Is it weather, or climate? That was the question we began with. I had the kids brainstorm what they know about these two terms and then we went through what they'd come up with. We discussed how weather refers to the day-to-day and minute-by-minute changes in the conditions, where climate is the average weather for a specific area. We talked about all the things that are part of the weather--rain and snow, temperature, wind, clouds, and more--and all the things that affect an area's climate--latitude, proximity to oceans and large lakes, altitude, if there are mountains. Then, it was time to bring some of this to life. After talking about how clouds form, we created our own in a jar! (Check out the link below if you want to do this at home--it's simple and you probably have everything you need.) After watching our clouds, we worked on learning the various cloud types. We talked about the roots that are used to name clouds and their meanings, and then the students used cotton balls to form the various types of clouds. If you are curious about what warm air molecules "sound" like, be sure to watch this next video clip. When we were discussing humidity, we talked about how warm air can hold more water than cold air because the air molecules are moving around so much faster and the water molecules don't connect to form bigger drops of water as easily, so the water can remain in the air. Well, the youngest class tried out being cold and warm air molecules for us. They got pretty into it! Additional ActivitiesVideos:
Crash Course Kids: Weather vs. Climate This short video explains the difference between the two. And if they are interested, keep watching the series to learn a little about extreme weather. Ted-Ed: How do Tornadoes Form? Extreme weather is a lot more interesting than our typical weather! Activities: Cloud in a Jar All you need for this simple demonstration is hot water, ice, a match, and a jar with a lid! Shaving Cream Rain Clouds Or make these clouds and watch them rain in color! Warm and Cold Fronts Another simple demonstration of a weather phenomenon. Or just go outside and check out the current weather. Talk about how it changes from morning to evening. Is it hot, or cold? Is there any wind? Look for clouds and see if you can identify what types you see. If they are cumulus clouds, you might want to see what they clouds remind you of.
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We explored the exciting phenomenon of weathering and erosion today. The fact that water and air are both powerful enough to bring down mountains and reshape rocks was pretty interesting. But getting to try it out themselves made it so much more fun. We started with a quick demo on how trapping air in the straw made it strong enough to push through a potato, and went over the homework which helped define the terms we'd be using today.
![]() I think everyone had a lot of fun playing around with this, and trying out different amounts of water, different landforms, and eventually just flooding the whole thing. They saw some interesting situations come up: water appeared in a volcano from under the surface, hills sliding even though the water looked like it was barely even touching the hill, and streams changing their paths. They drew diagrams of their land, before and after and we talked about what they observed during the lab.
Additional Activities![]() Books: Cracking Up: a Story about Erosion Weathering and Erosion Videos: Nick on the Rocks This geologist has a couple dozen short (5 minutes or so) videos on various aspects of geology in the Washington State area. Evidence of how far rivers have moved, ice age mysteries, ghost forests--these are fascinating! National Geographic: Landslides A short video of live footage of different landslides from around the world. This shows just how powerful these can be. Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls (Season 3, Episode 12) If you have Netflix, or other access to the Magic School Bus series, this is a fun one! Activities: Weathering and Erosion Demonstration Using clear gelatin and rocks and soil, you can see the difference between when land is weathered, and when it is eroded. Paper Art: Landforms This is a beautiful project exploring the different landforms on earth for any kids who like to learn through art projects. Create something like this, or go 3D and make a diorama. (Something like this would be perfect for the science fair for the early elementary age.) Mystery Science: Paper Mountains This is set up as a whole experiment, but you could keep it simple and have fun creating paper mountains and then watching what happens when you add water. Local Field Trips: Rock City, Mt. Diablo State Park The sandstone rocks here are a great example of sedimentary rock and how it can be weathered and eroded to create fascinating structures. Black Diamond Mines Tours are offered of this former coal mine and there is a visitor's center as well. Alum Rock Park, San Jose This area was known for the natural mineral springs and although many have been destroyed, you can still see some as you hike. Any time you are at the coast, or hiking, look for the layers in the cliffs, and evidence of weathering and erosion--it's all around us, all the time! After that, we moved on to the plate tectonics and talked about how the top layer of the earth, the lithosphere, acts due to it's solid, rocky nature. We used graham crackers to represent the plates and frosting for the mantle layer and then modeled 4 different plate boundaries. They could see first hand how mountains are formed when the plates collide, or how lava can ooze from a volcano at the site of a convergent plate boundary. Additional ActivitiesVideos:
Could I Dig a Hole Through the Earth? Sci Show Kids about the different layers of the earth and why we haven't even made it through the crust layer. The Core of the Earth This is a longer documentary on the earth from National Geographic. Books: Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth If your kids are fans of the magic school bus, this one goes along with our last couple weeks of class (and we read this in the youngest class.) Under Water, Under Earth I love the detailed illustrations in this beautiful, oversized book. Activities: Create your own model of the earth: Gorgeous Layers of the Earth Soap Project There are so many fun ways to demonstrate the layers of the earth, but this soap project wins for being the most beautiful. But you can also create a model from legos, playdough, cake, paper mache, and so much more. Make a Volcano This one lets you combine earth science with crafting and a little chemistry! Fossil Craft Make your own fossils and talk about which layers of the earth have fossils in them and how they are created. We're back! And this week, we started a new subject--earth science. We'll spend the next few weeks learning about rocks, what our earth is made of and how weathering affects it all. This week, we began with the rock cycle and took a look at some rocks and minerals. We began with a little exploring. There were various rocks on the table for the kids to examine as they came into class. I also put out pictures of famous rocks and let them see how many they could identify and match. A few of the kids had seen one or two of these in person. After a short video on the rock cycle, the older two classes each split into three groups and were responsible for learning about one of the main categories of rocks. They created a poster to teach the rest of the class about their type of rock. Each group then presented their poster to the class while everyone took notes. With this overview of the types of rocks, we were ready for our next activity: Identifying the mystery mineral! Each group was given one or two minerals and tools to examine and test their mineral. They recorded color, luster, and whether it was magnetic. They performed a scratch test, an acid test for calcium carbonate, and a hardness test using the Moh's Scale for rocks and minerals. When they were done with all the testing, I gave them a chart to check their results against and see if they could find their mineral. The youngest class worked on a couple of different activities. We went over the rock cycle, coloring in the different rocks and methods of how they are formed. Then, they created Bingo sheets with the different categories of rocks and minerals and played a round of Rock Bingo. Additional ActivitiesVideos:
Bill Nye the Science Guy: Rocks and Minerals This video covers the rock cycle and types of rocks. Be A Rock Detective A short video aimed for the younger kids on the different types of rocks. Books: DK Smithsonian Handbook: Rocks and Minerals I love these books--so much detail! California Rocks! Follow up our classroom learning with a field trip or two to one of the amazing geological sites located here in our state. Rocks and Minerals of California We love taking identification guides with us when we hike and this rock and mineral one would be a fun addition. (Perhaps the best part: rocks don't fly off while you are trying to figure out what they are!) Activities: Rock Hound Kids Website A mineral gallery, identification game, and many more activities and information for the rock lovers. The Acid Test: Test the rocks you find for calcium carbonate--all you need is vinegar, and rocks! Crack open geodes: You can buy a set of geodes and then crack them open at home and see what is inside! Research why and how these form. |
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May 2020
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