For 2011, I wanted to start incorporating Science into Harmony's preschool lessons. I thought that this was important and provided Harmony with a hands on approach to observation and analysis, even if she is only 4 1/2. In our first attempt at a science project, we decided that we would create an observation book where we could record, collect our data, and write our hypothesis down to clearly define our experiment.
Next, I was looking for an experiment that we could do that coincided with our thematic unit: Winter. *You will get to see more Winter Themed projects that we have completed in the next few days.
Step #1: I started by having Harmony pick some small toys that could fit into a zip lock bag. I ended up finding some jewels that Santa had brought for art projects to put in the bag. After this, we fill the bag up with water, sealed it tightly shut, and then dried off the outside.
Step #2: Write down your thoughts in your observation book. I asked Harmony questions and we wrote them down with her answers. The questions were:
What does the bag feel like?
Is it hot or cold?
Is it hard or soft?
How many objects are in the bag?
What color is it?
Step #3: Place in freezer on a flat surface. Allow it at least 6-12 hours of freeze time. We placed ours in the freezer overnight. Harmony observed the bag for about an hour or two, but seeing as we did freeze it overnight, we didn't check again until we were taking it out the next day.
Step #4: Take it out of the freezer, open the zip lock bag (was a little hard to get off) and remove the entire bag to reveal a beautifully shaped block of ice.
Step #5: Ask your questions again and observe your original hypothesis. Make sure you teach your child vocabulary that contains "liquid" for water and "solid" for ice. Harmony took very well to observing this experiment and because it was so basic (I'm sure you kids see ice all of the time AND water so they know that there IS a freezing process) it is still FUN to focus on your hypothesis of the likely hood of the water freezing.
Step #6: Grab a meat cleaver (with strong parental supervision) and watch your little one make a game of your lesson plan by hammering away.
Harmony did this for about 30-45 minutes with ice flinging EVERYWHERE. After she was done we watched it return to water, which we observed about two hours later. I explained how it was returning to it's original state because of the temperature in the room. We also put it under hot water to see it melting, which was another fun lesson of practical use.
This experiment was given a score of a perfect 10! We loved it!
Inspiring Winter Book's:
