Experimenting

Your children may have been talking about substances we have been studying in the classroom.  We were preparing for our experiments this week.  Ask about them!  Here is our story…

Two weeks ago I brought in 4 jars labeled “substance 1-4.”  Without naming the substances, we talked about their properties.  The children were dying to know the names and I wouldn't tell them.  It is important to observe before knowing what something new is because it could affect our opinions.  Earlier in the year we worked with our five senses to explore a white substance (sugar).  Before knowing what it was, we said it tasted like candy and strawberries, smelled like food, felt like sand, and moved like snow.  Once we knew it was sugar, we said it tasted like sugar, smelled like sugar, moved like sugar, and smelled like sugar.  I kept the real identities of these substances a secret as we analyzed them.  We drew, discussed, wrote about, and used our 5 senses for each substance.  

Did you figure out what each of them were?

Blue Vinegar

Corn Starch

Baking Soda

Vegetable Oil

We finally made our guesses as to what each substance was.  Some of the children had experiences with these materials before and remembered them enough to give them the correct name.  We talked about them some more, and started comparing.  There are many similarities (especially between corn starch and baking powder) and it took some time to sort them out.  

Check in to see how our experiments went!