Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts

Monday, November 12, 2012

Bar Graphs


Kids always seem to love playing these bar graph games which of course is great for teaching them about chance and what number the dots on the dice represent!  Zachary's class got these at school and we played it when he got home.  This picture was taken in the middle of it.  He was so excited to see which character "won" the game.  We used the dice from one of his board games and kept rolling until one character finally got to the top. 

Monday, March 19, 2012

Home Made Fish Tank





A few years ago Zachary and Scott made this fish tank as a fun project while I was on bed rest in the hospital.  The extra projects with Daddy and the grandparents definitely helped him cope with me being away.  The nights away from him were of course hard on me too so I enjoyed seeing the activities they worked on.  I'm very thankful we had great hands to help out during that time. 


I believe this beautiful tank contained leaves, rocks, sand, plants and plenty of pretend sea creatures! The container was an old drink container of some type....tea...lemonade...


Zachary lately has begun asking for a fish tank again. Taking care of our dog is plenty for me right now so I plan to bring this up again! :)

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Tectonic Plates



Here's a creative way to teach kids about how tectonic plates work! My husband found this idea online. I'll have to ask him where he found it.  

  1. Take a shoe box and cut it in half.
  2. Put one side inside of the other for sliding closed and apart.
  3. Add dirt to the entire bottom.
  4. Push boxes together or pull them apart to make mountains, valleys, earthquakes, etc
Happy Learning!


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Volcano Experiment



Here is the ever popular volcano eruption experiment.  I remember doing this one as a kid.  My brother had a dinosaur birthday party and Dad asked us to make a small volcano out of clay.  It was tough working with the hard clay but we made a small one.  Next Dad surrounded our little volcano with a lot of dirt and a few twigs to make trees. We thought it looked just like a real volcano.

Here in this photo I attempted to re-create Dad's volcano.


  1. I found part of a box to build the volcano in. We used half a box that clothing is gift wrapped in.  The sides are flimsy so we taped them straight. 
  2. Here I made a small volcano with model magic.  That stuff is much easier to use than modeling clay/air dry clay.  Model magic is stretchy, soft and light weight.  
  3. The dirt in our yard did okay.  We (Zachary and I) poured dirt in the box and shaped it around our model magic volcano.  
  4. To make the volcano erupt I put baking soda in the bottom.  I was not sure how much to put but the more vinegar you pour in later, then the more baking soda you will need at the bottom. 
  5. Next I squirted the red food coloring in. The more the better.  
  6. Last is the vinegar. Once you mix it with the baking soda it's all coming up. 
  7. We erupted our volcano at our dinosaur play group. It was definitely the highlight of the day.



Friday, February 10, 2012

Bill Nye the Science Guy!



I remember browsing through the TV guide channel when I was 12 or 13 and noticing an educational science show for kids which played at the same time as some of my other afternoon favorites.  This science show was the same one we saw clips of at school during science class.  It's the one with a tall guy and silly ways to show experiments or facts.  You know who I'm talking about! It's none other than the famous Bill Nye the Science Guy! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!



Bill Nye definitely does a great job capturing the attention of the audience.  His show displays captivating images, interesting experiments, catchy sounds and a bit of humor.  All of these things together provide an enlightening and entertaining 30 minutes. 


My son loves to check out the DVDs from our local library.  A few of the DVDs we've borrowed include earthquakes, sound, oceans, and light/color.  After we check out our newest episode my husband makes a point to come home a few minutes early from work so he can sit down with Zachary to watch it. They both look forward to the show as well as their quality time together. 


Of course my 4 year old does not get all of the concepts in the show yet however the show has given him positive experiences and therefore a more positive outlook on learning about science.  There are some experiments you definitely should not try at home but there are many that are wonderful. 

To find clips of Bill Nye check:


www.teachertube.com
www.youtube.com
Your local library! 





Sunday, November 6, 2011

Now Keeping the Jaw Breakers and Hard Candy I've Always Hated

Every year on Halloween since I was growing up I've dreaded getting all of the horrible hard candy that ends up sitting in the pantry until Valentine's Day because nobody wants to eat it. And then we finally throw it away and waste it anyway.  I don't know any kids that really eat that stuff but apparently some do because stores sell it and people actually give it away!

Scott has been doing science experiments once a week or every other week usually (well sometimes we skip a few weeks but for the most par) for a couple of years. We repeat experiments a whole lot for repetition in the learning process.  Zachary's favorites have been colored ice cubes, the volcano and bottle rockets.  Lately he's been wanting to try mixing things he comes up with on his own.  Sometimes they all come from the pantry but it's disgusting to think about mixing these things he mentions.  He's been asking questions also like "what would happen if we did this, or if we put this in water, or if we did such n such.  I think it came to the point when he asked that about a candy and we decided to dissolve it in water. This happened to be a week or so before Halloween and I said, "Great! I know where all of the objectionable candy is going to"!

Sure enough, we got plenty of hard candy we are not going to consume.  Jawbreakers, exploding candy, sour hard things, hard colored candy that looks like cough drops....plenty of great stuff for science experiments.  The  kids enjoy watching things change colors or go from large to nothing! Hope it's something your kids would enjoy too.

Leave your suggestions or ideas you do at home!

Friday, September 2, 2011

DNA Model



Here is a project my husband did for himself to add to his knowledge about biology. This DNA kit comes from Hobby Lobby for a very reasonable price, I think maybe $9 or $12. It makes for a very hands on and fun lesson about DNA.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Build it Yourself from Lowes

Zachary received this bird house kit from Lowes. It' a good starter kit to learning how to do woodwork and it was fun too.




Catapult



Here's a home made catapult that my husband made for a science experiment for our son. A cup, a small pvc pipe and part of our extra blinds.

It was interesting to watch Zachary. As a four year old he had to learn which side of the catapult had to be up in order to fling the object up in the air. He thought the cup had to be up at first and then thought he had to hit the side with the cup on it. He got it after trying a few times. We really enjoyed seeing things fly across the room!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

DC Motor

Scott made a simple DC motor with a kit he got from Hobby Lobby.
Click the link below to see a few seconds of a video!



Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Dinosaurs

February 14-18

Books


       
Danny and the Dinosaur - Syd Hoff
                                
 

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?- Jane Yolen and Mark Teague


Dinosaur Opposites- Paul and Henrietta Stickland



The Littlest Dinosaur- Michael Forman


Music
  • I Am a Paleontologist- They Might Be Giants


Crafts
  • Dinosaur picture painting

Activities
  • Dinosaur Magnetics (Melissa and Doug)- Creative Play
  • Dinosaur file folder matching activity (for image see blog post Jan 2010)
  • Backyard dig for random objects
  • Cornmeal dig for laminated dino bones/puzzle

Pieces for cornmeal dig








Thursday, February 24, 2011

Astronomy

January 17-21

Art
  • Painting with stamp paint the solar system
  • Making a Mobile of the solar system (Hobby Lobby craft kit, comes with cool poster!)


Music
  • How Many Planets- They Might Be Giants
  • What is a Shooting Star- They Might Be Giants
  • Why does the Sun Shine-They Might Be Giants

Science Experiment
Planets Going Around a Drill- Teaches about how the earth goes around the sun.


Movies
  • Squibs by Ignite Learning, In Space: Earth, Moon, Sun and Beyond (very captivating for the kids although it was a lot of information for him and didn't sit past 30 minutes. At the SAN ANTONIO PUBLIC LIBRARY
  • You Tube: Space Shuttle Launch
  • Solar System Slide Show (home made from Google Images)


Imagination

  • Put on astronaut costume and drove his home made spaceship. Joystick and old computer keyboard while watching the space shuttle launch.


Baking
  • Cut out stars in jello (idea for next time)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Staying HealthyS

January 17-21

Books
  • Bernstein Bears Too Much Junk Food
  • Text Book
Art
  • Cutting out food from magazines and making a balanced meal.
Music
  • Vegetable Rock (Songsfotteaching.com)
  • Popcorn- Greg and Steve
  • Dem Bones
Activities
  • Print out food pyramid and laminate. Use during meals.
  • Played soccer in backyard.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Other books and Activities

For a one week we didn't have a theme and another week we a few different books. We had fun with a variety of activities and spent time with our friends.

  • Books we enjoyed- How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynn Cherry, Does an Elephant Take a Bath?, Maisy Books, Bearenstein Bears
  • Crafts- Coloring, finger painting, play doh
  • Music- Exploring instruments, piano melodies on piano, Shamu soundtrack, Playing guitar with Mommy
  • Science- Oil and water, making colored water, catching crickets
  • Activities- gardening, swimming, playing with Banana Grams letters
  • Imagination- Playing restaurant, camping, castles, and driving in pretend cars.
  • Baking/cooking- honey bread


Friday, May 14, 2010

The Five Senses

May 10-14

  • Books- Toes, Ears and Nose
  • Music- Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, The Rainbow Song
  • Crafts-Gluing parts of a face, Painting sun catchers (sense of sight)m Play Doah (touch)
  • Science/Activities- Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salty test (is this sweet or sour? is this bitter or sweet?). We used sweet tea, cocoa powder, lemons, and cheese itz. Smell Samples, Auditory Discrimination, and Bubble/Suds on the Kitchen Floor (touch).

Anatomy

May 3-7

  • Books- Dem Bones, Toes, Ears, and Nose, Tarryn Visits the Dentist
  • Music- Dry Bones, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
  • Crafts- Coloring Bones worksheet (different color bones)
  • Activities- Brain model observation, looking at cartoon pictures of teeth with and without cavities.
  • Science-Hot and Cold-melting ice cubes in the microwave and in a cup of hot water.



Sunday, February 28, 2010

Astronomy

February 22-26

  • Crafts- Coloring earth, pasting on black construction paper for outer space, and glitter dots for stars
  • Music- Hey Diddle Diddle, I Don't Want to Live on the Moon
  • Activities- Slideshow of the Solar System, Looking for the Moon in the Sky
  • Science- Watching the Nasa Space Shuttle take off (Youtube)

Monday, February 8, 2010

Musical Instruments

January 25-29

Books- Musical Instruments: A First Discovery Book by Scholastic

Crafts- Coffee can drum, shaker out of play doah can

  • Click here for instructions on the coffee can drum. Very easy!


Music- All kinds! Music Together CD- Playing in the Kitchen and Biddy Biddy song.

Activities- Instrument exploration with instruments, Instrument Exploration with kitchen items.

Science- Filling glasses with different amounts of water to hear the change in pitch.


Exploring Sounds!





Daddy Plays a Song!


Playing My Guitar while watching TV

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Dinosaurs

January 11-15

  • Books- Danny and the Dinosaur
  • Crafts- Making a foam dinosaur, dinosaur environment box,
  • Activities- Lacing on dinosaur cut out, Dinosaur file folder
  • Science- Volcano Eruption with baking soda, vinegar and food coloring, Dinosaur Egg Hatching
  • Baking- salt dough volcano for science experiment








Lacing Directions

1. Print out a picture of a dinosaur
2. Cut out
3. Glue to construction paper or cardboard
4. Cut out around cardboard
5. Punch holes around the edges
6. Tie a string/yarn around one hole. Attach masking tape to the end to make it firm for pointing through the holes.

This is the image we used to make a dinosaur lacing activity.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Bugs Week 2009

September 28-October 2

This weeks:

Books
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  • 5 Little Lady Bugs
  • The Crunching Munching Catepillar
Arts and Crafts
  • Putting Together and Ant, ABC coloring (A for ant, B for bee and C for caterpillar
Music
  • Ants Go Marching

Activities
  • observing bugs outside
  • Bug movie from library
  • Wanted to but did not get to: Botanical Gardens Bug exhibit, Very Hungry Caterpillar matching color game.

Holding our Ant we put together

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