Boats and sparkle jars!

We have done a lot of Science activities this week to try to finish our Liquids/Solids unit before the break. 

We made boats out of recycled materials. We thought back to previous experiments (e.g. float/sink, absorption, etc) to help with planning what materials to use. Some of my students got stuck on the fact that although the cardboard items DID float (some of them), they wouldn't be a good material for a boat over time. 

(Testing the boat to make sure it floats!)

Then we made sparkle jars! We added oil and water to a plastic bottle (they remembered that oil and water do not mix, from one of our experiments). We also added small beads (float/sink experiment), food colouring, and sparkles! 

I put hot glue around the bottle lid before sealing it to try to prevent the water bottles from leaking. These were a huge hit! The kids loved shaking them up and then watching everything settle in the bottle. It was really sunny outside today so some of them held their bottles up by the window to watch the sun shine through them :) 

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Kwanzaa mkekas

Today we made Kwanzaa mats called mkekas. A mkeka is traditionally made of straw, and it is what the kinara is placed upon. 

We made ours by weaving strips of construction paper. Then we wrote the 7 principles of Kwanzaa out on a piece of paper to glue onto our mkekas. 

I photocopied lines onto construction paper and they cut the lines themselves. 

Here is the list of the 7 principles of Kwanzaa:

Below are some of our mats drying on the whiteboard...

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Mixing solids and liquids

We are working on solids and liquids right now in Science - my kids LOVE experiments. 

Earlier this week we did some simple mixing. We made Kool Aid to look at dissolving. The highlight for them was definitely mixing baking soda and vinegar. My students have been waiting ALL year for some explosions! 

Then we mixed different things (oil, pepper, sugar, etc) in water to see what would happen. **Careful with the pepper! I had a student blow it into their eye! 

I gave them small shot glasses (from the party section in dollarama) to use as mixing containers. They had a water cup that was for pouring INTO the other cup. Next time I need to find some smaller spoons for mixing :) 

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