Happy Valentine's Day!

We had lots of fun celebrating Valentine's Day on Wednesday!

After solving some conversation heart puzzles in math and curling up with some books we loved, we got together with the elephants to celebrate our love of science!

We created some paper hearts and used vinegar (a liquid) and baking soda (a solid) to create some carbon dioxide gas! 

After putting baking soda on our hearts, we added food coloring to the vinegar to make it easier to see the reaction and dripped it on top of our hearts. After it fizzled out, it left some cool designs!

After our Safari Time, we headed back to our classroom to deliver our Valentines. Everyone agreed that this was their favorite part of the day!

Each of the giraffes thanked their friends and teachers for their sweet cards and gifts, and enjoyed reading their notes and eating some sweet treats before heading home. 

Thank you to everyone who fills our classroom with so much love and kindness! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Matter with The Museum of Science!

Boston's Museum of Science traveled all the way to SMS on Monday to teach us more about changing states of matter. We experimented with lots of different materials, from liquid nitrogen to steam so hot it made flames!

We knew that liquid nitrogen was very cold, but we didn't know that it was boiling cold! One of the giraffes was called up as an audience volunteer to show how liquid nitrogen boils from its extreme cold temperatures by pouring it into a kettle 

We also got to see what happened when a balloon filled with glycerin and a balloon filled with water were placed in the liquid nitrogen. Not only did they change from a liquid to a solid, but they also changed their volume!

We got to see it change the properties of two bouncy balls, which lost their bounce when they were placed in the liquid nitrogen. They slowly regained their bounciness after they were given some time to thaw. We also saw that a rubber hose lost its elasticity when placed in the liquid nitrogen. If we tried to stretch it while frozen, it would break!

The liquid nitrogen also made balloons filled with air shrink as the gas particles inside huddled together in the extreme cold. As they warmed up, they expanded again. 

Afterwards, we heated things up with some extreme steam! We watched as tubes captured the steam from boiling water and the steam was heated by a blow torch, which made the steam so hot it caused a paper to catch fire!

We also got to see how the cold steam from the liquid nitrogen would fill a balloon when trapped. The POP made all of us jump!

We had a wonderful time experimenting with the experts from the Museum of Science. It was an awesome way to wrap up our study of matter! 

How Does Matter Change?

On Monday, we explored the question: "How does matter change?" We were each given a Starburst, which we all agreed was a solid, and we each came up with our own experiment to try and change the Starburst. Some of us decided to roll the Starburst in our hands, while others decided to put the Starburst in warm water for a certain amount of time, and some decided to simply stomp on the Starburst with their feet!

the rolled Starburst acted like Silly Putty!

the stomped Starburst got very soft and flat

The Starburst in warm water began to get soft and dissolve into a liquid

In all of our experiments, we discovered we were able to change the solid through heat or strong force! This is exactly how matter changes from solids to liquids to gasses. 

Writing Like Scientists

This week, we began our newest writing unit where we get to write like scientists! All week long, we've been learning, experimenting, and writing about the states of matter. We learned that matter is any physical substance, and it can either be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Matter can change its state through heating or cooling!

 We talked about how scientists ask questions and come up with experiments to test those questions. On Tuesday, we explored the question "Which solids can float?" and we came up with an experiment to test 5 different objects in water. We stuck to our procedure and recorded our results and conclusions. 

On Wednesday, we learned that scientists often do the same experiment several times and change parts of their experiment (variables) to collect more data. Instead of testing objects as a class, we tested objects as table groups and recorded our results.

After we finished testing our new objects, we talked about what questions we were still wondering about our experiment:

• Could more objects float if we added soap to the water?
• Would our results change if we changed the liquid we tested them in?
• Can liquids float in liquids?
• Why do certain objects float?
• Why can certain objects sink and float?

We also talked about what the particles look like in a solid, liquid, and a gas, and how those particles move. 

We loved demonstrating what these particles look like as a class, especially the solids! 

Next week, we will continue to test and experiment with matter and continue writing like scientists!