Ice/Frost/Static Electricity:
Ice:
From Stormie:
My very favorite science activities for
"Ice/Frost/Static Electricity" have been reserved for my "WINTER"
booklet (see the "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers" section
of my website).
From
Stacy:
I filled our Water Table with lots of different
sized ice chunks and we explored the properties of ice. It was fun.
From
Stormie:
I love Stacy's idea above. Here's
the start of a list of extensions/variations/questions we can use with her activity:
*How
does the ice feel?
*Have
children handle the ice with mittens. How is this different than using your
bare hands? How does it feel now?
*Have
children observe the ice when you first put it into the table, then have them
return later in the morning. What has happened to the ice chunks?
Are they the same size as they were before?
*Have
children place chunks of ice into containers and place them in various parts of
the classroom, building, or outdoors. Which melts faster? Slower?
*What
happens if we shake the ice? Can we roll the ice? Go behind something
so your body can't be seen. Have children determine by the sound whether
you are shaking or rolling the ice.
More
from Stacy:
*Add
salt and see what happens to the ice and discuss it. (If you add food coloring
to the salt, children can see how it works as it melts down into the ice.)
From
Sheryl C. in Portland, Oregon:
Objects In Ice:
I freeze all kinds of small objects (plastic animals and fish, buttons, bells,
letter/number tiles, shells, rocks, etc) in ice cube trays, margarine bowls, etc.
You can vary the objects depending on your theme (water animals when doing the
ocean, farm animals when doing the farm, etc.). I sometimes add food coloring
to the water before freezing it. Right before class begins, I pop the ice
out of the containers and into the water table. I provide spoons and other
tools for the children to help them chisel the small objects out of the ice.
They love doing this! It's also a great science lesson......they realize
that as the morning progresses, the ice begins to melt and some of the objects
are released naturally.
Other ice shape
options: Keep your eyes open for those cute ice cube trays that come in all kinds
of shapes. I usually can find them at our local Goodwill (I just found one
with hearts).
Here's
two great ideas from Becky McGonigle in Orlando, Florida:
>Freezer
Bag Fun: We gave each child a zip-lock baggie to which they added miscellaneous
classroom manipulatives (animals, plastic letters, lego blocks) and glitter. We
then filled the bags with water and froze them. When the bags were frozen,
we played the "I Spy With My Little Eye" game. For example, a
color was called and the children looked to see if they could "spy"
an item in the baggies that was that color.
>Ice
Castles: We filled castle-shaped sand buckets with water and then froze them
in the refrigerator. The next day, I placed them in a large shallow roasting
pan and provided the children with eye droppers and liquid watercolors (blue and
red) to which salt had been added. It was wonderful fine motor practice
trying to work the eyedroppers, and the color mixing was great science as the
water in the pan became purple, not to mention the fact that the salt created
holes in the ice blocks.
From
Stormie:
New Fun With Old Rhymes
By the way, here's an interesting discussion topic and science experiment: What is "sleet?" (It's a mixture of snow and ice.) Do you think we could make some sleet in our classroom?
From
Elsa in Canada:
Ice Painting: I let the children
paint on canvas with frozen tempera (tempera paint ice cubes) or watercolor sticks
(made the same as you would make popsicles). Of
course, remind the children that these are only for painting, not eating.
Frost:
From Stormie:
New Fun With Old Rhymes
Here's a cute little poem you can read to
children -- just to reinforce a love for poetry (define unfamiliar words).
This would especially fit nicely with the "frost" activities found in the science
section of my Winter booklet:
Static
Electricity:
I have
reserved my favorite "Static Electricity" activities for my "Winter"
booklet found in the "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers"
section of my website. I will post more ideas here when/if I can create
new ones.
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