What better way to teach the children that a constellation is a group of stars that form a picture than by making them create their own picture of a constellation.  In the following list, you will see what kind of constellation each student created.

Amaya – heart

Mackenna – face

Jacob – cheerleader

Kelsie – heart

Samantha – sun

Jacob – turtle

Clayton – deer

Cassie – butterfly

Andrue – alien

Aniyah – chair

Connor – dinosaur

I try to do experiments with the kids for every lesson, if there is one related to the topic.  The kids really enjoy getting to see these experiments and predict what they think will happen.  Then, after the experiment, we can discuss what actually happened and why.  I think these experiments are great hands-on visual aids for the students and a great way to reinforce the lesson we are learning in science.

Take a close look at the kids and see if you can figure out what they are doing.

Morgan is holding up a jar that shows oil and water will separate and not mix.  At first, when we shook the bottle, they did mix.  Once we let it sit for a few seconds, we were able to see the two liquids separating.  Later, in reading, we were able to relate this concept to a story we were reading about how ducks don't actually get wet, because their feathers are covered in oil.

Clayton was observing a way to separate the dirt and water.  We could have simply pulled the dirt out, but by waiting, we were able to see that the dirt separated itself by sinking to the bottom. 

Aniyah was able to observe a sponge that would float to the top of a container of water.  Then, we brainstormed other objects that would sink or float in water.

Amaya, Jacob, and Taylor were able to show use that a liquid takes the shape of its container by pouring the same amount of water into each bottle.  Even though one may look like it has more or less, they all actually contain the same amount even thought the bottles are different sizes

Samantha was able to show us an example of the state of matter called gas by blowing air into this balloon.  Even though we can't see it, we know it is there since the balloon is getting bigger.

Amaya, Cassie, Jacob, and Connor were able to use pipe cleaners to show us how to bend an object.

Connor, Savana, and Mackenna are showing us how you can change or shift the weight of an object by using a yardstick with balloons on it as a balance. As soon as one of the balloons are popped, the yard stick will lean toward the side that still has a balloon on it.