)and then super saturated (sugar at the bottom of the cup can be clearly seen).
At this point talk about solids, liquids and gasses. Refer to adding energy in the form of heat changes the way the molecules react to one another, specifically changing volume.
The tang that was super saturated should be able to place on a hot plate to make the sugar dissolve. When this solution cools, the sugar crystals accumulate forming crystals. Does this happen with every substance? Pretty much. Do different substances create different crystals? Well, lets test it out!
Overview: Each day we have a different building activity where the students are given a basic design and asked to build it, test it then improve it through modifications of their own design. Downhill racers, stomp rockets and balloon powered boats are examples of these.
Structured Build Time is the “Make-n-Take” portion of the day. These projects will go home with the students at the end of the day to show off what they did and promote discuss at home about what they learned during the day.
Description:
Heat water to almost a boil (enough for each student to have some). Add sugar until it does not become suspended. Have the students add flavoring or color to their jars. The solution will be really hot. Pour the solution into the jars. Have the students place their sticks into the solution and place the lid on the jar. The less the jars are disturbed the better.
Materials:
*PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TAKES A TON OF SUGAR
Per student:
1 cup water
2 ½ cups sugar
Food coloring
Flavor oil ($2 a bottle)
Sauce pan
Tall narrow glass jar (mine used to have hot pickles veggies in it)
Clothes pin
Short skewers (about 6 inches)
Rubber scraper
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Sugar-Crystals-on-a-Stick/
*Please be aware that this takes 20 cups of water and 50 cups of sugar which is approximately 22 lbs of sugar.
Lunch in the park. There needs to be one adult present at all times. Two is optimal, in case of emergency. Make sure one adult has a cell phone. Make sure children know the rules of the park:
No chasing geese
No climbing trees
The play structure is for young children so please be aware of them. It is their play structure, not yours
If there is a problem, tell an adult
If a student forgets his lunch, you may need to go to Winco and get a lunchable. The parent will need to pay a $5 fee.
*Depending on how much time you have, you can make as many types of crystals as you would like. I think it is important to have a couple different kinds so that the children can compare the crystal structure.
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/magic-crystal-snowflake
http://chemistry.about.com/od/crystalrecipes/a/baking-soda-crystals.htm
http://www.marthastewart.com/1004005/how-make-monster-salt-crystals#1004005
Description: Choose which ones you would like to do an prepare the solution ahead of time. Make sure that you have enough of all the supplies needed.
Materials: See links above.
Review rules
If they brought a snack, now is the time to eat it. Have them sit on the floor and eat their snack. If they did not bring a snack, I usually let them sit with the snackers or help to clean and prepare for the next activity.
http://mrsstewart.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Salt-Crystal-Garden.pdf
Materials:
Containers
Ammonia
Food Coloring
Mrs. Stewarts Liquid Bluing
Charcol or bricks
Measuring spoons
Stir sticks
Small mixing cups
Description: See PDF link at the beginning of activity. You will have to check on the crystals in the subsequent days and add more solution as needed.
Materials:
Crystal books
Magnifying glasses
Crystal collection from DCI
Description: Allow students to inspect the crystals and try to identify by books provided
Mineral Discussion:
Pull some interesting topics from the rock books at DCI to talk to the children about, allow them to guide the conversation by allowing questions.
One more challenge for the students so they are active participants when the parents arrive.
Overview: Allow students to build with
Materials:
Science stuff
Description:
http://wikidemos.dcidaho.org/index.php?title=Stomp_Rockets
Overview: We will make stomp rockets and test them outside
Materials: What is needed for this challenge?
Paper
Stomp Rocket launcher
Tape
PVC Pipe
Description: See wiki demos website above
Have each group present their unique solution to the challenge. Discuss some of the learning that took place in each group and what challenges they overcame. Also, discuss the closing engineering challenge from the evening before. Keep some of the better project, if at all possible for the Friday “Open House.”
If there are Mrs. Stewarts liquid bluing crystals that look like they are not growing, you may need to find some time with these students to add more solution. Possibly hook up a volunteer with this task.
Overview: We will make gold and silver pennies for the students. You will first have the student clean their pennies with vinegar and salt. I recommend Giving each a small empty cup and then provide a larger cup of salt and vinegar for the table. Also provide pipettes so that they can get some vinegar. They should rub the salt and vinegar solution onto the penny. While the pennies are changing have them form a circle around the tables and slowly walk by to see the pennies change. Make sure you rinse them off and cool them down before handing the pennies to the students.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/goldsilverpenny.htm
Materials:
Enough pennies for each student to have 2
Zinc
Sodium hydroxide
Tongs
Cup of water
Vinegar
Salt
Hot plate
Cups for students to clean their pennies
Description: See link above
Make sure they know the break rules:
Go to the bathroom (show them where it is)
Do not run, gallop, skip etc
Be aware of the people who have paid to get into the museum
You should not push anyone out of the way of an exhibit
http://wikidemos.dcidaho.org/index.php?title=Chromatography_Flowers
Overview: We will be making chromatography flowers for the children to take home.
Materials:
See wikidemos link above
Description:
See wikidemos link above
Overview: We will change the blue solution we have to yellow by just blowing air into it. Use scientific method!
Materials:
Cups
Straws
Bromo Blue Solution
Description: Make sure you have the children practice blowing OUT of their straws. Herea short description of Bromo Blue and what it does: is a pH indicator for reactions between weak acids and bases. As carbon dioxide is absorbed from the breath into the solution, forming carbonic acid, the solution changes color from green to yellow. Thus, BTB is commonly used in science classes to demonstrate that the more that muscles are used, the greater the CO2 output. This is a good introduction to acids and bases which we will be doing tomorrow.
Lunch in the park. There needs to be one adult present at all times. Two is optimal, in case of emergency. Make sure one adult has a cell phone. Make sure children know the rules of the park:
No chasing geese
No climbing trees
The play structure is for young children so please be aware of them. It is their play structure, not yours
If there is a problem, tell an adult
If a student forgets his lunch, you may need to go to Winco and get a lunchable. The parent will need to pay a $5 fee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbjWkiQ5DtI
Overview: Make sure that you get T-Shirt sizes from the students. 3rd grade are usually L . 1st are smalls
Description: Cover tables (you will need multiple) with large plastic sheets and create designated areas for each color in order (ROYGBIV). Make sure children write their name on the collar of their shirt as well as on a bag. Make sure the children have gloves and aprons. Only two children, one on either side of the station at once. Have children choose 4 colors that they want. Prepare shirts similar to the you tube video above. Make sure they put their shirts in their bags and leave in a designated area of the classroom. We will rinse them out tomorrow and Shelley will take them to a laundromat to wash.
Materials:
Dye in squirt bottles
Shirts
Tables outside
Plastic sheeting
Sharpie markers
Soda ash solution
Gloves
Aprons
Rubberbands
Review rules
If they brought a snack, now is the time to eat it. Have them sit on the floor and eat their snack. If they did not bring a snack, I usually let them sit with the snackers or help to clean and prepare for the next activity.
*Please note that I have crammed a lot into this week, so if you don’t have time today to do this, it can definitely be put on the back burner, or can be omitted. If you get through all of this quickly, you can play chemistry bingo more than once. It takes quite a while to get a winner.
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/elem_intro.html
Description: It is important for children to exposed to the periodic table of elements and understand what it means. Have a discussion about atoms and how the periodic table of elements are organized. The above link is a good place to get started. The links below are printoffs you will need to make. Make sure each student has their own periodic table of elements and bingo sheet. What you will do is say the name of the element, and they will have to find it on their periodic talbe of elements to find the shorthand and then find it on their bingo sheet if they have it. Have them mark a small circle in the corner of the box with a marker so that they can reuse this sheet if needed. The link below is are the bingo sheets.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/explorelabscience/Periodic_Table_Bingo_403152_7.pdf
Materials:
Bingo sheets
Markets
Candy (for winners)
Periodic table of elements
Periodic table of elements (cut up so you can call them)
Finish making stomp rockets that can go the furthest. They can make a new design, or work on the one they had this morning.
Overview: No one is waiting. As soon as the first student arrives, they start working on a project. This activity/challenge changes each day and may include straw towers or paper airplanes. Most of the solutions to these challenges will be taken apart at the end, but the best ones can be saved for the presentation at the end of the week.
Materials: What is needed for this challenge?
Paper - 50 pieces of 8.5x11
Tape – 3 Roles of masking tape (each group gets 24”)
Meter stick for measuring
Description: What is the challenge? How is it introduced? What will the students do? Please give enough details so someone else could read only this and present it if you are pulled away for any reason.
Have each group present their unique solution to the challenge. Discuss some of the learning that took place in each group and what challenges they overcame. Also, discuss the closing engineering challenge from the evening before. Keep some of the better project, if at all possible for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview: The students will need to rinse out their tie dyed shirts until they run clear. If they do not do this, everyone’s shirts will turn dingy when we go to wash them. An adult should be at each station: Bathroom, prep room, Janitors closet. Allow students who are waiting to continue to work on their engineering challenge.
Materials:
Sinks
Adult supervision
Make sure they know the break rules:
Go to the bathroom (show them where it is)
Do not run, gallop, skip etc
Be aware of the people who have paid to get into the museum
You should not push anyone out of the way of an exhibit
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_acidbase.html
Have a class discussion about acids and bases. Most children have some kind of understanding of both. Talk about acids you see in everyday life. Battery acid, citric acid, acid in our stomachs. Above is a good website to reference. Give each child a paint palette and a pipette. Explain how to use a pipette. Have them prepare a sheet that has 10 rows and 5 columns. The first column should have the chemical they are testing, the second should be what they think the chemical will be (acid or base), third will be color the cabbage juice changed, fourth – approximate pH number and fifth – strong or weak acid or base. You could even have them label each trough in the paint pallet with a number so they don’t get confused.
Overview: We will be adding household chemicals to cabbage juice to see if they are acids or bases.
Materials:
Cabbage Juice (Make sure you prep this ahead of time!)
Paint pallettes
Assorted household chemicals
Paper to record their results
Cabbage juice indicator sheet (see Shelley for copies)
Description:
Lunch in the park. There needs to be one adult present at all times. Two is optimal, in case of emergency. Make sure one adult has a cell phone. Make sure children know the rules of the park:
No chasing geese
No climbing trees
The play structure is for young children so please be aware of them. It is their play structure, not yours
If there is a problem, tell an adult
If a student forgets his lunch, you may need to go to Winco and get a lunchable. The parent will need to pay a $5 fee.
Overview: Actual activity of the previous set up
Description: Have children put 2-3 pipettes of cabbage juice into each trough in their paint pallet. Then have them add assorted household chemicals. If you have a liquid chemical, place in small cup in front of container for them to more easily access. I usually set up stations and show them how to walk with their pipettes upside down once they have retrieved their sample. If the chemical is powder, make a solution out of it by adding water. Place this cup in front of the container. Make sure children are filling out their sheets. Have a discussion with children about what they learned. I usually go around the room and ask the students about the most surprising thing they learned.
Materials: The materials should already be prepared.
Overview: We will be making baking soda and vinegar volcanoes
Materials:
Small plastic containers
Play dough
Baking soda
Vinegar
Food coloring
Description: Have children mold a volcano of play dough around the outside of their clear plastic container. Have them add a couple drops of food coloring to their clear container and some baking soda. Take the outside and add vinegar to them to let them blow. Do a quick exercise with the reaction; pour the gas that is created by the chemical reaction over a flame. This should snuff the flame out. This is because fire needs oxygen and the gas that is created by baking soda and vinegar is carbon dioxide.
Review rules
If they brought a snack, now is the time to eat it. Have them sit on the floor and eat their snack. If they did not bring a snack, I usually let them sit with the snackers or help to clean and prepare for the next activity.
*Note: I have not done this experiment, so we may want to try it ahead of time.
Description:
You may be familiar with sherbet, it’s a tasty treat for kids and also great for talking about acids and bases. Why? Let’s find out!
Sherbet is great because it contains both an acid and a base which react when they are together. The key is that they don’t react until they reach your tongue. Why? Because this chemical reaction needs moisture to get it started. So where does this moisture come from? It comes from your mouth! That’s right, there’s a chemical reaction going on in your mouth when you eat sherbet.
Try making some sherbet of your own and give it a try:
Find a bowl and make sure it’s clean and dry.
Mix together the following ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon of citric acid crystals
1 teaspoon of icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon of drink crystals
1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Stir everything together and then have a taste of your delicious sherbet! Can you tell that there’s a chemical reaction happening on your tongue?
One more challenge for the students so they are active participants when the parents arrive.
Overview:
Materials:
Science stuff
Description:
Overview: Hav each child build the tallest tower they can with 30 keva planks
Materials: What is needed for this challenge?
Keva planks
Measuring stick
Have each group present their unique solution to the challenge. Discuss some of the learning that took place in each group and what challenges they overcame. Also, discuss the closing engineering challenge from the evening before. Keep some of the better project, if at all possible for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview: We will be conducting dry ice experimetns
What is dry ice? Carbon dioxide. What makes it dry? Does not have a liquid stage at this atmospheric pressure. How cold is it? -109 F What do we call it when something goes directly from a solid to a liquid? Review phase changes. When you put the dry ice in water is it boiling? Where else do we see carbon dioxide? What is the white gas coming off the chunck of dry ice? Is it carbon dioxide? No it is the dry ice freezing the molecules of water in the air and turning them to fog. What happens to the fog? Does it float up or down? Why? It is colder than the air around us: hot air rises and cold sinks but also carbon dioxide is one of the heavier gasses in our atmosphere.
Materials:
Dry ice
Quarter
Cup
Tongs
Gloves
Candle
Bowl
Shoe string
Bubbles
Large container
Warm water
Description:
Screaming quarter
Shaking quarter
Pour CO2 over flame
Dry ice in balloon
Put dry ice in water
Make a bubble over the dry ice with a shoe string
Pour soap into water and dry ice: allow children to touch the bubbles
Place dry ice in large container and blow bubbles into it the bubbles should float
Pour food coloring in the soapy dry ice water; use scientific method
Make sure they know the break rules:
Go to the bathroom (show them where it is)
Do not run, gallop, skip etc
Be aware of the people who have paid to get into the museum
You should not push anyone out of the way of an exhibit
Glow in the dark experiment
Items needed
2-1000 ml beakers
1-2000 ml beaker
2- clean graduated cylinders
Sodium hydroxide 50 ml (check this )
Hydrogen peroxide 10 ml (check this)
Luminol
Potassium ferricyanide
Description: see chemfax handout : Weigh out .1 g of luminol add to sodium hydroxide and .7g potassium ferricyanide add to hydrogen peroxide . Add enough water in both beakers to make 5900 ml of fluid. Combine those two solutions together. This will GLOW! Darken the room before experiment
Vocab words
Chemiluminescence
Conceptual Relationships
Reactions that produce light without heat are called chemiluminescent reactions. Perhaps the most familiar chemiluminescent reactions are those that occur in living organisms and are referred to as bioluminescence. A classic example of this is the light produced by fireflies.
The luminol reaction is an oxidation-reduction reaction in which a photon of light is released from an excited molecule. In the reaction, luminol is oxidized and its electrons elevated to an excited state. When the electrons return to the ground state, visible light is emitted.
Fire flies
Glow sticks
Glow in the dark items (slightly different as they have to be charged with light)
Overview: Each day we have a different building activity where the students are given a basic design and asked to build it, test it then improve it through modifications of their own design. Downhill racers, stomp rockets and balloon powered boats are examples of these.
Structured Build Time is the “Make-n-Take” portion of the day. These projects will go home with the students at the end of the day to show off what they did and promote discuss at home about what they learned during the day.
Materials:
Science stuff
Description:
Items needed
Assorted sizes of Soda Bottles
Hydrogen Peroxide
Yeast
Warm water
Dish Soap
Food Coloring
Funnel
Lunch trays (to put experiment under)
Vocab words
Exothermic Reaction
Catalyst
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Conceptual relations
The hydrogen peroxide is very toxic to the yeast and the yeast realizes that, so it releases an enzyme to The yeast releases the enzyme which releases the hydrogen and oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide, eliminating its toxicity. This is an exothermic reaction. Talk about exo meaning exit and thermic meaning heat.
Description: Split children into groups of 3. Give them each a different sixe soda bottle and ask them (using the scientific method) which one will be the best for shooting elephant toothpaste?
Place 1 tablespoon of yeast in about a ¼ cup of warm water
Place ¼ cup of hydrogen peroxide, add food coloring and dish soap into bottle
Have children quickly add the yeast mixture and watch the reactions one by one. Which one created the most explosive reaction? Why?
Lunch in the park. There needs to be one adult present at all times. Two is optimal, in case of emergency. Make sure one adult has a cell phone. Make sure children know the rules of the park:
No chasing geese
No climbing trees
The play structure is for young children so please be aware of them. It is their play structure, not yours
If there is a problem, tell an adult
If a student forgets his lunch, you may need to go to Winco and get a lunchable. The parent will need to pay a $5 fee.
Each week has a specific culminating project that teams of students (usually 3 students per team) must complete. They get several times throughout each day to work on these projects. They may be smaller projects that the student will get to take home. Keep the best 3-4 to show off on the Friday afternoon “Open House.”
Description: What is the final project? How far do you expect them to get during each session? Usually much of the first session is devoted to the group brainstorming what their project will be (within the guidelines you set).
What is Nitrogen? The most abundant gas in the atmosphere, making up 75%. This is the liquid form at -320 degrees Fahrenheit. What is the coldest temperature you have seen in Boise? -10 degrees? Pour some liquid nitrogen into a beaker. Ask the children if they think it is boiling? It sure looks like it is! It is in fact boiling. How could it boil if it so cold? Boiling does not necessarily mean hot. Boiling just means a phase change from a liquid to a gas like we talked about this morning. What is this stuff coming off? Is nitrogen white? No, this is fog. The liquid nitrogen literally freezes the water molecules in the air, turning it to fog.
Ask the students how many balloons they think will fit into the thermos. Put balloons in liquid nitrogen. Ask if it is the same air or different air in the balloons than when you put it in. It is the same air. The molecules condensed. Some of the gas became liquid and even some became solid. Show students that the ball can go through the hoop at room temperature. Place the hoop in (takes a few minutes). The ball will not fit through the super cooled hoop. This is because the molecules moved closer together. Place the banana in (this also takes time). Use the banana as a hammer. Place candy in. The candy should shatter when you drop it, after it has been taken out. Place flower in. The flower will shatter like glass. Place one of each of the three kinds of balls in. The bouncy ball will not bounce as high, the ping pong ball will have no change and the racket ball will shatter. This is because of the way the molecules of each type of rubber/ plastic are arranged as well as the insulation of the air on the inside of the Ping-Pong and racket balls. Place some water in the ice cube tray. Pour liquid nitrogen over the top. Explain that the cracking they hear is the plastic of the ice cube tray shrinking. Let the children pass around the ice when it is made. Next, you will need to tie a 2 liter bottle to a weight of some kind. Fill up a large trashcan with water. Place an inch or so of liquid nitrogen into the 2 liter, cap it off and quickly drop it into the water filled garbage can. This may take a minute to explode. The pressure inside the bottle is approximately 200 psi before it explodes. If you see bubbling, do not approach. The splash zone is quite large, so some children may get wet. Make sure that the children are far enough away. Next, you will make liquid nitrogen ice-cream. Use this as an opportunity to talk about ratios. Explain that the proper ratio for cream to sugar is 4;1. Have the children help measure out the cream. Then ask them how many cups of sugar you will need. Place the sugar in the bowl. Have the children help you mix the sugar and cream to dissolve the sugar. Put some vanilla in. Then slowly add liquid nitrogen and stir. Allow the children to look at the mixture once the fog has settled. Ask the children if we will be eating nitrogen? No, we will not be eating nitrogen as it boils off.
Materials:
Liquid Nitrogen
2 liter bottles
Cream
Sugar
Vanilla
Bowl
Mixing spoon
Eating spoons
Small cups
Balloons
Ball and hoop
Soft candy such as air heads
Large trash can
Access to water via hose
Ball and hoop
Flower
Banana
Piece of wood
Nail
Ice cube tray
Tongs
Gloves
Two identical bouncy balls
Two ping pong balls
Two racket balls (may need to be scored)
Thermos
Review rules
If they brought a snack, now is the time to eat it. Have them sit on the floor and eat their snack. If they did not bring a snack, I usually let them sit with the snackers or help to clean and prepare for the next activity.
Time dedicated to finishing their week long project and preparing to present it to parents before leaving. Talk to the students about what they would like to show their parents and have them set up those experiments in groups.
Opportunity for parents/guardians to arrive early for presentation of the week-long projects and some of the smaller builds. This should be organized in such a way to highlight the students work, creativity and learning with enough “showmanship” that everyone leaves excited about the accomplishments of the week.
If there is additional time: Flame test, assorted explosion related experiments and glow in the dark expermient