SCIENCE/WHERE
* DOES THE WATER GO? (ages 4 and up)
 AIM:children will use observation,prediction,measurement,& language skills
as they experiment with water & evaporation.
 MATERIALS:Chalk,dark construction paper,water,two glasses,yarn,chart paper,&
a marker.
 Introduce the word evaporation & define it as the process that dries things
when they are wet.
 
 Ask,"What do you think happens to puddles after it stops raining?How fast do
you 
 think they dry up?" Go outside in the morning & choose a puddle to
observe.Give children chalk for tracing a circle around the edge of the
puddle.Ask if they think the puddle will change in size by lunchtime.Record
the children's predictions in a notebook & transfer to chart paper back in
the room.Later,go outside to check whether the puddle has changed.
  
 If the puddle is not dried up,trace the outline again and make another
prediction.Come back frequently to check the puddle & continue tracing.When
the puddle is dry,review together the series of smaller & smaller chalk
circles.Remind children that each circle shows how the water in the puddle
got reduced to less & less.
 
* INDOOR EXPERIMENTS
 Pour a small amount of water onto a large sheet of dark-colored construction
paper.
 Make repeated tracings of the outside of the wet area with chalk,as you did
with the puddle.
 
 Here's another evaporation experiment to do inside.Have the children fill
two clear glasses w/equal amounts of water,then measure the height of the
water in each glass with yarn.Place these pieces vertically on separate
sheets of paper.Then put
 one glass in a sunny window & another in a closet.Have interested children
check the glasses,making a new measurement each time with fresh yarn.Place
these pieces in order next to the first ones to help the children see that
the water is disappearing.Discuss in which glass it evaporates more
quickly.Ask children to give their ideas on what makes a difference.
 Most fours think evaporation is "magic".Concentrate on helping them see that
things like sunlight & time make wet things become dry.


*  Pencils through the water bag
 
 How many pencils can you get through the bag?  Without the water leaking
out?
 Materials
 
 Plastic sandwich bags with twist ties
 Water
 Many round pencils
 
 Fill the bag with water  3/4 full.  Seal with twist ties.
 
 Hold the bag by the top and push a pencil completely through both sides of
 the bag.  
 

* Science Activities


Ice Is Nice--Improve observation and questioning skills by freezing and
melting ice. Add water to an ice cube tray and set it in the freezer. Ask
your child how long it will take to freeze. For variety, use different levels
of watering different sections of the tray. Set ice cubes on a table. Ask
your child how long they will take to melt. Why do they melt? Place the ice
cubes in different areas of the room. Do they melt faster in some places than
in others? Why? 

    Float and Sink--Encourage hypothesizing (guessing). Use several
objects--soap, a dry sock, a bottle of shampoo, a wet sponge, an empty
bottle. Ask your child which objects will float when dropped into water in a
sink or bathtub. Then drop in the water, one by one, to see what happens. 
    
    What Does It Take to Grow?--Teach cause and effect relationships. Use two
similar, healthy plants. Ask your child to water one plant and ignore the
other for a week or two, keeping both plants in the same place. 
    
    At the end of that time, ask your child to water the drooping plant. Then
talk abut what happened and why. Plants usually perk up with water just as
children perk up with good words and smiles from parents. 


* We had our first annual science fair last week, and it was so much fun. 
The kids had really terrific project. One little girl made a poster all 
about Jupiter. She got pictures and info. off the internet and made 
Jupiter cookies. We did the plastic baggie ice cream (which I prefer to 
the coffee can method). One girl did a static electricity experiment 
where she brought in cereal, a fuzzy sweater, and a plastic spoon. You 
rub the spoon on the sweater, then use it to pick up the cereal. One boy 
did a solar system with decorated styrofoam balls. One boy brought in 
stuff to do fingerprinting - pencil, paper and tape. And, of course, we 
had the volcano experiment - everyone's favorite! The evening was ahuge 
success, that's really a great idea for anyone looking for ideas for 
family nights.