Marble Mazes

At the end of the year, I like to do marble mazes with my 5th graders. They come up with some neat ideas! It's messy and loud, but they love it!


RULES:

Can only touch the marble 1 time.

Slowest marble wins.

Can only be as tall as you are.

May be done alone or in pairs.

No Liquid.

Home-made no pre-made marble maze pieces.

We will do most of it at school. Please bring supplies.

Don't spend more than $5.

Still trying to figure out the best way to share videos! Click on the link to watch.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9VmYg7gv8BNM014WFdUeEFoQWs/edit?usp=sharing

Pleased as Punch

Every year in science, I start out with a measurement unit.  I have been doing the same thing for 3 years, and wanted to mix it up. So I headed over to the AIMS website to find something new.  I found this Pleased as Punch activity. THE KIDS LOVED IT! It gave them great practice measuring.

Here are some notes and points for management:

• I bought 6 flavors of 100% juice for them to mix.  Kiwi Strawberry, Mango, Pineapple, Strawberry Banana, Fruit Punch, and White Grape. The kids and I do not recommend the white grape! 
• They first had to create a recipe to make.  Then they had to measure each ingredient, practicing measuring mL.  
• The AIMS activity comes with handy dandy measuring strips you can put run off on transparency paper, and tape them to clear cups.  This way you are not using your dirty graduated cylinders. 
• I had each of them have a tasting cup, mixing cup, and measuring cup. 
• Do this outside or in the cafeteria.  They will spill! 
• They had to rate each one, and vote on their favorite. They also had to write descriptive words to describe what it tasted like. They could not write good.
• Just a little warning, some of them did cheers, say bottoms up, and take it like shots... which gave me a good laugh! 

                     

                                

                                  

Go download it now! It is well worth the $2! 

Layers of the Earth

We are learning about the layers of the Earth in science.  I had the kids make playdough and build a model Earth.  They LOVE the playdough even in 5th grade!
Here is the recipe I used:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
3 T cream of tartar
2 T oil
2 cups water
food coloring

Mix dry ingredients.  Add oil, water, and food coloring.  Mix until only small lumps remain.  Cook over medium heat until dough lumps together.   Be sure to stir constantly.  Kneed untill smooth.  Dough will be sticky and hot at first.  (You can add the food coloring at the end too, if you want a variety of colors)

Borax Snowflakes

Before break, we made these neat Borax snowflakes in science.  I had the kids predict what would happen when they put a pipe cleaner shaped like a snowflake in a mixture of Borax and water. They had to come up with a measurable change. We went through the entire scientific process.

1. Make a snowflake out of a pipe cleaner, as you can see we had a variety of snowflake shapes. 

2. Tie a string to the snowflake, and tie the string to a Popsicle stick or pencil. 

2. BOIL water and pour it into a cup or jar.  STIR in 3 Tablespoons of Borax per cup of water.  Be sure to stir it until it dissolves. 

4. Place the snowflake in the mixture over night! 

LED vs. Incandescent Lights

We did a neat experiment this week in science.  We compared different kinds of holiday lights and the energy they used. I was blown away by how much less energy the LED lights used.  I didn't realize it was that drastic! They cost more, out of the box, but end up costing less to light up and last longer! They also don't get hot!

We went through the scientific method using a sheet that we have been using for all science experiments. I think my kids finally know how the steps and how to write a hypothesis!!! I provided them the pages suggested by the lesson plan to conduct their research, as well as let them read the box of the lights, and observe the lights. 

Activity Sheet and Directions from The Need Project: http://www.need.org/needpdf/decJanEE1105.pdf (pages 4-6)

Calculator: https://www.dom.com/about/conservation/holiday-calculator.jsp

Finally, we were able to do the experiment! They recorded their data and wrote a conclusion.  After they had their information down, they got to display it in a fun way.  I made light bulbs that had each step of the scientific method on it.  They had to copy their information into a final product.  Then they got to make a construction paper light bulb, and glitter glue the cover and make it fancy! I hung up the LED bulbs around the board.

Shaving Cream Clouds

Sometimes when you teach, its the ideas that come at the last minute that the kids love the most. In science, we have been doing a lot of book work.  The kids are used to doing an activity, experiment, or both at least 2-3 times a week.  Partly because it is the end of the quarter, and partly because we have an upcoming field trip to the Aquarium, I am rushing the end of this weather unit.  Today we only had 30 minutes for science.  We had to learn about clouds. I had a worksheet ready to go where we were just going to draw the clouds, write one fact, and label them. BORING, but they got the information.  I didn't want to drag out the glue and the cotton balls, so I thought of my messy closet.... SHAVING CREAM!

You would have thought they died and gone to heaven.  I heard over and over today how this was the best science ever!

First I reviewed with them on this cloud website the different kinds of clouds.  We also played the memory game.

Then I left the image of the different kinds of clouds up on the screen and gave them a squirt of shaving cream.  I had them create each of the different kinds of clouds.  Then I had them make any of them and let their neighbor guess what it was.  Finally, I let them PLAY and get the shaving cream off the desk!

After they were cleaned up they had to draw and label 4 kinds on the worksheet. 

Solar Energy Unit

One of our first units in science is solar energy and heat conductivity.  We take advantage of the nice fall weather and get outside to do a few activities.  These are some of my favorites.



We use the information we gained in the Black and White on a Sunny Day to think about how we can build a solar oven.  Then we make a solar oven out of pizza boxes, foil, overhead transparency paper (or saran wrap), and tape.

Before we can cook we must figure out the right angle and how to use our solar oven.  This year when we did this it was about 80*F outside and our ovens reached 122*F (50*C)



Finally we make s'mores! They LOVE this and think it is the best experiment ever! :)