Sunday, March 25, 2012

Cant you take the heat?

I can, it is already in the 80s in south Georgia!

For the heat transfer experiment, I chose tin foil, plastic wrap, a cotton t-shirt, and a ziploc bag. I hypothesized that the tin foil would hold in the most heat.  After heatingt my water on the stove and leaving it for 30 minutes, the temperature was still too hot to measure a difference.  I let it sit for another 20 minutes.  The mug with the tin foil over it did stay the hottest.  If I were to use a different material, I would have used styrofoam.  I had a piece, but it would not fit over the mug all of the way.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Guided Inquiry Week 2

This week, I chose the question "How do different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles?"  I tried 5 different surfaces.  Cement proved to provide the marbles to go the farthest, and thick carpet the shortest. I was going to try grass.  I tried it about 5 or 6 times.  With my yard as uneven as it is, nothing worked well! That is when I decided to change it to the asphalt slope coming from the road into the yard.  This was different from my other floor choices seeing how it was sloped and thge rest were flat.  One thing that was a problem for the surfaces inside my house was the objects and amount of space to roll the marble. My students would be able to do this experiement, but being second graders, they would definitely need more specific steps to follow as far as directions go.  (That way there is less confusion and trouble!)
~8-O  
Believe me, second graders like to talk instead of listen and then ask 12 times what they are supposed to do! I think a more guided experiment would be better for them. However, the students would have a much better understanding of momentum and friction by doing the experiment than memorizing definitions.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Falling Bodies and Motion

This week I explored motion in my day to day schedule.  There is a lot of motion, especially with 2nd graders! The falling bodies experiement was a short, easy hands-on activity that would engage the students in learning about motion andhow air affects the speed of a falling object.  Step 1: The loose paper floated down and the book fell straight to the ground.  Step 2: With the paper on top of the book, they fell at the same rate, the paper did not come off the book.  Step 3: The loose ball of paper fell slightly slower than the book.  Step 4: The tightly wadded ball of paper fell at the same rate as the book.