5th Grade: Prior to starting our earth science unit, we are taking some time to do some fun experiments. On Wednesday, we will mix Diet Coke and Mentos, which will create a four foot plus fountain of soda on the yard. I initially thought this was a chemical reaction, but after some research, found that it is generally thought to be a physical reaction. The Mentos candy has tiny pits on it, which promotes the fast formation of gas bubbles on the surface of the candy when it is dropped in. The gas is already present in the soda in smaller formations. Who knew?? The students will record observations and come up with some scientific questions about how they could futher modify the experiment to understand the process more. Questions to ask your students: What happened when Ms. Jenkins dropped the Mentos in the soda bottle? What did you observe? Were there differences in the two bottles? How did that affect the size of the fountain?
4th Grade: This week, the 4th graders will be making and experimenting with "oobleck," a water-cornstarch mixture. Not only is this stuff really fun to play with, but it's an interesting example of a solid-liquid mixture that behaves in unpredictable ways. From what I understand, it also mirrors the way that quicksand behaves, making it somewhat relevant to our earth science unit! Questions to ask your students: How did the oobleck feel? What happened when you ran your fingers through it? What happened when you took a ball of it in your hand and squeezed it? What happened when you hit it really hard? Why are these observations so surprising? The students will also be taking home a little baggie of oobleck, so they can show it to you! Ms. Lee's class will be working on this on Wednesday, and Ms Govil's class on Thursday.
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