Falling Objects: Mass and Air Resistance
Posted by Joshua Bartosiewicz-
- Filling the containers with sand for the second trial.
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- Testing the law of gravity.
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- Whose bottle will land first?
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- Building parachutes to test air resistance.
This lab was a two (2) part activity for the 8th graders. Lately, we’ve been learning about mass, weight, gravity, forces, Newton’s Laws, air resistance, motion and much more within the realm of physics. For the first part of the lab, students were testing gravity by dropping an empty water bottle from a meter which was timed using a stopwatch. After a few trials with the empty bottle, students filled the bottles a quarter of the way with sand and repeated the process. The final trial the bottles were filled halfway with sand and they were tested once more. The students observed that no matter how much sand was in the bottles, the time it took to hit the floor was relatively the same (slight differences due to human error which we discussed as a class). The reason for this is because gravity on Earth is constant (9.8 meters per second squared or 9.8m/s^2); this means no matter what the mass of the object is, as long as there is no outside forces acting on the object like air resistance, they will all fall at the same rate!
The second part of the activity involved the students testing air resistance! In this section of the lab, students were given a toy and a bunch of materials which they would use to create a parachute for their toy. We saw a wide range of ideas and these are just some of them! The scholars concluded that the parachutes needed to be light weight but cover a large surface area in order to provide the most air resistance. In the end, students had a blast and they were able to test their designs by dropping them off of the jungle gym and outside the second story window of the Science Lab.
What can Electricity flow through?
Posted by Karen Engelke
This week in Grade 4 science, students demonstrated that some objects conduct electricity and some do not. Students constructed a simple circuit and observed that a penny, a piece of foil, and a paper clip conduct electricity, while a plastic spool and paper index card does not. They better understood how conductors of electricity allow currents to flow freely. Meanwhile, they observed that insulators resist the flow of an electric current.
Concept to Reality!
Posted by Lloyd Mitchell
Equipped with their design, power tools, paint and a block of wood, 5th grade tech students were tasked with the job of developing their own boxwood derby car. They successfully completed this multi space project, starting in the Tech Lab with the design process, to the Makerspace for the actual construction of their design and finally to the Art Room where their creativity came to life. Students proudly took a concept and turned it into a reality. Bravo, 5th grade!
January Greatest Hits in 6th Grade Science!
Posted by Colleen Noyes-
- Personal Pangea
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- Personal Pangea
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- Personal Pangea
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- Plate Tectonics
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- Plate Tectonics
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- Plate Tectonics
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- Rocks & Minerals
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- Goldstone through the lens of the microscope
We started off the new year with our first lab called “Personal Pangea” – Student groups created their own model of the super continent Pangea, using plaster of paris and water. Millions of years ago the earth was once a large land mass known as Pangea. Unfortunately the molds were not substantial enough to withstand the tectonic plate upheaval. Technically this experiment was NOT a bust.
If at first you don’t succeed, try again or move on to an alternative solution. We switched gears and used another method to illustrate plate tectonics and their movement. In this lab we used graham crackers and frosting to represent the Earth’s mantle and plates. It was fun and educational, not to mention SWEET!
Lastly we explored the world of rocks and minerals. In geology, Igneous is bliss. Sedimentary my dear Watstone!! I DIGgress…… Sometimes, all that glitters might be gold, or goldstone, as photographed through the lens of the microscope and one student even showcased their knowledge of geology to the entire class!!! Well done.
ROT On!! (Decomposition)
Posted by Joshua Bartosiewicz
The 7th graders were able to conduct a study on decomposition in the science lab! In this lab, students put together four (4) little zip lock bags each containing 100ml of water and slightly different materials (one had potting soil and food scraps, another had sand and food scraps, the third had mulch and food scraps while the last one had just food scraps). Over the course of the week, the scholars were able to observe the decomposition process first hand and record data on which substrate (potting soil, mulch, sand or nothing) worked the fastest in the lab. The students concluded that the mulch and potting soil were working the best but more time is needed to observe which of the two would perform better. Overall this lab was very interesting to conduct and I’m sure it is one the kids will never forget.
Gummy Bear Wave Machine
Posted by Karen Engelke
Grade 4 has been studying Energy in Science. As part of the unit, they have been exploring wave properties. What better way to explore a concept in science than with the use of some kind of candy? So they created a Gummy Bear Wave Machine! It’s just duct tape, wooden skewers, and gummy bears, but it makes some really striking, beautiful effects when set in motion. As the gummy bears move up and down, energy is being sent from one end of the wave machine to the other. The duct tape twists in between each stick and passes it onto the next bit of tape between the sticks. This process continues until it reaches one end and then continues back the same way in which it came from. Once the wave machine was complete, guess who got to eat the leftover gummy bears?
