Class on Thursday, October 30

Today was another day to give presentations and my partner and I went today. We were first!! Since we did not get through everyone that was supposed to go Tuesday, today we had to go quick. Our project was called Water Magic and it was for second graders. We started off showing water in a solid form, which is an ice cube. Then to show water in liquid form, we allowed it to melt. Then, we explained that the next part would take longer than one class period so if we would actually do this in a classroom, we would just explain it now and then show them the cup in a week or so. The part that takes a while is showing the water evaporated. A film is supposed to appear on the cup after sitting on a shelf for a while. After discussing that, we showed water in gas form, which is steam. We heated up water in a tea kettle and held up a mirror to the spout to show the steam. After this part, our presentation was completed and the class filled out the assessments we created. The second group to go did their project on simple machines. They did a good job. Their lesson plan was for sixth graders, which I think sixth graders would have loved this project. They took apart a clock to see what simple machine was inside. If I would ever teach older kids, this would be a good project to share with them. The third group did a project on which type of cup would keep ice the coldest the longest; they had a metal cup, Styrofoam cup, and plastic cup. This was for 4th graders, which I think was appropriate. The next group went and their presentation was called Matter and Mixtures. This would be a neat experiment to do for older kids instead of third graders like they said. Some of the vocab words used like heterogeneous would be hard for third graders to understand. Group number five was next and their project was about magnets for 2nd or 3rd graders. This was a good project, they went through different objects to see if they were magnetic. The sixth group went next their lesson was called "Motion of Molecules in Water." I am not sure what grade level this was for but I think kids would enjoy this lab. They gave each table hot water and cold water and we were supposed to put a couple drops of food coloring in each one and see which temperature of water would disperse the molecules faster. The hot water dispersed faster than the cold water. This was a neat experiment. The last group of the day went and their experiment was to teach the scientific method to 2nd or 3rd graders by using frosting to mix secondary colors. This would be a neat experiment also because it was fun and it taught something at the same time. It was fun to watch everyone today, I think I got some great ideas that I could use in the classroom some day.