Science projects are do at our school for judging tomorrow morning. So, this weekend has been a mad rush to get everything done. It has been one issue after another!
**I changed the subject for my class' project at the last minute to come up with something more unique.
**I sent home a tank and sea monkey eggs for my goddaughter's project <which has to be about life science> and her mother prepared the tank for her (didn't let the water purify) and then, when she put in the eggs and did not see 'instant life' she poured the water and eggs down the drain. So, I had to reorder the sea monkeys because I could not find them anywhere in town. We waited 5 days for them to come in the mail. Blah!
**I reminded my husband BACK IN FEBRUARY that the science fair would be here before you know it and that we needed to get started with our daughter's project so that she had a chance to win (she won last year by comparing potato chips to find the healthiest type of chip!). He waited until this week to get the supplies, and as of writing this at 5:30 on Sunday (the project is due tomorrow at 8:10) it is still unfinished.
So....I have concluded (even though I am a teacher) that science projects are obviously a punishment of some sort for parents since our kids don't have a clue on how to do a science project by themselves. I am all for parent involvement, obviously, but my husband and I are more than involved. We are having to give step by step directions. So, I'm not sure what we are even learning, besides patience.
Anyway...here is a description of what we worked on this weekend with our science projects and hopefully a freebie!!
1. My goddaugher is doing a project on sea monkeys grow and if they are affected by the amount of light they are given.
2. My daughter created an example of a string garden to prove that plants can grow suspended in air and without a container and with the correlation that this may be a way of continuing to grow food in the future as our world's population increases.
3. I did the most simple science project known to teachers in that my class decided to find out if hand sanitizer is a solid, liquid, or gas. Here is how we did it:
We created a question, a hypothesis (they said hand sanitizer is a liquid because it is runny), recorded our procedure, data, results, and our conclusion. Each student received one squirt of hand sanitizer. We timed how long the hand sanitizer stayed on our hands and realized that with flat hands, the sanitizer 'disappeared' quicker than with cupped hands. In case you didn't know, hand sanitizer can stay on your hands for 10-19 minutes before it 'disappears'. My kids all realized that their sanitizer was 'getting smaller' and one student suggested that it as evaporating and had to give proof for his 'hypothesis'. They all attributed the 'disappearance' of the sanitizer to the light, so we turned off all of the lights in the classroom and stared at our hands. Not one student spoke! I think they were so busy staring at the sanitizer, trying to watch it 'leave' that they didn't even think to utter a word. At this point, one student muttered, 'It is almost as if it is evaporating!' and with that, chaos eruped. You could hear 'That's it!' and 'We figured it out' and 'It's a gas, not a liquid. No, it is a gas AND a liquid!'.
From this point, we were able to finish writing up our project and they were able to work on their illustration of what happened to the sanitizer. Below, you will see the template I used for students' illustrations. Just click on it to go to Teachers Pay Teachers and download it. I have to tell you, this would be a great end of the year type thing to do so that your students are challenged, yet it has almost no preparation! I give it 4 stars!
When you go download this freebie, please feel free to pin it, +1 it, rate it, and follow me! Lots of new ideas will be finished up as school ends and I will be having a marathon uploading session, so you want to be on my 'follow me' list so that you can see all of the great freebies that will be available!
Let me know if you try it and what your kids think!!
**I changed the subject for my class' project at the last minute to come up with something more unique.
**I sent home a tank and sea monkey eggs for my goddaughter's project <which has to be about life science> and her mother prepared the tank for her (didn't let the water purify) and then, when she put in the eggs and did not see 'instant life' she poured the water and eggs down the drain. So, I had to reorder the sea monkeys because I could not find them anywhere in town. We waited 5 days for them to come in the mail. Blah!
**I reminded my husband BACK IN FEBRUARY that the science fair would be here before you know it and that we needed to get started with our daughter's project so that she had a chance to win (she won last year by comparing potato chips to find the healthiest type of chip!). He waited until this week to get the supplies, and as of writing this at 5:30 on Sunday (the project is due tomorrow at 8:10) it is still unfinished.
So....I have concluded (even though I am a teacher) that science projects are obviously a punishment of some sort for parents since our kids don't have a clue on how to do a science project by themselves. I am all for parent involvement, obviously, but my husband and I are more than involved. We are having to give step by step directions. So, I'm not sure what we are even learning, besides patience.
Anyway...here is a description of what we worked on this weekend with our science projects and hopefully a freebie!!
1. My goddaugher is doing a project on sea monkeys grow and if they are affected by the amount of light they are given.
2. My daughter created an example of a string garden to prove that plants can grow suspended in air and without a container and with the correlation that this may be a way of continuing to grow food in the future as our world's population increases.
3. I did the most simple science project known to teachers in that my class decided to find out if hand sanitizer is a solid, liquid, or gas. Here is how we did it:
We created a question, a hypothesis (they said hand sanitizer is a liquid because it is runny), recorded our procedure, data, results, and our conclusion. Each student received one squirt of hand sanitizer. We timed how long the hand sanitizer stayed on our hands and realized that with flat hands, the sanitizer 'disappeared' quicker than with cupped hands. In case you didn't know, hand sanitizer can stay on your hands for 10-19 minutes before it 'disappears'. My kids all realized that their sanitizer was 'getting smaller' and one student suggested that it as evaporating and had to give proof for his 'hypothesis'. They all attributed the 'disappearance' of the sanitizer to the light, so we turned off all of the lights in the classroom and stared at our hands. Not one student spoke! I think they were so busy staring at the sanitizer, trying to watch it 'leave' that they didn't even think to utter a word. At this point, one student muttered, 'It is almost as if it is evaporating!' and with that, chaos eruped. You could hear 'That's it!' and 'We figured it out' and 'It's a gas, not a liquid. No, it is a gas AND a liquid!'.
From this point, we were able to finish writing up our project and they were able to work on their illustration of what happened to the sanitizer. Below, you will see the template I used for students' illustrations. Just click on it to go to Teachers Pay Teachers and download it. I have to tell you, this would be a great end of the year type thing to do so that your students are challenged, yet it has almost no preparation! I give it 4 stars!
Let me know if you try it and what your kids think!!
I can't seem to locate this activity on TPT. Is it still listed there?
ReplyDeleteI have taken it down for the time being until I can redo it. If you will email me at jennh13@aol.com I would be glad to send it to you!
ReplyDeleteI would appreciate it if you could email it to me also! Thanks!
ReplyDeletencomer@fairburyjeffs.org
I would appreciate it if you could email it to me also! Thanks!
ReplyDeletencomer@fairburyjeffs.org
I would also appreciate it if you could email it to me.
ReplyDeletetaranieno830@gmail.com Thank you!