Mayflower Balloon Boats

This post doesn't have much to do with what we are learning right now in Science, but it was a fun way to represent the pilgrims' voyage to the new world for Thanksgiving! To start with, I had the students save their milk cartons one day after lunch. Then we washed them out, cut them in half, and punched a big hole in the back like this:

 I then gave each student a balloon, as you can see. Then I rolled out the "Atlantic Ocean". :) On the right is England and Spain, and on the left is the New World.

 

Then we got set up to sail across the Atlantic. Two or three students at a time blew up their balloons inside the balloon boat and placed their boat in England (or close to it).

 

Next, they let go of the balloon and watched their "Mayflowers" sail across the Atlantic Ocean! Some of the boats didn't make it, but some were very successful! Here is a video: (I hope it works!)

 

 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! One thing I am for sure thankful for is these precious kiddos! :) It is such a blessing to get to spend time with these children every day.

You are my "density"... I mean, destiny...

Anybody else think of George McFly hitting on his future wife in Back to the Future when you hear the word density?

Ha! Ok, maybe it's just me. I digress.

...Anyway...

Today in our mass, volume, and density unit we discussed the concept of density.

Density is how tightly packed together matter is inside something.

I performed two experiments that were great displays of density--and cool experiments you can try at home also if you're feeling a little curious!


Experiment #1:  Sink or Float?

I started this experiment with one unopened can of diet coke, and one unopened can of regular coke. I got two assistants students to look at each can and tell me how many fluid ounces were in each can. Of course, both cans had 12 fl. oz., so we agreed as a class that both cans had the same amount of liquid inside them.

 

Next, I told the students that I was going to drop the cans inside a big bucket full of water. They made predictions about what would happen when both cans were dropped into the bucket.

Last, I dropped both cans into the bucket and........

VOILA! The regular Coke sinks, and the Diet Coke floats! We then inspected the nutrition facts of both cans to determine why this was.

Coke has 29 g of sugar, while Diet Coke has 0 g of sugar! We determined this sugar made the Coke more dense, and caused it to sink in the tub of water instead of the Diet Coke. :) Cool, right?


Experiment #2:  Layers of Liquids

This experiment began with a glass vase with a little bit of water inside. I then added various liquids to the glass to show the students which liquids were more dense than others. (The trick here is to pour the liquids so that they touch the side of the glass and slide down towards the water. If you pour the liquid in the middle of the water, they will mix and the experiment won't work!)

Liquids inside the glass: water (with red food coloring added), Palmolive detergent, AJAX detergent, corn syrup, and lamp oil


Here is the final result!

After the liquids were added, we had a discussion of which liquid was the most dense and least dense. The lamp oil was the least dense of all the liquids, and we discussed how oil and water never mix together. Then something MIRACULOUS happened. One of my students said this:

 

"Mrs. Newberry, it's just like the BP oil spill that happened in the ocean. The oil was just sitting on top of the water."

 

WOW! What an amazing connection to history! Of course, I had to take a little detour on my density lesson and take advantage of that teachable moment to share some information about the oil spill with my students. We read some facts in this book:

I love moments like that in the classroom! Today was a great day in Science class!  

 

 

 



 

Volume Lab

My students are still learning about mass, volume, and density. Today, we completed a volume lab.

Volume is the amount of space something takes up.

 

The students were instructed to walk around the classroom and find objects that could be measured by length, width, and height. That was the hard part--finding objects that were either perfect cubes or rectangular prisms! Some of them decided to put their rulers together to measure large objects, like filings cabinets and a Smartboard. :) Way to synergize, kiddos!

Here are some pictures of my students measuring the length, width, and height of objects around my classroom.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we went back to our desks and found the volume using the volume formula:

Volume = Length x Width x Height

This was a great lab to assess their understanding of VOLUME, but it was also great because they got to get out of their desks for awhile! That's always a plus. :)

If I Eat More Candy...

One of my students took a poem she memorized and turned it into a rap! We also had another student who could beat box--and the dance session in the background made this video complete. :)

Happy Halloween! Don't eat too much candy!

Water Displacement Lab

In our current science unit we are learning about mass, volume, and density. My students learned that to find the volume of oddly shaped solids, they must use water displacement. Here are some of my students completing their water displacement lab!


Steps of Water Displacement:
1. Measure the volume of JUST the liquid in the graduated cylinder. Record data.
2. Place the object in the water.
3. Measure the volume of the water with the object in the graduated cylinder. Record data.
4. Subtract. (Ending mL - Starting mL = Volume of object)

Welcome to Science Shenanigans!

Welcome! Part of my teaching philosophy is that students should feel like learning is fun and not a chore. I created this blog to show you all of the fun things we are learning in my 5th grade science class. Enjoy! :)