Marshmallow Experiment

Thanks to Henry's mom our classroom had a large bag full of JUMBO marshmallows!  

We decided to use them for a hands on experiment showing how we can use physical changes to change matter!  As you can see The Superheroes had a great time exploring the properties of marshmallows before and after physical changes were made.  Guess what!!

 We found out that marshmallows can get quite STICKY!  

For the finale of the experiment, we got to taste the marshmallows

 (even though I always say, "Don't eat the experiments!)

Puff The Magic Dragon

I heard this sweet medley coming from the reading center and I turned around and found this!!

Solid? Liquid? or Gas?

The Superheroes were exploring physical and chemical changes of matter and connecting to all the experiments we have completed in class.  They remembered when we made cinnamon ornaments and that it was a chemical change.  The cool part was when Ms. Patin walked in to tell me something and was so impressed with the knowledge of the students that she stayed for the whole lesson!  Next, we completed a cooperative group activity where the students went around the classroom finding solids, liquids and gases.  Then they had to determine what it was by discussing and answering several questions.  Ms. Patin stayed to listen to the discussions and asked questions of the students. 

A violin is matter.

Last week, I found a violin in the trash.  (I am a teacher so YES I took it!).  I checked with the violin teacher to make sure it was no longer be used.  Over the course of the week, we have been finding ways to make physical changes to the violin.  We unscrewed all the screws, removed the wires, and we even used a hammer to see if we could break it.  Next, we soaked it in water to see what would happen.  The violin came apart very easily when the glue got wet.  

Properties of Matter

We are continuing our exploration of the properties of matter.  Today we explored how to use a thermometer. There was a big discussion about Fahrenheit versus Celsius!!  It was decided that there should be just ONE way to tell the temperature!  Next, we tried to make the mercury rise and fall by using ice and creating heat energy with our hands.  

How to change matter

After all those fun experiments we tried to think of another way to change matter.  We decided to try and crush the hearts!  Using the hammer (with supervision) - we attacked the tiny hearts!! 

 The end result turned into a beautiful mosaic of colors.

The next day we used the picture we created as an object to inspire our writing! 

Analyzing the Data

The BIG Graph

The solution to the conundrum of how to graph ALL the hearts was for me to bring out the BIG roll of graph paper.   Next we created a graph to answer the question:  Which color do we have the most of?  Our estimation based on our individual graphs was that it would be either orange or yellow.

   It was a close call but yellow ultimately showed up on the graph as having the most.  Second place was orange!  Since so many students had a small amount of purple and white we knew it wouldn't be either of those. 

Sorting and Graphing

Next, we wondered what color do we have the most of and what colors does everyone like the most!  As we sorted and graphed the data, we realized that some students had a lot of purple and some did not.  Some students had a lot of yellow and some did not.  The questions arose:  How do we graph ALL the hearts to find out which one color we have the most of?

Experimenting with Solids and Liquids

What will happen to  valentine heart candy when you put it in a clear liquid?  This is what we wondering.  So I brought three clear liquids:  water, Sprite and vinegar.   The first thing we noticed is that we didn't like the way the vinegar smelled!   Of course, as scientists we know that you DO NOT taste the experiments!   We predicted that the hearts would float because we remembered that heavy pumpkins float.  Much to our surprise the hearts sunk straight to the bottom in all three clear liquids.  However,  while observing the experiment we notice that the hearts in the Sprite were beginning to rise to the top!  We are going to observe them for a couple of days to see what happens. 

Valentine's Day

 Just look at those happy faces!  Everyone was so excited to share their special Valentine treats!  We had so much fun with all the creative boxes that everyone made.
Here are some quotes about our day:
Reese chirped, "The most fun thing was seeing the candy."
Teddy yelled, "We got to put heats in vinegar, water and soda!"
Sophie stated, "The most interesting thing was smashing the hearts."
Allie exclaimed, "The most interesting (and fun) part was graphing how many hearts in all."
Ellis howled, "The most interesting thing I did was smash the hearts."
Seema yelled, "We had a lot of fun today because we went outside and smashed our
Valentine hearts."
Warren exclaimed, "The coolest thing we did today was the experiment where we dropped hearts in clear liquids!"

Another Day in Texas

We are sheltering in place because of the rainstorms.  We decided it was definitely cumulonimbus clouds that were coming our way.  We did not count on having to stay in the library for so long, but it was a place filled with books so we were okay.  The Superheroes did a great job being patient and listening to Ms. Patin for important information.  

Welcome Back!

Nothing like beautiful artwork to make my day!  This is what I found from my Superheroes when I returned on Monday!  How amazing and caring my first graders are!  I promised them we would have a regular schedule for the day and then the power went out!  Always an adventure!!

We Made it to the 100th Day!!!

We are so excited that we reached the 100th day of first grade!  The extra bonus was that we also earned our fourth jewel party!  The Superheroes voted to have a stuffed animal day!  

We had fun doing everything the 100th day!  

Author Visit - Jennifer Hamburg

The Superheroes had a very special visitor today - Jennifer Hamburg.   Published author and mom to Hazel.   We were all very excited to ask questions from a "real" author.  First, Ms. Hamburg read her story  Monkey and Duck Quack Up!  We had a lot of fun with that one because it rhymes and it has a surprising ending.  BUT, the best part was Ms. Hamburg shared with us the process a writer goes through and showed us a book that has NOT been published yet!  That's right we got to be the very first kids who read the story;  Billy Bloo is Stuck in Goo.  

Thank you so much Jennifer Hamburg for sharing the writing process with us!

Writer's Workshop

In our quest to becoming published authors...  we must go through the writing cycle.  As you can see it is a messy process that involves a lot of input by other writers.  The students conference together to help each other revise their writing to make it better.  It is a long and arduous process.  

The Superheroes are definitely up to the task!