Molecules

We finished up our week learning about chemistry with Mother Goose Time by focusing on molecules.  

During circle time the girls worked on counting the number of atoms on the molecule cards.

Molecules move faster in warm water.  This concept was reinforced by having the girls put food coloring in a cup of cold water and a cup of hot water and observing which one spread faster.  

I read the excerpt on Alfred Nobel from the book of the month.  The girls talked about ways they thought they could make the world a better place:  giving hugs, giving out flowers, and surprising people.  Afterward they each received a Nobel prize sticker. 

They used pipe-cleaners and beads to make their own atom patterns.  Afterward they turned them into necklaces to keep.

Their favorite activity of the day was attaching cornstarch noodles together to create different colored molecules.  They absolutely loved using these noodles. 

Reactions

Day 4 with Mother Goose Time had us learning about reactions.

During circle time we sang the chemist, to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.

The girls compared a cup of water and a cup of vinegar.  Even though they look the same, they are very different.  The girls noted that they smelled different.  They put water on baking soda and watched for a reaction;  in the words of Elli "it turned to goop."  Next they put vinegar on the baking soda and watched the reaction that took place. They loved watching it "explode."

The girls used lemon juice to write messages on paper.  They used a blow dryer to heat the paper and reveal the messages.  We couldn't get this to work really well, the message only appeared very faintly.  I'm not sure if they needed to use more lemon juice or maybe heat it for longer.  Either way they thought using "invisible ink" was pretty cool.

Every monthly box comes with a book of the month and a story telling set.  The girls used this to retell the story of Alfred Nobel.  They also watched a Bill Nye episode on chemical reactions, that included a segment on Nobel.

The girls drew fireworks with glue, which they sprinkled with salt.  They used water colors to drip onto the salt, and watched how the colors spread.

The girls cut triangles and glued them into their my little journals.  They turned them into volcanoes that were erupting.  Tomorrow we learn about molecules.

Mixtures

The girls have been having so much fun this month with Mother Goose Time's science lab theme.  Today they learned about mixtures.

The girls took turns mixing water with oil and water with sugar and observing what happened.  We talked about how some substances mix and some separate.

The girls worked together to make Jello.  They watched how the gelatin dissolved in the hot water.  Addie was able to apply what she learned yesterday about molecules to the Jello changing from a liquid to a solid.  I love that the lessons are helping them retain information on complex subjects.

The girls LOVED using this months beaker set with different colored liquids to create new colors.  They had such a good time mixing up new colors;  the beakers had to be refilled quite a few times before they were ready to move on.

They also experimented with looking through blocks with different colored plexiglass.  

We read a few books about mixing colors, including last months story of the month, Mix.  

They finished up the day by painting their own color mixing papers.