Monday, April 4, 2011

You will never guess what amazing thing we’ve been learning about in science lately! Before I spill the beans, I must remind you that this the first grade. And our science topic is... (drum roll please)....

Matter and Density! 

No kidding. I don’t remember learning about science this advanced until about 3rd grade at least! And you know what, these kiddos have not missed a beat! Just check out their science journals to see for yourself:

Just to catch you up to speed, we started with an experiment using a hard boiled egg, fresh water, and salt water. We found that the egg sank in the fresh water, but when we added salt to the water - making the particles in the liquid more dense - the egg could float. 


{This one says, “We learned that salt water is stronger than fresh water”... that’s one way to put it!}


{This one says, “What happened was the particles were not dense enough, they could not hold the egg. But when the particles were together they could hold it up.”}




{I was told that these dots in the water are the particles - less dense on the left, more dense on the right}


{This one says, “When we put the water it sank. The dense particles were stronger”}

. . .

Believe it not, our learning didn’t stop here! 

We discovered that if any object has particles that are less dense than the liquid it’s in, then it will float

If the object has particles that are more dense than the liquid it’s in, then it will sink.


In the process, we totally busted the myth that something sinks because it is heavy and floats because it is light. Up next in science: surface tension and a curious animal that can walk on water! Stay tuned... =)

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