November 2, 2009
Our Book Character Parade/Mad Science Day was a great success. We began the
day by participating in the book character parade around the school sharing
costumes and favorite books. Students from all grade levels came out of
their classrooms to watch as we walked through the halls of Gattis Elementary
displaying great examples of literature!
After specials we used our sense of taste to try pumpkin bread. Most of us
liked it! Then we estimated how many seeds were in our class pumpkin and its
circumference. We made predictions about whether our small, medium, and
large pumpkins would sink or float. We voted and graphed the results on how
to carve our pumpkin. Next we went outside and discovered that the size of
the pumpkin didn't make a difference, and that they all floated! Next we
observed a chemical reaction take place right before our eyes by adding
Mentos to diet soda. Afterwards, we went back to the classroom and created
Elmer's slime by following a recipe and mixing some liquids and a solid and
made a very cool mixture!
After lunch carved our pumpkin and took the seeds out. We observed the
inside of the pumpkin and decided that the reason it floated was because it
was not solid. We then took the pumpkin seeds and made groups of 10 to count
them. Then we watched what happened to our pumpkin when we added dry ice to
warm water, and then dishwashing soap. The children were mesmerized by the
chemical changes that happened right before their eyes! Then we made pumpkin
pie by following a recipe. Lastly we ended our day by acting out the story:
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. It was a very full day.
We will continue a few activities that we did not get to next week such as
using gummy worms as a form of a nonstandard measuring device. We will also
be soaking pumpkin seeds in water to see if we can start a new plant!
Thank you for all your donations! Your assistance made all this possible!
