What's the Matter?

 
We are studying matter this nine weeks.  Instead of using valuable class time to watch a Brain Pop video, Property Changes,  and a Bill Nye video States of Matter, the students watched them independently. If you have a  subscription your students could also watch Flocabulary's  States of Matter. Students were able to watch the videos at their own pace on their iPads. Then we were able to take time to complete these two labs.

For the first lab we were investigating that mass of an object is equal to the mass of the sum of its parts.  The students used Legos to construct different objects. What fun!  

They found the mass of their total object.  Next they separated their objects into smaller parts and weighed the individual parts.  Then they compared the total mass to the mass of the sum of the smaller parts.

The students took pictures of their work in progress and used PicCollage to share their finished work.  Thanks to our wonderful Science Mom, Mrs. Carter, for bringing in tons of Legos!

  For our next lab we used pheynol red, baking soda, and calcium chloride to investigate the difference between chemical and physical changes.  The students could actually see evidence of a chemical change taking place:  color change, change in temperature, and gas was formed.  All inside the safety of little baggies.  If you Google Sunset in a Bag you can easily find the directions for this lab online.

Let it Flow, Let it Flow, Let it Flow!

Have you heard about Flocabulary?  If you grew up singing along to School House Rock then you will love Flocabulary and your kids will too!  It's a great site that uses Hip Hop beats to teach everything from grammar to science to math.  They even have A week in Review, a weekly current events sung to Hip Hop.  My kids can't get enough of the grammar songs and videos. I know, right! Right now you can get a free subscription for the rest of this school year for your entire school.  Your students will also get their own personal user name and password so they can listen to the songs "till their heart's content.  I promise, I am not getting paid to say this.  I just think it is a great way to reinforce those skills. I wish I had told you about this sooner.  But think of it as a great way to review before those End-of-the-Year Tests roll around. I guess what they say is true: "Better late than never"! Check it out!