Mixtures and Solutions

This week we started our multi-month unit on mixtures and solutions. It is usually one of the highlight units of the year. Today students made three different mixtures, while also learning about diatomaceous earth and sodium chloride (NaCl). The goal early next week will be to separate the mixtures back into their original components.

Clay

We started an art project with clay today. The creative ideas and detail students put into their projects were great.

Halloween Fun

Our learning took advantage of the excitement of Halloween on October 31st. For reading, we read an article about root beer and how it can be made. Using the recipe, we made our own homemade root beer for our party that afternoon. As the root beer carbonated throughout the day, we investigated more on dry ice, since that was the item adding carbonation to our drink. The dry ice lab centered around observing this fascinating item. Students finished the lab by writing a scientific claim about dry ice and backing it up with evidence and reasoning. In the afternoon, students read their "spooky" stories they had been writing for the past week around "campfires" in the classroom.