Investigating the Smallest Size Rock: Clay!

2nd graders are finishing up their unit on Pebbles, Sand and Silt by investigating the smallest size rock...clay.  It is so small, that you can't isolate one grain.  We described how it felt, looked and even smelled. 

We then made two balls of clay and put the larger ball into a paper cup and the smaller ball into a vial filled with water.  We made predications about what the clay would look like the next science class.

It was not a surprise to most of the 2nd graders, that the following week, the clay in the paper cup was hard. Hard as a rock! They were surprised that even though the clay was hard, it still could break!  We put a little water into the cup to see what would happen....the clay softened up again.

The clay in the water broke apart and settled in the bottom of the vial.  The water changed from milky looking to clear!

It's always fun to play with clay no matter how gooey it is!

Kindergarteners Investigate Forces!

Kindergarten has started their new unit on Pushes and Pulls. They went around the science classroom pushing and pulling objects.  Some objects were harder to move than other objects.  We also discovered that an object can be pushed AND pulled! Just like real scientists, we recorded our discoveries.

During our next investigation, we had a bag of nine objects to explore.  We wanted to have an object exert a force on another object instead of us exerting the force.  Some objects were easier to move than others.  A lot of the kindergarteners figured out how to make a catapult out of the objects....that was fun!

1st Graders Investigate Animal Defenses

1st graders have been exploring the different structures animals and plants use to defend themselves.  In this investigation, students are using a model to see how different structures protect their animal (a clay ball) from the predator (a large comb). The structures are spikes (toothpicks), armor (erasers) or shells (disks). 

 

 

We discovered that all three structures can protect the clay critter, but that there were some areas that weren't protected (especially under the clay critter) and it would be easy for predators to attack there.