Science Lessons from Brown  

scroll to the bottom of the science lessons webpage (PSO: Providence science outreach) above to find the link for homemade ice cream in a ziplock.  it turns out like soft serve.  we did it for co-op and found the secret--lots of ice.  we didn't have quite enough for everyone to be successful  , but even those children whose final product was too soft enjoyed their "milk shake".  this is not for the faint hearted, though, as it takes 30 minutes of real shaking or flipping of the baggie set-up.  below see some tired out co-op participants.  lisa and i walked around and gave the kids short breaks by taking over for them occasionally.

we continued working through GEMS' Bubble Festival unit at this week's co-op. here's the "bubble windows" activity. putting your hand through the window without popping it, or placing windows inside one another, are special challenges. poor lydia has an allergy to either the Dawn dishwashing soap or the glycerin added, because she broke out in a rash.  she was able to continue with gloves.

i made 3 D shapes from pipe cleaners and straws to do a "polygon bubble" activity.  the last activity was "bubble tech"--determining what equipment makes the best bubble blowers.

For our Friday co-op's science class, I did a Bubble Festival.  We're studying the properties of water in Noeo Science's Chemistry I.  The Bubble Festival, though, is an extra project book I bought from GEMS (Great Explorations in Math & Science).  Mark took most of the photos below with his new camera.

above i'm demonstrating how to blow a bubble in your palm with a straw.  the only "blowing" instrument we used for our activities was a straw. below, luke and david make table bubbles.

lydia and raema watch the bubble's stages of color change.  below, landry finishes a bubble.

mary's flickr photo site

these first 2 photos are taken from the science skit on the history of atomic science that we performed with our co-op.  lydia, as einstein, had the chance to explain how he came to recommend the building of the atomic bomb, but later regretted it. he's sporting his nobel prize.

luke, aka jj thomson, explained how he received the 1909 nobel prize for discovering the electron, but had trouble with breaking the lab equipment.

luke at his 7th b-day superhero party, sitting between spiderman and batman. he's playing "pass the parcel". the final opening of the parcel revealed a secret note leading to the location of the krypton-laden meteorite.  the kryptonite was a pinata that would have to be "destroyed" to help their friend, superman.  everything went according to plan except that the pinata turned out to be too difficult to destroy!  several adult males had to "help" the younger superheroes.

here, lydia tries out the stilts that were part of the obstacle course.  after all, superheroes have to remain fit! a girlfriend and i did the party jointly for her and my son, which really helped with the work, so we were able to plan some nicer games.

yes, and here's the photos to prove it. louisiana t-shirts were a gift from granny. this is the one time my husband led the hs co-op's science class.  i was happy for him to be in charge of baiting the hooks with liver.  boiling, peeling, & eating  the "mudbugs" came later.   

this took place during a warm spell last month.

we're studying the history of atomic science for our science co-op i lead.  coming up is a science "awards" ceremony complete with gold medals given to the scientists. each one, in costume, has to come forward to get their award and explain something about what they discovered.  i wrote the script, but all the ideas are in the book how to split the atom, which is a very amusing part of our science curriculum for this year: noeo.