We have learned about many properties that matter can have, so we set about separating a mixture of salt, gravel, magnetite, and wood chips using what we knew about properties. Knowing what would dissolve, what would float, what would evaporate, and what would stick to a magnet made it easy!
We explored the concept of density in the lab. We learned that things that are more dense will sink and things that are less dense will float. The most shocking items we explored? The sponge. Almost everyone thought it would float. But, when we squeezed all of the air bubbles out of it, the sponge sank! This week we spent a lot of time in the science lab exploring mixtures and making solutions. We started out by observing gravel, Kosher salt, and diatomaceous earth. Then we added water to each one and stirred. The gravel and the diatomaceous earth both just made a mixture which we could separate using screens and filter paper. The salt made a solution. The only way we could separate it was by letting the water evaporate. Then we tested sugar, baking soda, flour, pepper, and drink mix to find out which ones made mixtures and which ones made solutions. We spent a tough week learning how to design an experiment. We learned that the starting question has to be testable, which means it can only be answered by doing an experiment that compares two or more things. We learned how to write a hypothesis using the phrase "If...then...". We learned about variables. Did you know you can only change one thing in an experiment? Everything else stays the same! And, once we finished with our experiment, we learned that a conclusion was much more complicated that just saying we liked the experiment and can we do it again sometime. |
Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination. AuthorWe are the 5th graders at Paradise Intermediate. Join us on our science journey this year as we stretch our imaginations and make new discoveries! Archives
November 2017
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