Flower power

A way to combine science and visual art!

Science Fair Afternoon

We made lava lamps and the kids were SO excited!!  Here we are, all together!

Rain Forest Mural

With Andi and Ginger's wonderful guidance (and hours of hard work), our combined rain forest came to life!

Do you see the leaf cutter ant?

Here's another one!

Have you SCENE it?

Crime scene investigation!

That was the topic of today's science class.  A forensic specialist, Mr. Brocky, came and explained how CSI works and his experiences at the police department at CSU, Fullerton.

In the classroom, he had set up an actual crime scene.  As he was explaining the investigation process, a mug was passed around.  Everyone took a look at the mug - holding it up to the light, observing items that may serve as a clue.  Needless to say, we were the ones putting all the evidence on the mug, with our fingerprints.  Oops!

Then he showed us his investigation kit that investigators would use while scoping out a scene.

There were different powders that could be used to find the fingerprint, special tape, fingerprint cards that had both a white and black side, depending on the powder that was used, distilled water, cotton swabs, a black light to capture items that are made of protein that have already been cleaned up, etc.

Note to self: use bleach to clean up an area.  Traces of blood, drinks, other liquids can still be detected with a blacklight even if we do not see anything.

To properly investigate a crime scene and to lessen the evidence contamination, investigators try to retrace their footsteps.  They also put numbers beside each article so that it is easier to identify later on.  Measurements are also taken vertically and horizontally from the wall (or another fixed object) so that they may recreate the scene if necessary.  Bullets shells are taken by investigators for an examination by a ballistic specialist, as each one fired have unique "carvings" on it.  They also check for fingerprints and DNA on every item, as it is most often the best and the only way to identify the suspect of the crime.

The presentation was fantastic and extremely informative.  Which was made even better because it was followed by an environmental investigation lead by Block 3's students.  We had to find the suspects and victims who were involved in a pollution crime.  It was a great inquiry-base lesson about air, water, and land pollution.

Then we went on to even more investigation with Dr. Gautreau.  The mystery - find the screw driver the caused the crime:

 Here is half of our suspects.

  

Here are the tools we have to recreate the scene: a rule and clay

Here are our clay samples:

The result after quite a few measurements and different ways of poking the clay, our guess was screw driver #3.

In Dr. Guillaume's class, we tested the effects of vinegar and iodine on baking soda, sugar, and corn starch and recorded our results on a data chart.  Here are the physical results:

The powder in the first row is baking soda.
Second row is sugar
Third row contains corn starch.

After recording the physical properties and the changes that occurred, we were handed a "mystery blend" and had to figure out the ingredients in the blend.  Due to time restraint, a one-hour lesson became a 20-minute one.  Nevertheless, the modifications and extensions that we can take away are innumerable.

Science, crime and mystery can definitely be a part of the classroom! Block 3 and 4 witnessed it and can provide proof of the events that occurred. :)  We definitely are not afraid to recreate it, either.

Race cars and chocolates

What do race cars and chocolates have in common?  Both can be lessons that combine math and science standards that are necessary for our students to learn!

This morning, we started our science lesson with making a quick picture walk of a science model book.  Our professor provided supplies from FOSS that would be necessary to make race cars.  Since every person had the same book, we were required to make at least one modification to the race cars that were presented in the manual so that we can see some differences in the speed of the cars.

This was the very first model of our car.  We then realized that the larger, cardboard box wheels didn't roll very well.

We took off the wheels and added some weight on the car.  By the way, the car is called Valana - a mixture of Valerie and Bryana.  Extremely original, I know!

Here's the race:

I am content to say that Bryana and I won first place!! :)

Here is how we won:  I am extremely sorry for the horrific video footage.

Did you see it?  Did you see it go so far, that it went down the gutter?  Thankfully the gutter was dry!!

Chemical Reactions!!

Chemical reactions!  Exothermic?  Endothermic?

In science today, we created a chemical reaction mixing sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and calcium chloride with water or phenol red.

CaCl2 + 2 NaHCO3 → 2 NaCl + CaCO3 + H2O + CO2(g)

That is the balanced equation of the chemical reaction that took place.

Here are some observable changes that occurred when we mixed the calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate:

• change in temperature (increase)
• change in color
• change in state

We tested the items separately to see what was creating the change in temperature and recorded our responses:

• calcium chloride + water
• calcium chloride + phenol red
• sodium bicarbonate + water
• sodium bicarbonate + phenol red

We realized that calcium chloride mixed with a liquid has an exothermic reaction, heating up the product and that sodium bicarbonate with a liquid actually cools down, also creating an exothermic reaction.

Taking it a little further, we were looking at the effect of adding carbon dioxide to the mixture - will that cause a change?  Blowing with a straw into the mixed chemicals, we realized that it also created a chemical reaction - the solution heated up.

It was a lot of fun!  And a wonderful idea to share with the students!! :) 

Tropical Rain Forest Animal

With the help of artistic block 3, we're trying to create a tropical rain forest mural in EC-64.  Each student is responsible for drawing/painting one (or a portion of one) tropical rain forest animal or insect, representing all the different layers of the forest. 

I adopted the leaf-cutter ant.  There it is, very hard at work, cutting leaves, helping in the mutual relationship with fungi in the rain forest.  I will soon be learning more about them and will definitely share my findings!

For the mural, I have painted three ants.  They are a little bit bigger than its actual size.  I will post pictures of the ants, as well as the mural once it is completed!  In the mean time, here are some other images of leafcutter ants as well as videos offered by National Geographics.

Field Day at the Aboretum

Task: To find plant species, temperatures, and describe the environment in the Desert, the Woodland, and Tropical Rain Forest.  All of this, done at the CSU, Fullerton Arboretum.

What an adventure! It was my first time at the Aboretum and my-oh-my! there are a lot of really interesting plants there!  We observed some of the plants in the region to see what kind of qualities they have.  Then we took the temperature of the soil at ground level, 1-inch deep, and 1 meter up.  Technically there would be greater differences in temperature if we were really in the different biomes, however, because we were in the same city, about 2-300 feet away from each of the ecosystems, there weren't too drastic of a difference.

We also looked around to see what kinds of animal life are present in each of the areas.  We realized that there were a lot more birds and bees in the Desert region than in the Woodlands, however spider webs were present everywhere.

Here are some pictures of what we saw. 

A fig tree that is specific to India and Pakistan

 Aloe Vera plants close to the desert

 Large leaves, typical of plants in the Tropical Rain Forest where they always try to catch some water or sunlight in order to survive.

You can also click here to see the powerpoint presentation of our morning in the arboretum.

Today in Science, we made a podcast about Conor the Conifer.  We went around campus taking pictures of a tree that we were interested in.  The pictures were broken down into 100%, 50%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5%, 2%, 1%, and then microscopic zoomed photos using a proscope.   The computers were able to take pictures of what we saw.

We recorded the sound/voice-over using Audacity - a program that I have never used before.  Then we used iMovie to put everything together.  It's really exciting!  I'll hopefully post the end-product on the blog soon enough.

A Comparison of 2nd and 5th grade Science Standards

Meaning of Science

The definition of science is definitely something different for everyone.  For me, science really is everything that encompasses our lives - from Aspirin to Zip-lining down a hill in Hawaii.  All of these things required some form of science, some form of observation, experimentation, reproduction of facts and results.

I will soon add the cover of my composition book to show you just exactly what science means to me.  Until then, happy exploration and observation!