*Note = Please do not use stomp rockets as an engineering challenge for this class as it will be a part of the class. Thanks!
Challenge details
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. Try to keep the better projects, if at all possible, for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview:
We will make name tag tags, talk about rules and introduce ourselves to the class.
Supplies:
Name tag making supplies
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
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.
Challenge details
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. Try to keep the better projects, if at all possible, for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview:
The students will do something
Supplies:
Stuff
More stuff
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
Overview:
Students will observe and participate in the demonstrations for the Van de Graaf Generator, the Tesla Coil, the Glowing Pickle, and the Plasma Ball.
Supplies:
Van de Graaf Generator materials
Tesla Coil materials
Glowing Pickle materials
Plasma Ball materials
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
Get them moving and doing something to boost energy levels after eating
Overview:
We will get a better understanding of lightning by recreating it on a miniature scale.
Supplies:
Steel or iron pot
Plastic sheet of some sort (i.e. plastic table cloth)
Cellophane tape (packing tape)
Steel or iron fork
Rubber gloves
Instructions:
Start by taping the the plastic sheet to the table, using the cellophane tape. Make sure it is securely in place. Using the rubber gloves, run the pot quickly across the plastic sheet (to build up charge). Darken the room (to see the sparks better). Take the fork, and slowly bring it closer to the pot until a spark jumps.
The spark is like lightning. Discuss lightning - buildup and discharge of electric charge in clouds. The crackle would be thunder. The crackle is from the electricity causing the air to heat up and and vibrate.
Overview:
Potato batteries are a half-baked idea, and lemon batteries leave us with a sour taste, so let's curve things up and make a banana battery!
Supplies:
Bananas
Galvanized nails
Copper pennies
Wires
Alligator clips
LED Lights (and other sorts of fruit-battery items)
Instructions:
Stick the penny and the nail into the banana, preferably on opposite ends. Connect the wires and alligator clips and attach an alligator clip from one wire to the nail and an alligator clip from another wire to the penny. Test out various connectable objects to complete the circuit.
After students have each tested at least one circuit, teachers will lead a discussion as to the effectiveness of bananas as power sources. If any students have done lemon or potato batteries in the past, have them tell the class about their prior experience in comparison.
Clean so it's not a disaster area when the parents arrive
Challenge details or link to wiki
Challenge details
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. Try to keep the better projects, if at all possible, for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview:
The students will make stomp and straw rockets to more fully understand rocket design.
Supplies:
paper
stomp rocket launchers
tape
duct tape
pvc pipes
straws
colored pencils
Instructions:
Overview:
You may choose which activities you would like to do as time allows:
Get them moving and doing something to boost energy levels after eating
Supplies:
2 liter bottles
bicycle pump
cork (fits snugly into a 2 liter bottle)
ringed flask holder
pitcher of water
Instructions:
Wedge basketball needle into cork so that the end that you attach the pump to is on the thicker end of cork. Place water (about 1/4 of the way full) into 2 liter bottle and place cork in end. Place bottle so that cork is pointing downwards into the ringed flask holder. Attach bycycle tire and start pumping. Make sure that the students are far enough away from the bottle that they do not get hit. Tell the students to pump fast and hard, or else the water will leak out. The pressure will cause the cork to fly off and the bottle to fly up into the sky. Allow each child to do this a couple times.
Overview:
Students will make Rubber Band Rockets
Supplies:
print off how to below for each child, making sure you check to make sure you have all supplies
Instructions:
If you run out of items to complete, you may want to get Paper airplane books from education office or library and have children have a paper airplane contest.
Clean so it's not a disaster area when the parents arrive
Challenge details or link to wiki
Challenge details
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. Try to keep the better projects, if at all possible, for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview:
The students will do something
Supplies:
Stuff
More stuff
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
Overview:
The students will do something
Supplies:
Stuff
More stuff
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
Get them moving and doing something to boost energy levels after eating
Overview:
The students will create a cloud-in-a-jar! Note: This uses matches, which should be handled by adults. Then, students will make Jack Frost proud by frosting some tin cans.
Supplies:
Small jars
Black paper
Scissors
Scotch tape
Plastic bag of ice (enough ice to fill an 8x10 bag by half)
Tin cans (soup cans should suffice)
Table salt
Measuring spoons
Tap water
Matches
Hammers
Adult Supervision!!!
Instructions:
-CLOUD IN A JAR:
First, cut the black paper to create a long rectangle with length just over the circumference of the jar and width of approximately half the height of the jar. Tape the strip of black paper around the jar so that it completely circumnavigates the jar and leaves the top half of the jar visible. Fill the jar completely with WARM tap water. Leave it alone for about a minute, then drain all but an inch of water from the jar.
Have an adult light a match and hold it over the opening of the jar for a few seconds. The adult will then drop the match in the jar; quickly place the ice cubes over the opening. Voila!
After the clouds have all been made, the teacher, using Socratic questioning technique, will lead a student discussion as to how the clouds were formed. Some questions to ask:
-What happened to the air in the jar?
-What did the ice cubes do?
-What did the match do?
-Does hot/cold air rise or fall?
-FUN WITH FROST:
Remove the bag of ice from the mouth of the jar. Use hammers to gently crush ice cubes into smaller pieces. Pour a layer of ice into the tin can approximately 1 inch thick. Cover with a thin layer of salt. Repeat layers until the can is full. Breathe gently on the outside of the can; frost should begin to form.
Once everyone's can is sufficiently frosty, teachers will lead a student discussion. Use Socratic questioning to lead students to their conclusion. Ask what each element of the experiment - ice, salt, can, breath - did to help frost the can.
Overview:
We will use the fire tornado thing to do a demonstration, also tornado exhibit on floor
Supplies:
Fire tornado thing
More stuff
Instructions:
We can talk about tornadoes, what they are, and how they are formed. They are swirling funnels of air, dust, and debris. Though scientists are not entirely sure how tornadoes form, here is what they suspect: when there is a lot of low-elevation warm, moist air and high elevation cold, dry air, the warm air quickly rises and the cool air quickly drops. This creates a large storm called a supercell. Supercells create wind shears, which result in air spinning around a horizontal axis. As the warm air rises quickly, the spinning air tilts vertically, creating a funnel. The upward energy of the supercell elongates the funnel and stretches is upward, as well as causing it to spin faster and tighten. Precipitation from the storm then pulls the bottom end down, until it eventually touches the ground becoming a tornado.
Define:
Wind shear/gradient - difference of wind speed at relatively short distances in the atmosphere
Ask questions along the way. Give little pieces of information and ask students what they think the effect will be.
Clean so it's not a disaster area when the parents arrive
Challenge details or link to wiki
Challenge details
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. Try to keep the better projects, if at all possible, for the Friday “Open House.”
Overview:
The students will do something
Supplies:
Stuff
More stuff
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
Overview:
The students will do something
Supplies:
Stuff
More stuff
Instructions:
How do you do the activity? Any additional info.
Get them moving and doing something to boost energy levels after eating
Set up examples of Engineering Challenges and the Final Projects to show off to parents.
Show off to family, friends and interested public what was created during the week.