In my pre-kindergarten class, we work on learning the alphabet, focusing on a letter per week. We learn to write the letters and work on letter sounds, and we do various projects to reinforce the letters, such as art projects and songs. Sometimes, we do a science experiment to go with the letter, such as when we soak an egg in vinegar to make the shell dissolve. The kids love the experiments, so I'm always on the look out for relevant ones.
I pinned a rainbow experiment earlier this year, because it looked too good to be true. Here it is:
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| http://www.our-everyday-art.com/2013/02/ science-project-food-dye-color-wheel.html |
Then, during "R" week and without waiting to see if it would even work, I opened my big mouth and told my class that we would make a rainbow. One of my girls was so excited, she asked me about a hundred times if we were going to make a rainbow that week. I told them we would try it, but I wasn't sure it would work.
On a tray, I put six clear cups (only needed five), three of them filled with water, and the wrong number of folded paper towels (the pick-your-size type, which are roughly half the size of a regular paper towel), and some food coloring.
I put food coloring in the cups of water so we had one red, one yellow and one blue cup of water, realized I should have gotten spoons to dissolve all the food coloring, waited for my assistant teacher to bring them to me and stirred. Next, I put one end of a folded paper towel in the cup of red water and the other end in an empty cup. Then I put the end of a folded paper towel in that same empty cup, with the other end in the yellow, then repeated for the blue, like this:
It took a few minutes, but the colored water began to creep slowly up the paper towels.
You can really see it with the cup between the red and yellow as orange water begins to gather in the bottom.
IT WAS REALLY WORKING!
The class was very, very patient as we watched the water levels in the cups change.
Then I said, Hey, we could add another empty cup, put all the cups in a circle, and get purple! I no longer had too many cups.
I put food coloring in the cups of water so we had one red, one yellow and one blue cup of water, realized I should have gotten spoons to dissolve all the food coloring, waited for my assistant teacher to bring them to me and stirred. Next, I put one end of a folded paper towel in the cup of red water and the other end in an empty cup. Then I put the end of a folded paper towel in that same empty cup, with the other end in the yellow, then repeated for the blue, like this:
It took a few minutes, but the colored water began to creep slowly up the paper towels.
You can really see it with the cup between the red and yellow as orange water begins to gather in the bottom.
IT WAS REALLY WORKING!
The class was very, very patient as we watched the water levels in the cups change.
Then I said, Hey, we could add another empty cup, put all the cups in a circle, and get purple! I no longer had too many cups.
You'll sort of have to trust me that we made purple. I forgot to take a picture.
IT WAS SO COOL!
And so easy!
WIN!
Cool!
ReplyDeleteI know, right?!
DeleteVery Cool.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, it is!
DeleteOut blog hopping from North Carolina during the #Challenge. I love finding new blogs like yours along the way. Your R post is fantastic, what a wonderful teacher you must be to provide your students with a great project like this. They won't forget it. Love that you blog is readable. So many are not! I am visiting on the letter S day. I have been writing about hotels and inns this year as my theme. I stayed in a wonderful hotel in Seattle that made it into a second novel I wrote. If you have time or interest, please visit. Thanks for all the hard work it is obvious you have put into participating. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words! I appreciate you stopping by. I have had a rough couple of weeks and am terribly behind in my blog reading, but know that I will be by to visit your blog in the near future!
DeleteHow brilliant! You sound like a wonderful teacher. ~Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I have to admit that preschoolers are pretty easy to impress.
Deletethat is really neat - a sure win and success :)
ReplyDeleteYou know you want to do this, Marisa!
DeleteThis is really cool! And easy! My sister is a first grade teacher and I think her kids would love this.
ReplyDeleteIf she does it, you'll have to let me know! I was disappointed in the shade of purple I got, but other than that, it worked perfectly!
DeleteI just want to get two weeks per year to be a student in your class. Cheapest mental health boost ever!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever made rainbows by using clear gelatin cut in strips to make bendable prisms? Shine the light through it as you are bending it (takes three to four hands btw) and bounce light onto something reflective---we used the front of our stainless steel frig. Also cool.
Come any time and join us.
DeleteI made some kind of unflavored gelatin plastic one time, but I think it was way back when I was in college. Your prisms sound cool. Something to remember for next year!