February 18-19; 23-26

Science Experiments!

Science experiments provide opportunities for children to observe, question and investigate. Simple experiments inspire children's curiosity and thinking, and hits many different areas of learning and development. Preschoolers are naturally curious and thrive when given the opportunity to learn through play and hands-on activities. By engaging in interactive and hands-on science experiences, they not only retain information better but also develop essential problem-solving skills. HERE is a great article from NAEYC about science and young children.

Before we dropped the candy hearts into liquid we discussed what it means to sink and float. We defined each term and then predicted whether or not the candy heart will sink or float in water. Each child wrote the first letter of their name in the appropriate column to document their prediction, and then we tested it out. The candy hearts sunk! We marked that column and counted the two groups to see how many people's predictions were correct and how many people's predictions were incorrect. Then we moved to the next steps in the experiment. 

The last step in our experiment was to document our findings! We used a pre-made template to guide this part in order to support this work since it was the children's first experience documenting findings. They placed a heart sticker on the cup to symbolize where it was in the actual cup (top or bottom) and then used crayons to document the rest of their findings. As they worked they described the colors they used and the parts of their illustrations that connected to the actual cups (candy hearts, color of the liquid, bubbles). 

Experimenting with our Homemade SNOW

The children have been enjoying their sensory play with the snow we made a few weeks ago, and a few children began to add water to the sensory table to see what would happen. This sparked another science experiment! What would happen if we added water and the vinegar from the candy heart experiment to the snow? What would happen? 

Since we needed to separate out the two parts of the experiment, we used heart molds to hold the snow. The children used their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination to scoop the snow into the hearts and then pack it down solid. 

Next we explored the tools we would be using in the science experiment. The children manipulated and explored the pipettes, and we discussed how they might work and what they might do. We used the beginning phrases "I wonder if..." and "I think it..." to share our ideas. We have previously introduced "I wonder" during sharing time to practice asking questions, so now we have added "I think" to share our ideas and differentiate between the two expressions. The children caught on right away and shared phrases such as:

"I wonder how it works"

"I think you squeeze it"

"I think you do it like this (push down and squeeze)"

"I wonder what it does"

Then we modeled how the tool works and compared our "wonders" and "thinks" with what we observed. Once we were clear on how to use the pipettes, we moved to the table to use them.

Pipette practice is a great way for children to build their fine motor skills, hand to eye coordination and concentration. Using the pincer grasp and squeezing with the thumb and pointer finger, the children are building the muscles that will later be used for writing with a pencil. 

The first thing the children noticed is that the snow did not stay together in the heart mold when we went to pop them out onto the trays. We "wondered" why this happened and discussed other ways to solidfy the snow in the molds. Then, the children used the pippetts to drop water and then vinegar onto the snow "piles." They discovered that the water didn't create a reaction but the vinegar did! The mixture slowly started bubbling and expanding - a very exciting result. 

When we finished we re-filled the heart molds and decided to freeze them to see if the hearts stayed together better and if there was a different reaction...

This time the hearts stayed intact! We discussed how freezing them helped them stay "solid." 

Our final step was to see if the water and vinegar would make the same or different reaction with the frozen hearts. 

We started with the water:

"It's melting"

"It's going slow"

And then tried the vinegar:

"It's exploding"

"It's making big bubbles"

"The bubbles are growing"

We discovered that the frozen ice had more extreme ("bigger") reactions than the original snow. It was VERY exciting to see the frozen hearts change with cold water, hot water and vinegar. Our discussion as we explored with the liquids focused on what we were seeing, what was making it happen and how it was the same and different ("bigger" and "smaller") than the original snow. 

This science experiment explored the concept of cause and effect and encouraged the children to predict, compare and contrast and use their curiosity to explore the materials and what they could do when they put them together.