Archive for the 'Science' Category

Jun

Glook

One science class, we made Glook. It’s really simple and safe enough for even small kids. All you need is cornstarch and water (plus food coloring if you want extra fun). Mix in about a 2:1 ratio. You’ll probably be quite surprised.

Glook is a non-Newtonian fluid. It doesn’t behave as a solid or a liquid exclusively. If you put pressure on it, it acts like a solid (and as Jamie and Adam showed us in MythBusters, you can even walk on it). If you try to pick it up, it acts like a liquid.

I did it with Summer and Winter classes and they all loved it. I even had fun with it.

Here’s a fun video showing it on a speaker.

posted by Kathryn in Activites,Maple Square,Science,Teaching,Teaching Resources,Videos and have No Comments

Aug

Wave Bottles

We made wave bottles in Spring’s science class. The kids had a lot of fun doing so. We talked about what we saw when we moved the bottles back and forth. And we also talked about why the oild and water didn’t mix.

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Jul

Parachutes

I teach science to all my students. Today was my day for the beginner 7 year olds. There are only four of them, but they can be a handful. OK, the two boys are a handful… the girls are fine. :)

Today we made parachutes. It’s really easy. All you need is a plastic bag, some string or thread, tape and a small toy. Cut a large circle out of the plastic bag. The bigger, the better, really. Cut four pieces of thread approximately equal to the diameter of your circle. That’s the distance across the circle for those of you who forgot high school geometry. Tape the thread at equal intervals around the circle. Tie the four pieces of thread into a knot at the bottom. Use more tape to secure the toy to the thread. Now, hold your parachute up and drop it! Watch how it falls slower than if you dropped the toy without the parachute.

As an extension, you can ask the kids what they think would happen if your parachute was smaller or the toy was bigger. See what they say, and then try it! That’s science.

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May

Food Pyramids – D4 Class

Welcome to the world of D4 class. They are a group of 4th-5th graders. I teach them science, math and listening skills. Recently, we’ve been talking about health in our science classes. As a culminating activity, I had them make food pyramids on poster boards. Ignore the fact this is the “old” food pyramid. It was what was in their books. And ignore the fact that I really messed up when I drew the skeleton on the board for them to copy. I’m used to teaching the “new” food pyramid.

And here are the pictures I used. I’ve converted my word file to a pdf. Please let me know if you would like the original file. They’re pretty perfectly sized for the approximately 3 foot by 2 foot boards we had.

posted by Kathryn in Activites,Little Campus,Pictures,Science,Students,Teaching,Teaching Resources and have Comment (1)

Apr

Planting Seeds

These are pictures of August Class. They are a group of 7 year olds in their second and third years of English studies. I teach them science and math as well as reading. They are a handful…

In science, we’ve been talking about plants. They been learning about the parts of plants, their life cycle and what they need. As a culminating activity, we planted chive seeds today. We’ll observe them over the next few weeks and record their growth.

Pictures for your enjoyment….

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Feb

Ivory Visits Newton Class

Newton class is a group of 6 year olds. I teach math and science to them. Over the last few months in science, we’ve been talking about the five senses. The unit finishes with the sense of touch. I mentioned as we were talking about soft and rough that my cat Ivory is very soft. The kids wanted me to bring Ivory in. I checked with their charge teacher and got her blessing. All last week was rainy so I didn’t want to talk Ivory out. But today was lovely. It helps that I live directly next door to the school. So on my break right before I taught Newton, I ran upstairs and brought Ivory down.

The kids were so excited. Even so, they behaved wonderfully. I was somewhat worried that they would be rough with Ivory, but they were very gentle. I held Ivory while they came up and stroked her. Tina, their charge teacher, was kind enough to take pictures.

Enjoy!

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Jun

Spring Open House 2009

It’s over. Oh thank goodness it’s over. It’s definitely been a stressful few weeks for all involved. Open houses here are always interesting. I kind of prefer the way we did it at my last school. They were just open classes where the parents dropped in. We knew when they were coming and planned an extra special lesson. It’s nothing like the scripted, focuses, presentation type stuff we do at Little Campus. Don’t get me wrong. In the end, it’s worth it. The kids have a good time and the parents are generally pleased.

This year had a science based theme. There were two separate “classes”. One was about butterflies and one was about food and nutrition. The kids learned about the body parts and the life cycle of butterflies for the first class. They learned about the food pyramid for the second.

I only have pictures for the one food classes. The other times I was busy teaching. These are pictures of Edison Class. They are a group of seven year olds. They’re not the best speakers in the world, but their English is better than my Korean.