Science Sunday - On Overload!

Where do I start with all of the science we learned over the past week on our trip to San Francisco?  Looking back, I realize what a rich experience this was for ALL of us, and just how much science we packed into a short five days.     


At Alcatraz Island we learned  about birds native to the California coast, as well as the trees found in the region.   


We also visited the California Academy of Sciences, and saw their planetarium, penguins, aquarium, and even tried our hands at becoming Ichthyologists!   (that would be a scientist who studies fish)   


Another fun place we visited was the Aquarium of the Bay, where the kids loved their touchpools and walking "under the bay".


Finally, we visited Muir Woods and learned all about the famous Redwoods.  


Here's some highlights from these science activities of the past week!

Alcatraz Island:  Here we learned about Seagulls, Cormorants, and Eucalyptus Trees... in addition to lots of other things!  The kids loved watching the Cormorants diving into the water and then reappearing close by in the water sometimes a minute or more later.  What amazing little birds.

Check this out:   a Bat Star that has trapped a fish and will soon begin digesting it.  Eeew. 

One of the many touch pools we visited -- there were lots of rays and starfish in this one.

Peering into the reef pool at the California Academy of the Sciences... loved this! 

Learning all about Ichthyology -- how scientists preserve fish and where they are stored and what they are used for.  The docent let the children handle the fish just as if they were real scientists.   This was one of the best things on our trip!

This photo says it all -- my three favorite people looking in wonder at all of the fish that you would find in San Francisco Bay.  

The amazing Redwood Forest - trees that are as high as 22 stories tall.    Pictures just can't do it justice.

The banana slug - common in the Redwoods - it is said that if you kiss one you will have good luck.  We blew this one a kiss - figured that was sufficient!

That's it for Science Sunday... lots of hands-on, memorable learning took place last week.  


I'm happily linking with Science Sunday -- check out what other people are doing with Science!

Chameleon Pencils

I recently have been blessed to meet Janice van Cleave online!   She has taken me under her wing and just sent us a box of many science experiments, several books, and lots of other science goodies.  All of this came from a simple inquiry by me on a form from her website... she emailed me and we struck up a dialog about science!  


The experiment she talked me through last week was Chameleon Pencils.  My kids had gotten pencils before that changed colors based on heat and cold, but never understood why.  The same concept applies to mood rings (which my daughter really likes!).


We took each pencil and stood it in a cup of warm water for 5 seconds.  We found that the pencils got lighter when we did this (in the picture you can see what part of the pencil was in the water).    Also, the pencils were then put into cold water for 5 seconds and they turned darker.  My children had hypothesized that just the opposite would happen, so this was a great lesson for them!  

These pencils have been painted with paint containing Leuco dyes, which is fully explained on Janice's website.  I read this explanation to the children and they got it and thought it was "cool".   Can't ask for more than that!    Here's the simple explanation from Janice:

Leuco dyes which have the property of changing from a color state to a clear state when a stimulus is applied, and then returning to a colored state when the stimulus is removed are called reversible Leuco dyes. The stimuli for the color change depends on the dye. Stimuli includes heat and light. Those that are heat sensitive are considered thermochromic. Those that are light sensitive are considered photochromic.

My son followed up with a video on the iPad that Janice linked to about the colors of the rainbow - called Roy G. Biv.  It was cute, and now he knows the order of the colors.  

I encourage you to poke around Janice's website.  She is a veteran science educator and author who truly wants to interact with homeschool moms!   She wants children to learn why things happen, how they work, and to be fascinated with science -- not merely learn science from a textbook.   I'm so glad I've met her and will be working with her!  




*This post is linked to Science Sunday!

Science Sunday - An Easy, Independent Activity

When I first learned about this idea over at Superheroes and Princesses, I sent myself an email (I do that a lot!) to use this activity during the first week of school.  It was SO MUCH FUN!   It was also EASY and something my children did INDEPENDENTLY!    After further investigation, it actually has lots of scientific merit.  Lo and behold, Steve Spangler has an article on his blog about this very activity.   If you've read my blog for a while, you'll remember Steve Spangler's Color Changing Milk experiment we did last year.  Everything he suggests is fun!  


Here's the video:

                               Supplies:

Does it get any better?  24 colors of Sharpies!

White Bandanas (ours were purchased at Hobby Lobby for $.99 each)

Sharpies (I got a huge pack of them at Sam's - we love Sharpies!)

Rubbing Alcohol

Large plastic cups

Rubber Bands

Medicine Dropper

It was so easy, really!




Spread your bandana over nine plastic cups, and put a rubber band around each cup -- making 9 circles (you will draw your designs in these!)




Draw a design in each circle -- it's fun to experiment with what kinds of designs work better.  I would recommend buying several bandanas if you really have crafty kids!  My daughter cut up an old dust ruffle to make more of these so she could keep having fun.

Drop a few drops of rubbing alcohol on each circle and watch the magic happen!  

Let dry for about 30 minutes, then you can put them in a warm dryer to set the color.  You can wash them easily -- remember, water doesn't remove Sharpies!  

It was so much fun that my husband did it again with the kids while I was at a meeting the next day.  It's not very often that daddy gets pulled into a craft project like that.  :-)


You can use them to put on your head (Miss B said that Laura Ingalls wore them when she was working!), or you can use them to cover up your daddy's eyes when you're having a blind fudge taste-test! (that's another blog post, too!)  

   
For the fun of it, check out lots of other things you can do with Sharpies at 100 Ways To Start Something With Sharpie.   (I realize the thought of Sharpies may spark fear in some homeschooling mamas, but if you're brave, go for it!)


Has there been an activity in your homeschool recently that just "worked"?  I love it when that happens!!


*Linking up today with Science Sunday - a great place to get more ideas!