Rock Cycle with Sugar Cubes

 We completed a science lab on the rock cycle using sugar cubes.
The documentation was found here. We use safety first in science, so students are donned with safety glasses and magnifying glasses for observation.

Great News and Peppermint Science

The best news arrived yesterday... my It is Rocket Science! donorschoose project was fully funded. Now, after our Science Fair in February, the middle school students will be creating and launching rockets!

In our last science class of 2015, the students designed and executed an experiment using peppermints. The experiment was three fold:
1. Designing an experiment using the scientific method prepares them for their science fair project when we return.
2. The sugar melts away, which connects to our current unit on weathering and erosion.
3. Its the last science class before winter break, so peppermints are wintery and fun!

Here are some photos from the experiments:

Help Save Fred!

Students worked in pairs to complete the task of saving their gummy worm Fred by getting him into the life saver. This is from: http://mastrianascience.wikispaces.com/file/view/Save+Fred%5B1%5D.pdf
and teaches them to be problem solvers and work together. After the activity, they created a flow chart and reflected on the process. Most groups rated the activity four or five stars on the enjoyment factor.

Acidity and Sour flavor

 In the Science elective, students brought in sour candy to test for acidity. Each student received one of each type of eleven different kids of sour candy. First they taste tested the sour level and ranked them from most sour to least. Then they made a solution with the candy and added baking soda to see it react with water and candy. They ranked the candies by which ones made the most bubbles or foam. Then they looked in the ingredients to see what chemical was reacting.