I'd love to explain each center just a little so that you can get your child talking about it over the weekend! Here goes...
Solar Panel Center
Scientist Emily used a lamp to activate solar-powered devices, such as a toy car, a light etc. (I'm told the solar-powered car can be purchased at Mastermind, if anyone has a birthday coming up.) One of the machines that was solar-powered was a spinning machine which was used to create artwork by spinning paint on a disk. We learned that solar panels require light energy from the sun to produce electricity.
How did Emily make the car move without touching it?
What is the most important source of energy?
Solar Energy Center
Students discussed the harmful effects of the sun and what we can do to protect ourselves. They learned about how the sun makes the wind and made a pinwheel which uses the wind in order to move.
How can we protect ourselves from UV rays? (I heard at least 4 different ideas)
What happened to your UV bead on your bracelet outside? Try this again, it will work 100 times!
Can you describe how the sun makes the wind? (think about hot and cold air)
Students made predictions about which colour would absorb the most heat, and then measured the temperature as a bulb shone on a white shirt and a black shirt. Students also experimented with heating up air inside a bottle. By warming the bottle with their hands, and because hot air rises, they were able to create a bubble on top of the bottle. It shrank when the air was cooled by dipping the bottle in cold water.
Which t-shirt absorbed the most heat, black or white? Was your prediction correct?
How did you make the bottle blow a bubble? Try this at home!
The link above is an activity similar to the one we did. We didn't squeeze the bottles. We simple rubbed our hands together and "hugged" the bottle to heat it up.
Students discussed how the sun is the most important source of energy for the world, and how it helps us grow food, which in turn gives us energy. Students discussed where different objects (e.g., flashlights) get their energy (e.g., batteries) and whether those sources are renewable or non-renewable.
What does renewable and non-renewable mean?
Where does a night-light get energy? Is this a renewable source?
Students were given a little model house where they had to identify areas where energy was being wasted. They talked about why we should be trying to save energy, and doctored up the house with new pictures and various forms of insulation so that it would be a more efficient home. They played a game which encouraged them to think about alternatives to using an energy-dependent device (e.g., what could we do instead of vacuuming, or watching tv?).
How was energy wasted in the pretend house?
Why is it important to save energy?
I hope this makes for some very interesting conversations. It was interesting how some of the experiments connected to each other, and to what we have been talking about in class. We will spend a bit more time on this unit, certainly going back over some of these experiments, and then we will move on to our final social studies unit of the year, on People and Buildings in the Community.