Fall SAVY 2016 (Day 4) – What’s the Matter?

Posted by hallep on Monday, October 17, 2016 in Grade K, SAVY.

Hi parents:

Today, we began our morning with a discussion of our Goop lab last Saturday, and how students enriched their learning at home. Students shared their home experiments and their results. It was priceless! We then reviewed states of matter and what we have learned that we could add to our matter concept map. After adding to our concept map, we talked about molecules and how they relate to states of matter. We became molecules and acted out how we would move, or not move if we were solids, liquids and gases.

Then students each got a baggie with chocolate chips in it. They identified the form of matter as a solid. I then asked how they thought we could change this solid to a liquid. Student suggestions ranged from heating it to holding and squeezing them through the baggies with their hands. We decided to use our hands. Students realized that heat is the key to changing matter into different states. Students then moved to the understanding that matter changes with the addition or removal of heat! This was a marvelous discovery!

Next, we talked about change and what we could add to our charts: Change is everywhere; Change can be manmade or natural; Change is related to time; Change can be random or predictable. Students thought and came up with several ideas. We went out for a “change” walk with our lab journals and students recorded the changes they saw around them. Students clicked into change around them and even continued noticing change as we walked back to the classroom. We added more ideas about change to our charts, and classified them under the categories.

Then, we participated in a lab experiment where students had to figure out another mystery. This time, it was to figure out how a container of saltwater mysteriously disappeared. Students developed their hypothesis, and Miss Holly and I guided them through the Scientific Wheel of Investigation and Reasoning. We set up the experiment, discussed our hypotheses, and then we placed our experiments in the classroom windows to see what we would find when we returned to class next Saturday.

Finally, students explored mass with scales and balances, using objects to try to balance the scales. Students were surprised with their findings, and expressed an understanding that the mass of objects is not always related to size. We will explore in greater detail next Saturday.

The next step for our young scientists is for them to create their own experiments. If you have time this week, please help guide your child towards thinking about questions they would like to try to answer about matter in their own experiment. We will begin planning this lab next Saturday. Thank you, parents!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Tyson