Teacher Netta's Notes - Science

We have such wonderful and talented parents at HCMA!  For the next several weeks, DeAna Irving will be conducting science investigations with the children on Tuesday afternoons.  DeAna is a high school science teacher, and loves to ignite the flame of inquiry in children!

This week marked the second lesson that DeAna has shared with our students. DeAna is great at getting the students to think in creative ways. For example, the kids practiced asking questions, making observations, using adjectives, using their imaginations to create a product, and using problem solving skills. 

Yesterday, each child was paired with another student which made a "scientist team".  Each team was given a picture of a boat and all the boats had different attributes and characteristics. Each team had to use adjectives to describe their boat without telling the rest of the class what the object was. Once each team had a chance to describe their own boat, they all figured out based on the adjectives given that each team was given a picture of a boat!

The children were then given aluminum foil and the task of creating their own boat out of the foil which would have to float in a bucket of water. They were asked questions to promote ideas and thinking of how to create a boat that had parts of what a boat needed and how to make a boat stable in water. Most children figured out that they needed to bend and fold their foil so that their boat had sides. Some boats ended up in a round shape, some boats were triangles, and one boat even had a flag.

Each team was then asked to put their boat in the bin of water and add pennies inside their boat. The task was to count how many pennies could be placed on their boat before it sunk. The kids loved this part! Some boats got 10 pennies, some even got close to 30! After each team had a turn, the kids were so inspired that they wanted to try again and create another boat. It was interesting to see how their boat design changed compared to their first try after they had witnessed which boat floated the longest. 

We are so lucky to have this extra science time and the kids are so excited to see what science activity we will do next!

Do you have a special skill or lesson that you would like to share with the children.  Please get in contact with us today.  We love guest teachers!