Liquids

Our group at the library had a terrific time getting exceptionally messy while exploring Liquids. Each parent/child pair were given three mystery liquids, a dropper, and wax paper. We took a drop of each liquid and put it on the wax paper to see what it would do. One liquid made a high dome, one was flat, and one spread out only a little. Then came the magic. We put each of the three liquids in a jar together. They magically separated in to three layers yo can see above.

We then tried dropping things in to the liquids to see what would happen. We tried buttons, glitter, and cork. The cork floated at the top, the buttons dropped so they floated on the bottom layer and the glitter seems to float on top of each of the three layers!


Our mystery liquids were: water with a bit of red food coloring, corn syrup, and vegetable oil.



Then we got really messy by making something called Goop or Oobleck depending on your recipe. I call it a non-Newtonian fluid. This substance is neither a liquid or a solid but takes on characteristics of both. Liquids will conform to the shape of the container they are in and solids stay in their own shape. Here's the secret recipe: 1 box of corn starch and 1.5 cups of water.



We all touched the corn starch and some water before mixing. When we first put the water in, the corn starch was HARD to stir. The slower you stirred the easier it was. Once it was all mixed, we played in it. If you slap or squeeze the mixture, it will act like a solid. If you move slowly with it, it acts like a liquid.

These area great experiments that you can do with your whole family. If you want to play with liquids even more, here are some other ideas to inspire you.

Science words: hard, smooth, slimy, slippery, density

What liquid is this? Try putting sugar water, plain water and white vinegar into small jars or bottles that can be capped. Can you look at the liquids and tell what they are? If you shake them, are they different? If you open them, can you tell what they are? What senses did you use?

Compare and contrast different juice. Pour orange juice, tomato or V8 juice, and apple juice into clear glasses. What do you notice about them? How are they different. If you close your eyes, can you use your sense of touch to figure out which juice is which?

Solid versus liquid. What would happen if you put an ice cube in a container? Does it take the shape of the container or stay as a cube? What happens if you let it melt – does it take the shape of the container now?

Play with volume. Grab some containers and head to the tub. How many of the smallest containers of water does it take to fill the largest container? If you pour the water out of a container, does it have a shape? Are bubbles liquid? Do they act like water?

Books:

(Note: there are dozens of books with the title: Solid, liquid and gas. Most are pretty good and available at the library.)
Solid, liquid or gas? By Sally Hewett
Solids, liquids, and gases by Carol Lindeen
Solids, liquids, and gases by John Farden
Liquids by Jim Mezzanote

Grrrr....

Bears invaded the library! We learned about bears - all seven types in the world and then we made bear masks of our favorites. There were polar bears, brown bear, black bears, pandas, and spectacled bears.

Everyone brought bears from home and Mrs. V loaned us a few too. We sorted the bears in to piles. Each pile had to have at least two bears in it and there had to be at least two piles. We sorted our bears based on size, color, clothing, realistic/make-believe looking, and even softness. Sorting of any objects is an excellent way for children to learn about classification. Ask probing questions about why your child sorts objects into the categories they chose. Learning to explain why is a key science skill.

Bears have a habitat where they live. It has shelter, food and water in it. We pretended to be bears gathering food, water, and playing in our "den" made from blankets and the tables in the children's section.

Check out some of these other activities you can do at home with bears.

Science words: Habitat, food, water, shelter, hibernate, sort

Bear Numbers: Give your child 10 teddy grahams or gummi bears. Have cards with the numbers 1 -10 on them. Pull out a card and put that number of bears on the card. Put the 10 bears back in their pile. Repeat the process three or four times. If you use gummi bears, you can also set the bears up in piles according to color. Which is the largest pile? Which color had the least?

Sort out other groups of stuffed animals or train engines or other group of toys. There must be at least two members in ea ch pile.

Have a bear meal – fish, nuts, berries and honey!

Bear facts:
Bears are mammals – just like people
Bears are omnivores – they eat meat and plants – just like people
There are eight different species of bears. They are Asiatic, Black, Brown, Polar, Panda, Sloth, Spectacled and Sun.
Bears live everywhere in the world except Antarctica and Australia.

Books:
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky
Jamberry by Bruce Degen
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
Corduroy by Don Freeman

Resources on the Web:
www.bearbiology.com – international bear association – LOADS of biology for parents
www.janbrett.com – loads of bear stories and activities with great coloring pages
www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/pdfs/2006F/061027_bp5.pdf – seasonal bear activity for older preschoolers

Science of Sound

We had a great time this week playing with sound. We sorted musical instruments by their sound - which turned out to be trickier than expected.

Ears are very interesting ideas. We peered into each other's ears looking for the ear drum, but alas couldn't find it. So we had to rely on a diagram.

Slinky-s are great toys - and a great way to play with the idea of sound waves. You can pull the slinky out and then give one end a little push. You can see the wave travel from the push to the other end. That is how sound waves travel - from the source outward.

We also made a demonstration ear drum with a rubber glove and some rice. NASA has a great website exploring sound and describing a method for making your own "ear drum" model.

Science words: higher, lower, loud, soft, vibration, ear, eardrum

Try these fun activities at home to explore sound with your whole family.

Shake your Shaker: use your shaker or other sound maker to explore spatial relationships. Have your child turn their back then you make noise above, below, under, right, left… of your child. Ask them where the sound was. Then switch roles.

Bats: Bats have great ears. You can make a pair bat ears by making a large teardrop shape on two pieces of construction paper. You can cup them around your ears, or add to a head band so they sit behind your child’s ears. With your eyes closed, do the bat ears help you hear sound better if it is soft? Do you they help tell direction better than people ears?

What makes that sound? Grab some Easter eggs and add a few beans, rice, pennies, rocks, or other small objects inside it. Shake it. Can your child guess what is inside? Is it easier to guess if you shake it yourself? Sound makes vibrations we hear with our ears, but our sense of touch also can sense vibrations. Getting info from both senses might give more clues.

Munch Munch Crunch Crunch: have a loud lunch – what foods can you think of that make a lot of noise? Crunchy orange carrots, rice crispy treats, pita chips, romaine lettuce, croutons…

Go on a sound hike: Find a safe, comfy spot outdoors and sit quietly for at least a minute. What do you hear? Can you make the sounds you heard? What can you identify? What can’t you identify? How can you figure out what made those sounds?

Books:
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear? By Bill Martin, Jr.
My Five Senses by Aliki
The Ear book by Al Perkins

Magnets

We had a a great time today at the library! The forces of magnets can be amazing and seem like magic. If you have any wooden trains or other "take-a-long" toys, play with them and check out how the magnets work. Can they stick on to anything else? Can they stick to all metal?

We made predictions about what might be picked up by a magnet and what might not be attracted to a magnet. Our piles included pom poms, paper clips, tooth picks, chenille stems, pins, and barrettes. The one thing that stumped us all was the chenille stem. Was it attracted to the magnet or not? Then we tested everything in our Yes and No piles.

Our favorite activity was painting with magnets. We put paper in a box, then stuck paper clips in paint. We used the magnets underneath the box to move the paperclips and paint on the paper. We used red and yellow paint so we could also look at color mixing too.

Science words: observation, record, force, magnet, attract, repel

Always take care to use magnets safely with young children. Be sure they cannot be swallowed or used around video equipment and cameras.

Magnet hunt – what magnets are in your house? Fridge magnets, some fridge doors, cabinet doors, wallets, toys, etc

What will a magnet stick to in the house? Can you take your magnet and find things it will stick to? Try everything that strikes your imagination. One sometimes unexpected metal spot is the door into your house.

Magnet Fishing – tie a magnet to a string and the string to a pole. Put paper clips on the end of paper fish. You can “fish” over and over. How many fish can you catch at once?

Here's a funny song about magnets:
I'm a little magnet can't you see Anything metal comes right to me. If it is not metal you will see. It just will not stick to me.

One little pumpkin

Pumpkins abound this time of year with Jack-o-lanters, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins and even pumpkin coffee! Before carving up your pumpkin, take a few moments to just observe it with all your senses. This exploration reinforces the five senses and premath skills such as estimating and counting.

Science words: Observe, Describe, Color, Senses, Touch, Taste, Smell, Hear, See, Texture, Temperature

What can you figure out about a pumpkin before carving it up? Before diving in, take a moment to make some predictions. What can you observe about the outside of the pumpkin. How does it feel? How does it look? Can we listen to the pumpkin? Does it smell?

What does the inside of a pumpkin look like? Is it mostly full of seeds or empty? How many seeds do you think are in there? What are our predictions about color, texture, temperature etc.? How can we describe the inside? Cut open the pumpkins. What did you find?

Paper plate pumpkins: Paint one side of a paper plates to match your observations of the outside. Add stems or leaves as needed. While they are drying, dive into the inside of the pumpkin. When the plate is dry, flip your pumpkin plates over and create the inside. You can use paint, yarn, and the actual seeds to show you observations.

How things change. Make Pumpkin pie or pumpkin cookies together. Try the pumpkin from the can before adding anything. What does it taste like? How does cooking change the pumpkin?

Try Pumpkin explorations with apples. You can record your observations on a paper plate as well. Explore the outside and paint or draw what you see. Then cut open the apple and paint or draw what you observe. You can use the actual seeds from the apple or raisins on your creation.

Estimation – You will need a pumpkin and some string or measuring tape.
Ask your child how big they think they are around the middle (their waist) than the pumpkin. Take a string or measuring tape and measure. You can write it down for number recognition if you want. Then ask them if they think they are bigger or smaller around than their pumpkin. What else could they measure around? Are you bigger or smaller than the pumpkin?

Counting – Dry some pumpkin seeds. Write the numbers 1-20 (or 1-10 for younger kids) on small pieces of paper. Pick a number and ask your child to put that number of seeds into a small plastic pumpkin or other container.

Books to explore:
From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer
Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Shadows

Shadows are spooky and fun to play with. Candles in pumpkins and flashlights, not to mention glow sticks each cast different sorts of shadows that are great to observe and explore. Candles tend to cast softer shadows that move and dance and Jack-o-lanterns are famous for the shadows they cast from inside a pumpkin. (No need to remind parents to be careful around open flames.)

In the daytime, grab some sidewalk chalk and trace shadows outside. You can trace your own shadow or that of other objects. How do they change over the course of a day (or a playground session!)?

You can capture the shadow of an object by placing it on photosensitive paper or even dark construction paper. Draw what you expect the shadow to look like. Place the paper flat and put a flat object on it - keys, leaves, toys, paper clips, combs, or even paper shapes all work well. Don't move it once on the paper. For photosensitive paper, this happens quickly - just wait for the paper to change color and follow the directions to set. Construction paper (use non-fade resistant) may take longer but watch for the fading on the exposed section. Carefully take the objects off your paper. How do the actual shadows compare to your drawings?

In our Messy Fingers session this week, we also explored the idea of translucent objects. Most objects make solid shadows because the blocked the light completely. Some objects had colored shadows because they let some light through. We tried tissue paper in front of a flashlight and it gave a green shadow - very cool! What other objects are translucent?

Here are some other fun ways to play with your shadow!

Science Words: Light, dark, solid, big, small, translucent

Make a translucent sun catcher: You can purchase a kit at craft stores or make your own. Take two pieces of wax paper, cover one with small bits of tissue paper that overlap, then iron the sheets together. You can hang this as is, cut it into a sun shape, or make a “frame” by cutting a sun shape out of black paper, stapling the wax paper on to it and hanging your sun catcher.

Effects of light: Take a piece of newspaper and cut it in half. If you put one piece outside in a sunny spot and one piece inside in a dark spot, what will happen to them? Check in an hour, in a day, in a week…. What could be making the papers change color?

Shadow tag: Can you tag each other’s shadow? This game is fun to play with a few very bright light sources. You can do the flip and play flashlight tag – can you tag each other with a flash light? Remember: no flashlights in faces.

Shadow Shapes: Before bed, turn out all the lights and pull out a flashlight. Try to make funny shadows shaped like birds or planes with your hands in the light. How does your shadow change when you are close to the light compared to farther away? What if you have two flashlights?

Make Shadow Puppets: You can make different characters cut from coloring books or hand drawn and glue them on to craft sticks. Hold up a sheet or even large piece of butcher paper and shine a bright light toward it. Hold the puppets in front of the light and put on a play with their shadows. You can use colored cellophane or candy wrappers to make colored parts to your puppets.

Books on Shadows:
What makes a Shadow? Clyde R. Bulla
Bear Shadow by Frank Asche
The shape of Me by Dr. Seuss

Along came a spider...

This was one of the participants in today's Messy Fingers class. We looked at some real live spiders and discovered many cool things. We learned about the body parts of a spider - Abdomen, Cephalothorax (head), 8 legs, 2 Pedipalps, and 8 eyes.

We also made our own webs. This was really hard. Each child got a paper plate with 8 holes punched along the outer edge and a piece of yarn. We taped one end to the back of the plate and then wove our structural strands to form a star. Then we took another piece of yarn, tied it to the star and wove. Keeping your web together was tricky.

To check to see if we remembered our anatomy, we made thumb print spiders with our thumb as the abdomen, a finger print cephalothorax, 8 legs, and 8 eyes.

If you are in the area, check out our web in the craft room!

Science Words: first, second, more, less, weave, predator, prey, spider, insect

What do spiders eat? Not all spiders spin webs. Some are hunters like tarantulas. Go on a bug hunt and pretend to be a hunting spider. Search your back yard for yummy insects to eat! Who can find the most? Who can find the biggest bug?

Webs: Make some fun spider webs using glitter glue and construction paper. You can draw or trace a web onto black or dark colored paper with chalk or a white pen. Then trace over it with glitter glue. Wait for the moisture in the glue to evaporate and you have a sparkly web. You can add a plastic spider before the glue dries.

Go on a Web hunt: Search your yard for spider webs. If you mist a web softly with water from a spray bottle, a web will pop into view. Try –ever so gently- tickling the web with a piece of grass. A spider might come out to see what they’ve “caught” in their web.

Song:
Itsy Bitsy Spider

Books:
Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Charlotte’s Web by E B White – this is great read aloud

Snacks:
Marshmallow Spiders For each spider, use one large marshmallow for the body and one small marshmallow for the head (attach with 1/2 a toothpick). Make eyes from mini M&Ms, legs from pretzel sticks. Cover with chocolate sauce, if desired.
This came from a great website with other fun snack ideas: http://www.kinderkorner.com/spiders.html