Bird Beak Experiment

Today we took at look at the different types of beaks birds have and why they are so different. We discussed what the types of beaks allow different birds to eat,  where they live and why they have a beak of a certain shape. The students used pliers, tweezers, spoons, toothpicks and droppers to show the different types of beaks and discussed why they were the most effective on certain types of food. The foods we used ranged from seeds to gummy bears (flesh of animals). 

Conductors and Insulators

We did an experiment to see which materials were better conductors of heat and which would make better insulators. We used hot water in a metal pail, a ceramic mug, a plastic cup and a styrofoam cup. They decided the metal pail was a better conductor of heat and the styrofoam cup was a better insulator. After the experiment they were to construct and argument about why we should use metal pans when cooking and why they are better conductors of heat rather than the other objects we tested during the experiment. 

We also tried to melt butter on a wooden spoon, a metal spoon and a plastic spoon that were sitting in a shallow pan of hot water (forgot to get pictures). We found that the butter melted almost immediately in the metal spoon and it took a bit longer for it to melt in the plastic spoon, however, the wooden spoon kept the butter in a solid state for the longest amount of time. 

Magnetic Slime

We have been studying about magnets. We talked about what makes a magnet "stick" to an object. We used liquid starch, liquid glue and iron filings to make magnetic slime. The kids loved making and playing with the gooey stuff. We also talked about how different liquids affect the way a magnet is attracted to metal objects. We used water, vegetable oil and corn syrup. 

Science Night: Buoyancy Boats

The students used tin foil squares to make a boat and put different gram weights in thier boat until it started to sink. They did such a great job and had so much fun. Science Is Cool!!!!

Dividing with Tape Diagrams!!

Ms .Storey (our student teacher) worked with tape diagrams to show division today. Tape diagrams will be used with multiplication, division, addition and subtraction throughout the year.