Spring SAVY 2017, Day 2- Science of the Sea: Diving into Marine Biology

Posted by hallep on Monday, February 6, 2017 in Grade 1, Grade 2, SAVY.

Week 2 in Science of the Sea we learned a little bit more about sea water. We did an experiment to see if an egg would float on freshwater, salt water, or carbonated water. Ask your student which it floated on and why! The answer is: density. Dr. Loren shared her favorite science fact that all solid forms of matter will sink on their liquid form EXCEPT water… which is the exception that allows us to live on this planet!

We went very deep into the ocean and also learned about viscosity; another property of liquids that we see in the very deep oceans. Then we made ocean zone jars. Each layer mimics the viscosity and density of the real ocean zones! We also did a little bit more classification of our ocean animals and discussed the difference between marine animals like fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.

Next week Dr. Loren has a job interview so we are having a guest instructor, Kristin Droege. Kristin is a chemist and SAVY veteran and has taught two rising first grade chemistry courses for SAVY called “It’s Elemental.” She is excited to take a break from writing her dissertation: she defends her PhD in just a couple months! When Dr. Loren comes back in Week 4 we will use microscopes to examine and learn more about the “invisible” organisms in the sea.