Saturday, September 13, 2014

Density lab...kinda...well, mostly!


So I'm teaching Science (and Math) this year and my goal is to be great at it and give the students lots of hands on experiences. The only problem is that I'm dealing with limited resources. Everyone knows teachers have super powers but not so super budgets.

Our first Science unit is all about matter. This particular "lab" was a follow up to learning about density or an item's mass divided by its volume. I didn't do the full blown version of this lab as seen on Pinterest and other websites (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/density-tower-magic-with-science)...I improvised and I think my little scientists learned a great deal...I have pics of them writing down their observations as the final piece...

I gave each group of 2-4 students a tiny clear cup and even tiny-er cups of liquids with varying densities...I really enjoyed all the ooohs and aaaahs!

Here are a few pics!

Students discussing and writing their observations...

A view from above...check out our fancy lab tables aka empty student desks...
Hmmmm...what's going on in this tiny cup?

Looks like a lava lamp...


The liquids settling by density: honey, corn syrup, water, vegetable oil, lemon juice, vinegar...



These are the items the students added to their liquids: wine cork, rotini, button, bead, black bean, wooden block...