This week in the lab, Kindergarteners are learning how to be safe in thunderstorms and tornadoes, and are making mini tornadoes with water in soda bottles. First graders finished their astronomy unit in the starlab, our portable planetarium, and are starting a new unit on the parts of plants. Second graders are making some changes to matter that are permanent, like cooking an egg, and some that are not permanent, like melting an ice cube. This is a great topic to discuss in the kitchen - cooking is all about making changes in matter. Third graders are testing balanced and unbalanced forces, fourth graders are making waves in water, ropes, and a giant slinky, and fifth graders are building model ponds with plants and snails, so they can observe the interactions. Sixth graders are looking for evidence of chemical reactions when they mix several substances - and sometimes they get a very surprising result.
Thanks to a grant from the Oradell Kids Foundation, we now have two 3D printers at OPS, one in my room and one in Ms. Schaum’s. This month I’m showing all students in grades 1-6 how the 3D printer works. Schools, libraries, and makerspaces across the country are learning that 3D printers can be a useful tool for inspiring kids to be “makers” - they can design their own projects to solve real-world problems, which is what engineers do. If you’d like to learn more about 3D design and printing, you can do what I’m doing: do the tutorials on www.tinkercad.com/ , browse through designs that other people have shared on www.thingiverse.com , and go to Maker events in NJ (njmakersday.org/ and bergenmakerspace.bergen.org/ ) and NY (makerfaire.com/new-york/ ). And ask your kids if they saw something cool in the science lab recently!
This week in the lab, Kindergarteners are learning how to be safe in thunderstorms and tornadoes, and are making mini tornadoes with water in soda bottles. First graders finished their astronomy unit in the starlab, our portable planetarium, and are starting a new unit on the parts of plants. Second graders are making some changes to matter that are permanent, like cooking an egg, and some that are not permanent, like melting an ice cube. This is a great topic to discuss in the kitchen - cooking is all about making changes in matter. Third graders are testing balanced and unbalanced forces, fourth graders are making waves in water, ropes, and a giant slinky, and fifth graders are building model ponds with plants and snails, so they can observe the interactions. Sixth graders are looking for evidence of chemical reactions when they mix several substances - and sometimes they get a very surprising result.
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May 2022
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