Gettin' Sciency

On Monday, I spoke to the students about our upcoming science fair. We went over a packet of information about what they can and cannot do. Except for the token few, all that I heard form the students were moans and groans about hating this assignment. To be honest, I can relate. Science was never my thing growing up, and I don't even think that I competed in a science fair. But since having an incredible science class at UVU I have tried to change my ways and look at science in a more creative, interesting, and investigative learning experience.So...to get the students excited about their science projects, we decided to do a few in our class.

This is my "I love SCIENCE" face. I look a 

little scared right? That's because I am.

 First up on our experiment agenda was "Blazing Benjamins". It involved, 91% alcohol, water, a little salt, a dollar bill (or bigger bill if you want it to be more dramatic), tongs, and a lighter. Long story short, the bill doesn't burn. You can read more about it on the link I shared below. After we tried burning the bill, we then put it in a vase of water just to be safe. We noticed the bill looked kind of funny. The students remembered that this concept is called refraction. Success! They remembered a previous lesson!

Next up was the Glitter Volcano. It didn't work as well. It mini worked - but didn't actually explode over. The kids got the general idea of the experiment and we then discussed why it didn't work or what we could have done differently. Even though it didn't work, it was a great opportunity for learning and discussion. 

Secret Messages are always fun....especially when they work really well and you can actually read them! They did work, but it took way too long to get to the readable message. I think if we would have had a better heat source, it would have worked much better. But the kids still enjoyed it and hopefully will be interested in trying it again. 

The best part of our experiment day was definitely the Ooie Gooie Cornstarch Mixture. It's a simply mixture of cornstarch and water - and we added food coloring. The kids loved this stuff! The fact that it's both a liquid and a solid kind of blew their minds. When mixing up the powder mixture, it was really hard and felt like wet sand. But as soon as you just let it sit in your hand, it gooed and dripped back down your hand. It was so crazy awesome!!! It was worth the mess we had to clean up. 

Having some hands on science experiments was a fabulous way for the students to get more comfortable with their upcoming project. They were excited and realized that science can be super cool and really fun. We finished the last 15 minutes of the day watching Steve Spangler videos and the kids left my room talking about what they wanted to experiment and all of their ideas. 

Today I learned that even when you plan ahead for everything, it usually never works out just how you think it will. But sometimes it's for the best! If you want the directions or ideas, check out this website. If you have any questions about what we did, comment below.