Science experiment Archives - Page 14 of 14

Read.Explore.Learn.- Green Earth #readforgood

July 20, 2012 By Deirdre

I am participating in the MeMe Tales #readforgood Readathon 2012 this summer. During the Readathon, anyone who signs up on the MeMeTales site is given access to the books being featured for free. Each week the books follow a theme. The theme this week is Green Earth. The books being spotlighted this week are Let’s Go Chipper and What Does It Mean to Be Green.

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Lets Go Chipper-Into the Great Outdoors is a really cute story about a squirrel who know all kinds of wonderful facts about the great outdoors and taking care of the earth. He helps you to learn what to pack when you go camping and information about the animals you might see.

What Does It Mean To Be Green? takes a child through ways to recycle and help take care of the Earth that are practical and shares tasks that would be easy for them to complete.

What did we do with these books?

Nature Observation Hike or Walk

I planned to take JDaniel on a nature hike at Paris Mountain Park with a nature guide, but the hike got rained out.

Plan B was to wait for a sunny day and visit a community park not too far from our house called Legacy Park and observe nature there.

The section of the park was perfect for doing an observation walk. It contains two water structures, pathways, a small bridge, stepping stones, and beautiful flowers.

You could create a checklist for an observation walk, but on this walk, I just followed JDaniel’s lead as to what he noticed.

The waterfalls in the park are always JDaniel’s first stop. He loves to find rocks that will guide him as close to them as he can. The rocks can get slippery as you get closer to the falls and it is possible to end up with wet sneakers when you “accidentally” fall in.

Chipper found all kinds of creatures during his walk. Although JDaniel looked very carefully, he didn’t find any animals in the water.

Cracks and crevices can often contain natural treasures. Slimy rocks were all that JDaniel was able to find.

After our time exploring water, we headed over to the beautiful bushes and finally found some creatures. This beautiful blue butterfly stayed close to the buses so, we were able to watch him for a long time.

When the blue butterfly had finally taken off, we found this really pretty orange butterfly to watch. We had to be really careful about keeping quiet while observing. The butterfly seems to jump when we talked.

Research the area you are planning to observe to find out what animals you might see.

- Decide how you are going to record what you observe. (Photos, drawings, journal entries, etc..).

Wear comfortable shoes and clothes.

- Bring a snack and some water if you will be going on a long walk.

Go over the park rules. Some parks don’t want to take physically take stocks or even sticks from them.

Bring a plastic bag to store your trash until you can get to a trashcan.

Disclaimer: I have been given copies of the book mentioned in this post by MeMeTales for participating in their Readathon 2012 #readforgood program.

Read.Explore.Learn.- Balancing Your Wants and Those of Others

July 6, 2012 By Deirdre

Welcome to Read.Explore.Learn.! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

I am participating in the MeMe Tales #readforgood Readathon 2012 this summer. During the Readathon, anyone who signs up on the MeMeTales site is given access to the books being featured for free. Each week the books follow a theme. The theme this week is character development. The books being spotlighted this week are StickFiggy and the Piggy-Monkey, Good Habits to Have, and Ditto the Butterfly.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

I chose to focus on the book StickFiggy and The Piggy-Monkey this week. We really enjoy the other two book featured in the MemeTales Readathon this week, but StickFiggy and the Piggy Monkey hit home with some of the issues four-year-olds deal.

You may remember StickFiggy from last week. He is a happy go lucky guy who wants to be friends with almost everyone. The one person he doesn’t want to be friends with it PiggyMonkey.

PiggyMonkey is selfish. He wants all of the raspberry pie that StickFiggy makes and when he just gets one slice he throws a tantrum. He has previously cut the cord to StickFiggy computer as a joke and let StickFiggy play the computer repair bill. He is a real mess.

PiggyMonkey needs to find balance in his life if he is going to have any friends at all. He will need to learn that if people share something with him he can’t demand that they be more generous. He loves to wear a crown which I think means that he wants to be king of all things. What he really needs to learn is how to serve others! It is hard for balance your wants and others needs.

What did we do with this book?

Made a Frozen Raspberry and Strawberry Pie

StickFiggy and Piggy Monkey - Frozen Raspberry and Strawberry Pie

I found a really simple frozen raspberry and strawberry pie on the Cool Whip website. The recipe called for a graham cracker pie shell, two small cartons of raspberry yogurt and a container of Cool Whip. All you have to do is mix the yogurt with the Cool Whip and place the mixture into the pie shell.

The pie will need to freeze it for a couple of hours and you may want to garnish it with a strawberry or two before you serve it. ( You could garnish it with raspberries if your store has them in stock. We tried two stores and there wasn’t a fresh raspberry to be found.)

We really loved this dessert.

Finding Balance Activity

StickFiggy and Piggy Monkey Finding Balance

I found a clown balancing activity on the Discover Primary Science site. The idea is that placing two pennies on either side of clown printed on cardstock will give the clown help in keeping his balance.

It worked. JDaniel was shocked that it really balanced on the edge of a cup. He kept turning the cup around to see if the clown would fall.

Piggy-Monkey needed balance in his life. He just kept thinking about what he wanted. He didn’t think about how his behavior affected others. Piggy Monkey gave us the opportunity to talk through choices and their effects on others this week.

What have you been reading this week?

Disclaimer: I have been given access to the MemeTales: Readathon books and will receive copies of the books. All the thoughts and information in this post about the books are my own.

Science Experiment for Kids- Frying Eggs on the Driveway

July 1, 2012 By Deirdre

The last few days here in South Carolina have been so hot outside that you could fry an egg on the driveway. We decided that rather than just talk about the heat it would be fun actually try to fry two eggs out on road at the end of our driveway. It would be a fun science experiment for kids or at least my kid.

We researched the hottest part of the day. It turned out it would be over 101 degrees at 3:30 p.m so, we waited until 3:30 to start the science xperiment.

JDaniel thought my husband and I were a little crazy. People just don’t cook eggs outside he announced to us, but once we got outside he was really excited about seeing what would happen.

A little help was needed by JDaniel to open his egg so, he let my husband helped him crack the egg and spill its contents on the road.

We set the timer inside the house for ten minutes and waited to see if there would be a change. After ten minutes, there was just a little change. We headed back into the house and set the time for another ten minutes. When we check the eggs the second time with a finger test, the yolks were a little hard on the top.

JDaniel’s egg wasn’t hard enough to withstand the pressure that was placed on the egg during his finger pressure test. The yolk split open and oozed all over its egg white.

We headed off to the YMCA to walk on their indoor track shortly after the yolk incident. When we returned an hour later, the whites and yolks were hard and rubbery.

I guess it was hot enough outside to fry an egg!

If you like this science experiment here are some more fun outdoor science experiments:

Measuring Forms of Water

What is Water? Fun Experiments that Explore Water

STEM Engineering- Bridge Building

Read.Explore.Learn.- Boris and the Wrong Shadow

May 18, 2012 By Deirdre

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Boris wakes up to find that his shadow has been taken and the shadow of a mouse has been left behind in the book Boris and the Wrong Shadow by Leigh Hodgkinson.
It is totally embarrassing for him to walk around with a mouse shadow. The other neighbors tease him. It has to find his shadow.

When he does, he finds a mouse with his shadow the mouse isn’t sure he wants to give it back. There is a certain confidence a mouse can have when he has a cat shadow.

The mouse ultimately realizes the new shadow won’t fit in his house and he returns it. Whew! The cat is relieved to get it back.

What did we do with the concepts in the book?

Fingerpainting a Shadow with Pudding

I slipped the silhouette of a cat into the wax paper bag that came from inside a cereal box. JDaniel was given a tub of chocolate pudding to fingerpaint the inside of the cat with.

Exploring the Shadow of Tools

JDaniel and I made shadows with the tools in his plastic tool box. It was fun to set them up and see what the shadows would look like
Then JDaniel wanted to see if he sprayed water onto the driveway if you could still see the tool’s shadow. He was surprised to see that the shadow was still visible in the light layer of water.