Woodside Science Lab
It has been a long ride, but we are finally back in the science lab! I am so excited to once again be in the lab and be a part of creating a love of science and curiosity for your children. Thank you for this awesome opportunity.
We started our science adventure at the end of last semester by making snow and solving STEM challenges. Some of the students helped out at the Elf on the Shelf factory or Tree Farm by making shelves and trees out of gumdrops and toothpicks. Then there was a problem at the candy cane factory and the students had to come up with a package idea that would safely ship two candy canes. The fifth graders were given the challenge to build tree structures out of paper cups without using their hands or body parts. I was amazed at how all the kids thought outside the box and came up with multiple ways to solve each of the challenges. It was so much fun to watch.
This semester started with most grades learning about Physical Science. A push and a pull, and balanced and unbalanced forces took the kids bowling, and trying to get an egg to fall in a cup of water without touching the egg. Other grade levels turned their attention to solids, liquids, and gases and learned the different states of Matter by converting water from a solid to a liquid to a gas. And, yes, there were some minor explosions. The Fourth graders started the semester studying Life Science and took a closer look at how the eye works by simulating the lens and retina of the eye.
My goal as we go through the rest of the semester and the different sciences is to help each child’s curiosity and understanding grow, and bring them up to grade level in science. To help achieve this, I am looking at the Science standards for each grade level and planning lessons and experiments that fit within those standards using a combination of different platforms such as Generation Genius, Mystery Science, Education in Engineering, Mark Rober, and the Internet.
In the lab we go through a lot of supplies, and many of them are dwindling: paper towels and empty paper towel tubes, empty toilet paper tubes, dish soap and hand soap (lots of hand washing happens in science), sanitizing wipes, cotton balls, cornstarch, balloons, toothpicks, craft sticks, even the trays and bowls that grocery stores use for meat and vegetables, metal pie tins, etc. I can usually find a use for almost anything.
Thank you again for your support of me and the Science Lab, and please stop by and see what we’re doing and even help out.