Ruby in Science Class

Here's a picture of Ruby in Science class. :)

A Children’s Center Preschool Enrichment Program   Fun Science Facts: Sound travels about 4 times faster through water than it does through the air. Why do those scenes in old movies with miniaturized model ships in the "ocean" look so odd?  Because water is virtually impossible to compress - so while everything else is miniature, the water is its usual size! Science Reminder: You can ask your child what kinds of science tools we've used, and what can be a science tool. We've talked several times about how almost anything can be a science tool, even if people don't usually think it is (like a ping pong ball, a straw, a balloon, or a hair dryer).	Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 Hello Scientist Parents! *** REMINDER *** No Science this week! *** Science classes will NOT be held this week, so we can all focus on our Halloween sings and activities! Speaking of Halloween, you all should have had an early treat come home last week after your child mixed up a batch of Halloween SLIME! We used this slimy excuse to learn about chemical reactions, a fancy science way of saying "mixing things together to get something new." Using just a Borax powder/water solution and a glue/water solution, with a hint of watercolor paint (each student chose their own slime color), we each mixed a batch of the fun, sticky, gooey stuff.  We also learned that the results weren't the same for everyone - slight variations in the amount of water or paint or borax, or even the vigorousness of the mixing, might make one batch of slime more runny and sticky, while another might be thicker - and even bouncy like a rubber ball! This is a fun and simple experiment you can do at home anytime, in just a few minutes.  Although you want to be careful with it indoors, it's a great rainy day activity...when your children are done playing with the slime, just send them out in the rain to get washed off!  :-)     We also did more with flowing and blowing air recently: We used straws and cardboard paper towel tubes to blow ping pong balls, tissue paper, feathers, and more. We had races using only air to blow the ping pong balls across the floor. We learned that even though the paper towel tubes are bigger than the straws, they didn't blow the objects as easily.  Just like a small cup and a large cup that hold different amounts of water, the straw and the tube hold different amounts of air.  Since it takes more air to fill the cardboard tube, it didn't come out as fast or as easily as it did from the straws.  Your child may have also learned an interesting way to pass you a tissue, so just be aware if you ask for one the next time you need to blow your nose... Coming up: We're going to get into a really great science topic over the next couple of weeks: water and liquids!  We'll be doing some sink/float guessing and testing, and experimenting with the density or heaviness of various liquids, plus more fun (hopefully we'll get a little rain we can incorporate as well)! We'll also connect the first few "dots" on our temperature charts to see what kind of pattern is revealed from our temperature readings over the last few weeks. Thanks again for turning your kids on to the fun of science! Sincerely, Teacher Mike
Fun Science for Young Kids