Science Investigations

[Guest Sezbina]

Our Science co-ordinator is coming into the Nursery next week to watch a Science investigation. Our learning objective is to observe changes in materials. Anybody got any good, tried and tested ideas?

[Guest]

Just a few quick simple ideas - making jellies, ice lollies, baking biscuits, cakes and bread, cooking eggs, pasta, potatoes. Making clay and dough models - bake and notice changes. Mixing soap and water to make bubbles. Look at changes that can be reversed - melting ice, chocolate.

 

Sorry if these are all the obvious ones

 

Harricroft

[Lorna]

Melting ice would be my choice with all this cold weather.

 

In my reception class last year I filled the water tray with ice cubes and also some ballons that I have filled with water and then frozen... the conversations and the look of awe on the children's faces at being able to play with it and see what happens was delightful.

 

Clay is also an interesting one as if you add water it goes really wet and slimy and if it is left to drey it goes brittle.

 

have fun whatever you choose to do

 

Lorna

[Guest]

Hi,

 

We're currently doing this topic in school (Changes in Materials) One really good idea the children loved was to put "ICE HANDS" in the water tray. Over the weekend i used a latex glove, filled it with water, added some food colouring and popped it in the freezer. Today when we used them i also filled latex gloves with water so they could compare before and after. Believe me it went down really well.

 

Hope it helps

[Guest]

Hi Sezbina

We've also done the frozen glove one-in fact when our OFSTED inspectors came in one of them suggested it to us. The children loved it!

Linda

[Steve]

Hmm. Not sure I approve of this one but Helen has scared the living daylights out of me by putting soft toys in the freezer after spraying them with water. The next morning she takes the frosted frozen bears, pandas etc into the nursery and asks the children what she should do with these poor old toys who have been left out all night. Suggestions have included cuddling, put some gloves and hats and coats on, use a hairdryer, etc.

 

This is all very well if you survive the shock of opening the freezer in the morning and spotting the frozen faces staring out at you...

[Susan]

Hi,

I've just made dough with my class! Do you have access to a microwave?

we trouped to the staffroom and I'm sure that was more interesting than waiting for the microwave to ping but if you could move one to the classroom and have it at the children's level it could work well.

The cooked playdough can be made in the microwave, takes about 4 mins depending on quantity and power output but is alot easier than forever stirring in a saucepan!

 

I explored the ingrediants as we used them

ie tasted the salt, children thought it was sugar when they saw it!

felt the softness of the flour,

talked about cupfuls etc ( full/ empty).

 

I used a pyrex bowl so we could observe changes as we mixed the ingrediants and added the food colouring at the end so that children could observe the way the colour mixes through the mixture.

Then the cooking produced the dough form that the children are familiar with! I stir and check it every minute so you can see the changes and makes sure it does not cook around edges too fast.

Children can also feel the heat in the bowl after first minute but it can get VERY HOT so do be careful.

 

Then the children kneaded the dough with me which is also a different experience to cold dough.

 

Have fun, whatever you choose.

 

Susan

[Guest Sezbina]

Thanks for all the fantastic ideas. We froze polar bears and put coloured 'icebergs' in the water tray in the end. The children loved it. Thanks again.

[Guest cat33]

Steve, I love the frozen teddy idea. Will remember that one. Must remember to tell Hubby before I try it. Chris

[Dahlia]

I recently had a go at the frozen teddy idea.

 

Although I neglected to spray water on it, so it was just very cold!

 

However, I left it outside first thing in the morning, and the children noticed it as they came in. One of them asked why he was outside, i expressed surprise and we brought him inside.

I asked the children how we could warm him up..use a heater..a hot water bottle..a dummy..a blanket.

We wrapped him in a blanket and sat him next to a heater and checked him regularly to see if he was getting warmer. The children were very concerned and kept going to him independent of any adult to see how he was and to wrap blanket around him again.

 

The children got an awful lot from this activity and it is one we shall certainly use again.

 

Thanks for the idea.

 

Catherine

[Helen]

You're very welcome Catherine. Glad it worked well.

[Guest cat33]

Another frozen idea is a toy - we used an animal - frozen in a cup. We then put the block of ice containing the frozen objects on the table during snack time and watched the ice melt and the animal emerge!

The children were interested in how the animal looked through the ice.

Chris <_<

[lizzie]

ok so we have to do a wacky science activity during science week with a reception class... oh by the way i am stressed third year student who doesn't know class...at all!!!

has anyone out there tried to make glue?

thought it would be interesting, fun and a challenge?! (changing materails and all that!)

any recipes, tips, ideas? ?

Xx Lizzie

[Guest]

When I was little we used to use flour and water paste, it seemes to work OK