Summer Science Club Experiments

This has been the greatest fun I have ever had in the summer.  Parents have asked me to continue the science program I have created for my kindergarten class.  I called a few parents of this years’ class and believe it or not, I ran into some others I have taught in past years and mentioned it to them. All were thrilled, and our once a week group has started.

                                           WEEK 1  Carbon Dioxide

Nothing is more exciting for kids than blowing things up, or shooting liquid into the air so we did carbon dioxide experiments. We talked about gas in the air that we need, which is oxygen, and how that is given off by plants and how they in turn they use the carbon dioxide we exhale. Then I said we are going to do experiments that create carbon dioxide that explodes.

1.      

A.We put vinegar and baking soda in a bowl to see what happens. Vinegar is an acid  and when combined with baking soda it begins to fizzle almost like an explosion. In class we use it to “blow up” the volcano’s we make when studying rocks and minerals. I also explained it makes carbon dioxide.

   

                                                                                                         

                                              

    B. The second thing we did was to put vinegar in a water bottle (about ¼ the way up) and about 2 teaspoons of baking soda in a balloon. Put the balloon over the bottle top and the baking soda will drop into the vinegar and create the gas (carbon dioxide) to blow up the balloon.

2.       Our next experiments were with dry ice.  Dry ice is carbon dioxide frozen.                                   

      A. First I showed how movies make the foggy air by putting water on dry ice. Kids love the foggy look but it sometimes frightens them when they watch a movie. After they see how it is made the scary part doesn’t bother  them                                                                                                 

          

  B. I put dish soap on the dry ice to make a bubble factory which always excites them.

                                                       

 

 

 

 

 After that I showed the reaction metal has when it touches dry ice—it sings, and different size utensils make different sounds.                                                                                                                                          

      C. For the culmination of our dry ice experiments we wanted to see if it would blow up a balloon bigger than the vinegar and baking soda one.  We did that two ways--1.one was putting dry ice into a bottle and putting the balloon over it. It did blow the balloon up. 2. The next question was what would happen if I put the  dry ice directly into the balloon.  The carbon dioxide would release so much gas until the balloon would get so big it would break with a loud pop—which was exciting to watch.

 

 

3.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Our next experiment was to use ½ cup hair peroxide (I used 40%) to 3 tablespoons dry yeast and a drop of food coloring. The effect was very pretty—The concoction blew up not into a gas but a soapy sculpture shape.

 

 

 

 

4.       Our most exciting experiment was diet coke and Mentos candy.  I made a tube out of paper that fit right over the top of the bottle to drop 4 Mentos in.  What a tall explosion! They thought this was the best experiment! It went at least 4 feet up.  We explained the chemical reaction to produce the gas again but continued on to see if other sodas react the same way—even diet coke by other companies (they don’t).

This first club day was so exciting no one wanted to miss the next one, even my  grandchildren  who gave up a day of camp to come to Gammy’s science day.

 

                                      SCIENCE CLUB WEEK 2 Polymers

 Mess was so much fun the first week I continued by making polymers. Thank goodness for being able to do all this outside.  We talked about atoms and molecules and what a polymer was. I visually show this by having the children hold hands and pretend we were molecules and have them move loosely around. I explain that polymers are molecules that make a plastic material that has movement.

1. Our first squishy experiment was making a polymer with corn starch and water in a big plastic container so they could step in it--I also used a plastic dish container from the dollar store. I let the kids put their hands in the containers to mix the water and starch together to form a slime which they thought was the greatest! Then I had them take off shoes and socks and step in it. To their big surprise it got hard and they could walk on it like a solid without the squishy feeling. Then they played with it again with their fingers and it was slimy again.  I explained how a polymer can get  and  be hard and soft just like plastic.

 

 

 

2. In a paper cup each child made crazy putty with 1 inch white glue, 3 tablespoons water, and 1 tablespoon borax (found in the soap isle of the grocery store). I use a Popsicle stick to mix.  This mixture was more dense and pliable than the corn starch. If you put more borax it can bounce.

 

 

3. For this crazy putty we used ¼ cup white glue to ¼ cup liquid starch and I added a little water to the glue.  This putty was even more stretchy, more like the flubber the kids buy in the dollar store.

 

 Before we ended we again discussed molecules and how to make polymers and named some plastics they used. At the end of the club I put all their putty in a plastic sandwich bag for them to take home.

 

 

Science from school to home

SCIENCE FROM SCHOOL TO HOME

There is nothing more exciting to a child than a messy or wondrous experiment and the feeling that he is an adventurous scientist.  This weekend my 8 year old grandson was visiting and as usual we played scientist and we made slime.  This time we used cornstarch, water, and green food coloring. What a fun gooey mess! He dripped it all over the kitchen cabinet and onto the floor even though I had put newspaper under the bowl, but he had such fun.  I showed him how to punch it for a funny sound and to make it stiff, how to squeeze it and to make it feel hard, and how to just put it back into the bowl and it became gooey again.  He happily played with it for over an hour.  The drops on the floor where easy to clean as when they dried they became stiff and scraped right up. 

 He and I have an agreement that when we do messy stuff he has to clean it up.  Afterward we went upstairs and before he went to bed we went on the computer to find out why the cornstarch and water acted the way it did.  He leaned words like polymer, and plastics, how pouring the goo down the sink would clog the plumbing, and how the polymer applied to things he knew such as toys, etc.

  We then looked up other experiments he would enjoy doing when he visited again (which is quite often as he calls me the “fun” grandma).  Doing simple experiments with kids in school or at home is an easy way to make a difference in a Childs learning, desire to visit you at home or in a class and also a great way to boost the child’s confidence in himself.  The child learns that making a mistake when you are experimenting is not the end of the world and that all scientist learn through making mistakes and that something better usually comes out of the problems and that is why it is called experimenting.  If you keep explaining this, when the child comes upon a problem at home or at school, he becomes used to looking at another way to attack the problem and is less likely to strikeout or to have a tantrum, or cry, or feel like a failure, after all he is like a scientist and must find another answer to his problem.

In the classroom I have been working with magnets as part of our earth science unit. To my class science is one of the most exciting, and fun parts of the day. We are always experimenting and writing about our project (a fun way to teach writing and reading).  We used magnets and iron filings to experiment with and to make designs on paper plates.  I gave each child a magnet and some iron filings on a small paper plate.  When they took the magnet away the filings dropped flat on the plate but with the magnet the filings moved all over the plate.  They then found the plate had become all marked up by the filings and had all kinds of designs and patterns which they compared with each other.  The kids became so excited about the project they told their parents about the experiment. I have found all experiments become the focal point of class and the kids can’t wait to come to my class just so they can’t miss something. 

 

 Then there is the parental excitement-they are so happy at the child’s attitude that they start doing more at home with the child.  This week one parent sent in magnetic volcanic dust, another made an electromagnet with two batteries, copper wire, and a nail, and another made one with a battery, and a penny. Any child who brings an experiment from home gets an extra sticker for his chart . Now you have parental involvement in your class which also makes the child feel very important and loved and makes them love science even more. You have now brought more happiness and satisfaction to the home and to your class as well as more education for everyone —a win, win situation. 

A DIFFERENT METHOD OF TEACHING: ROCKS AND MINERALS BELONGS IN KINDERGARTENAll ...

READING FOR ROCKS FROM KINDERGARTEN ON

All children are fascinated by rocks. They are always picking up interesting rocks they find on the  made jewelry for the kids and parents.  We studied all the countries these beautiful rocks came from and how they were formed. We learned about fossils, volcanoes, rocks that come from volcanoes, minerals and magnetic rocks Every child in the class started a rock collection of their own. 

 At that time there were books on finding rocks and fossils and mines in NJ, and Pa, that you could go dig for specimens.  I took my children and my sons’ friend to the St. Clair fossil collecting for fossil ferns. They loaded the car up with so many fern fossils the bottom of the car almost hit the road.  All my own children as well as their friends and my class became rock collectors. 

 It was then I realized how rocks and minerals could be utilized for learning and for reward.  I started to reward the children a tumbled stone or crystal for reading a book. We made treasure boxes out of egg cartons and every time a child read a book, they got a rock. I always had the children read to me individually. This created a mad house of reading.  Everyone wanted to read every day. 

 By the end of the year I had children reading from first to third grade books, and some newspaper articles.  Unfortunately or fortunately the “rockhound” fascination took over. I quit teaching and opened my own lapidary and my children and I collected and dug rocks all around the USA and Mexico.

Thirty-five years later I returned to teaching and rocks and minerals is still the favorite unit I do with the children.   I start teaching reading by experience stories so the children learn the written word consists of letters in a straight line and not all over the paper and how to write a sentence.  I also start teaching word families, not sight words. If you are teaching sight words how can the child learn to sound out a word, and there are too many words in our language to learn by sight. Most of our children come to school from day care where they already learned letter sounds so why waste a year teaching that again. 

In January after they have learned many word families I start them reading—reading for rocks again.  There is nothing more exciting than holding a quartz crystal and learning how it was formed in the ground.  It is so beautiful looking and you can look through the crystal and see a rainbow or hold it on the paper to magnify the words.  The colors of the beautiful tumbled stones are so pretty and shiny with the variety of colors and patterns.  It is so fascinating to learn how they came about through the heating and cooling of the earth’s crust. What child can resist learning earth science with volcanoes spouting out the hot lava and the huge explosions?  The children in my class learn about magnetic rocks and even metal rocks. They learn the uses of rocks to make medicine, chemicals, and building materials.  They love to learn about fossils and how they were formed.

  My favorite fossil story is putting fossil turtle poop on the rug and asking the kids what is that?  “Poop, and it stinks” they all scream.  I then hand it to them.  Some will take it and some will be afraid to touch it.  After they see others hold it they will also but almost all will smell it and rub their hands on their clothes to wipe off the poop.  I ask how can it smell when it is a fossil millions of years old, It does they say and it stinks.

  A child would do anything to get more of these rocks for their collection, even if it means reading or writing every day.  A shinny colorful rock is even better than candy or a toy.  I give out stickers when we read and 6 stickers and you get a prize from my toy bag. Would you believe my kids ask for a rock for their collection instead? 

 This love of rocks carries on even to adulthood.  All during the year past students come to visit my class because they know I will give them a tumbled stone or crystal for their collection.


  During the summer I work in camp and the kids asked if we could have a reading for rocks club.  The kids in our camp range from 6 to 12.  My cousin’s children, now in their 40’s said they studied earth sciences in college because of my giving them rocks when they were young.  I am now starting my own grandchildren reading for rocks.  My grandson started learning to read for rocks at 4 and is in a gifted reading and science program. My granddaughter walks around my house with a book in her hand, not an electronic device.  Reading for rocks really spurs them on. 

 

Dry Ice Experiments

What a wonderful science day we had today!  I brought 5 lbs. of dry ice pellets into my classroom.  I told the kids we were going to do “science magic” just like they see the magicians do or like the ghost smoke they see on their Scooby-Doo movies.  I explained what dry ice was (carbon dioxide gas)  and that they couldn’t touch it because of how cold it was.  I asked if they thought it would melt like regular ice from the freezer. Of course they thought it would melt like regular ice so I put some ice cubes in one bowl as a control and dry ice in another. When the ice cubes melted into water and the dry ice just disappeared they could understand that the dry ice was the element or gas carbon dioxide.  The kids understand about carbon dioxide being a gas that we breathe out and oxygen is a gas we breathe in.  They also understand that trees utilize carbon dioxide and give us the oxygen we need.  We studied that in the fall when we were learning about how plants and trees are important for us to live.

  Then I said I would do magic like on TV and make smoke.  I put the dry ice into a bowl of water and the smoke just flowed out—such excitement!—it was just like a magic show! It helped them not to be afraid of the ghost movies when they realized the smoke was just a gas.

 For my next magic show I put some soap and again magic!  The bubbles just flowed and flowed—the interesting part was how they didn’t flow from one spot but kept moving around the bowl.  The more dry ice you put in the higher the bubbles.

   In my next trick I blew up a balloon.  I asked what they thought would happen if I put some dry ice in a bottle and a balloon over it—shoulders shrugged.  Mouths opened when the balloon started to expand. Then I took a  balloon and put dry ice into it.  My control balloon, which was the one we blew up with the dry ice in the bottle. To the kids amazement the balloon with the dry ice continued to grow even though it was knotted, until it exploded.  When I asked why—one kindergartener figured the gas from the dry ice was making it expand until it popped.

 Another magic experiment we did was to put a metal spoon onto the dry ice package and the spoon made music that sounded like a phone ringing.  I then put 3 other spoons of different sizes and weights on the ice and each had a different sound.  My next experiment was to let them feel the coldness of the bowls and spoons (after they had been on the ice) and on a balloon that had some dry ice pellets inside.

 My final experiment was to show how the water bowl we had put the soap with the water and dry ice  turned into ice sculptures. The bottle we put just the water and dry ice in had also turned into sculptures.  We tried to pick up the bottle and the bowl from the table and found it had gotten so cold it froze to the tables.  No one could pick it up.  We had a contest to see which parent that came to pick up their child could pick up the bowl or bottle.  During and after all of our experiments I would ask the why and how all this happened. I also let them touch the bubbles and the ice sculptures to feel how very cold they were.  My control bowls with water ice were touched to see which was colder.  We talked about the different ways and places dry ice was used and compared it to the uses of water ice.  I then got a video of Scooby-do that had been scary for the kids—now when the ghost smoke and bubble cauldron parts of the video came on the kids yelled—that’s not scary its dry ice! After we finished I had each child write one fact they had learned about dry ice.

The hands on experiences with dry ice let the children understand more about elements, and gases while having such fun.  They couldn’t wait to tell the parents when they were picked up.  These fun experiences  of learning will stay with the children as opposed to just reading about dry ice, carbon dioxide, and other gases and what they do or their importance to us. Experiences with fun experiments also make science interesting and something to look forward to learning about.

                                                                  Miss Gail

Schools Waste Time Grouping All Learning

 

From the minute kids start school they are put into specific groups for reading, math, etc. The teacher goes from group to group teaching the same subjects. The reasoning behind this is that they have grouped the children by their supposed ability to read, do math, or whatever the teacher thinks is necessary. This takes a lot of time out of the day and the teacher has no time to spend on science, art, etc.  I do not find it necessary to group so much learning.  The children get tagged even though names are given to the groups the kids know if they are in the top or the middle or the bottom.  The child gets bored and defeated by his group. The child feels "Why try if the teacher says I’m stupid by putting me in the Blue Bird group."  The rest of his school years he moves with the other teachers keeping him in that specific group because that is what his file from previous years says.  I have tutored children in reading who were capable of the top group that never moved from the lower group—why?

 1. The teacher automatically puts the child into the lower group without testing.

 2. The child would not speak up and tell the teacher he could do much better, but just accepted the role and would become bored and drift off into space. They would start to hate school.

Most of the children I got for tutoring would say to me before we even started, "I’m in the dumb group. I can’t read like the smart kid." I would have to prove that he could read like the smart kids. By making reading or math fun, stimulating, and challenging by adding a little competition you can make all the difference in a class.

When I start to teach reading I do not teach sight words.  To me it makes no sense.  Are we going to teach the kids to memorize a whole dictionary?  I also do not teach each letter sound by sound  to figure out the word.  The English language is too complicated and to erratic. Too many words are spelled differently such as here, hear, than, then, etc.  Most children when they get to kindergarten know all the letter recognitions, and sounds.   They first learn them by the parents, television, electronic toys, battery operated games, and most importantly, almost all have been in daycare where they teach letters and sounds.  It wastes a whole year if the kindergarten goes over and over the letters and sounds again. I start by using word family phonics.  Dr. Seuss is the best to start with. Nothing can beat HOP on POP! Almost every child knows that book and the CAT IN THE HAT, and other Dr. Seuss books.  Many are written using only 50 words. After I read HOP ON POP to the whole class I have them all sit on the floor in front of me. I tell the kids they are going to start to learn to read real words in books.

1.  I start with the “at” words.  I will show all of them in the Seuss book and then ask the kids if they notice anything about the words in Seuss’s book.  Someone always notices they rhyme. “Well can you think of any other “at” words that are not in this book” I will ask the whole class. I will go to the white board, put “at” at the top and write all the words the kids think of. I will make a fuss over how smart they are to think of all those words.

2. I start my first “game or contest” by saying "who can read 3 of the words?"  There is a prize of one skittle or M&M if you can read 3 of the words.  You would not believe how important it is to get that 1 candy. At first the shy child or the child who didn’t pay attention will not try, but believe me they all will get into it after a few times—winning that 1 candy is the biggest catalyst in the world.  Make sure to make a big deal of the kids getting the words.  Do this same  thing at least two times.  Show the books and show those words are in the books and they are actually reading them.

3. Next “game” after you list the "at" words again is to see who can make a sentence from those "at" words and add more winnings—1 skittle for each at word used in the sentence.  It must be a different word and make sense, i.e.-the fat cat sat on the mat with a hat and a bat. That equals 6 skittles.  They cannot use the same “at” words again and another kid cannot copy the sentence.  After a couple of times this will be their favorite game.

 4. The next part is to have the child make their own story using "at” words.  Have the children draw a picture of their story and you or you and your aid 1 at a time write the child’s story on scrap paper for them to copy onto their own paper.  Do not write a story on the board for them to copy! It has no ownership for them.  There are many reasons for you to have the kids tell their own story.

 A. Originality, we are teaching the child to use their own thoughts.

 B. You are teaching the child how to write in sentence form.

 C. You are teaching the child how the written word must be kept together and not letters all over the place.

 D. You can now teach how to form letters correctly.

E. Spacing by putting a finger between words.

Do not get upset or discouraged by the way the paper looks—by the end of the year these kids will be authors. Do not expect penmanship!  Correct the kids in a way that is funny, not condescending.

 5. The next game using the “at” words is to find them in library books.  At the beginning of the year I make two files for each child. 1. Is for their stories and science papers such as they did when they made their “at” paper. I will keep this folder in a convenient place for the parents to be able to look at anytime they come to the room and to be able to see how the child has progressed. 2. I have a folder for our “I am so good” stickers. They will get a sticker for special things they do, such as manners, helping others without being asked, and achievements such as our finding the words in library books. For these stickers I made a paper from publisher calendar on my computer.  It has the same box areas—6 across each line and I took out the day numbers so it is only blank boxes. This I keep on my desk and when the child gets 6 stickers across the line I will give a treat or something special (you can use candy or toys from the $1 store or I use the dollar store party treats because there are soo many in a bag). When I am using a word family such as” at” I know each book will have loads of them in it so I will give 1 sticker for 5 words found.  The first time you do this it all will be slow and some kids won’t want to participate—but the competition always wins over.—in all my years of doing this it has always won and become the favorite game of the class.

What I have found is that some kids at the beginning have a fear of competition but with your help they will come around too.  After a couple of times of using these games the kids realize they really know words in books and are beginning to read.  What an accomplishment!

I will keep up teaching word families all year and doing the games because it is the favorite game of  the class.  They don’t realize out they are working.

I will, after a couple of months of doing the word families, start them reading individually in books—not in groups but individually. I start with the Lakeview series because it has more word families but I have also used the Bob books.  It may seem more difficult at first and different than you have learned in college or at seminars—but it works!  All my kindergarten class leaves reading Dr. Seuss and other library books and up and children do not feel stupid when learning to read because it is individual.  Some kids can read anything from chapter books to science books and when they started kindergarten in September  they did not know how to read.  Miss Gail

Science With Miss Gail

EXPERIMENTS ARE FUN SCIENCE

Miss Gail’s Fun With Science is a program to introduce children with the joys of exploring science and to show teachers how easy it will be for them to provide science in their class.  All experiments will use objects and materials found at home or in the groceries or dollar store.  I have used all these experiments in my kindergarten class and in science programs for the PTO and in science camp.  In my class I utilize science and experiments as a differentiated method of teaching.  After each experiment I will have a discussion with the class and ask what I did, what they saw, and what they learned. I will also ask them to draw a picture of what we did and I will have my aid and I help them write one fact about the experiment.  We write it on a paper for them and have them copy it onto their paper that has the experiment picture they drew.  This project put the child's thoughts on paper in sentence form, and shows that words and sentences have a certain form, and teaches beginning writing. After a few times of writing their facts you would be amazed at how proficient the children become in remembering facts, learn how to write and think in cohesive sentences and thoughts.  You would also be surprised at how much they enjoy doing these papers. Parents also are impressed about how their child retains these facts about the science experiments, and sometimes the child knows more about the project than the parent.

Experiment 1

Magnets-What will they pick up-Ask the class what they can find in the class that   a magnet will pick up.  Give each child a magnet and let them explore in the classroom.  Have a discussion about their findings and let each child show the class what they tried. 

Explain to the class that magnets only work with iron and steel and will not work with other metals-then prove it by trying to pick up other metals. Also try to pick up plastic, paper, glass, material, etc.

Give each child a paper plate, iron filings, and a magnet to have fun moving the filings.

Have a discussion about what they have learned. Depending on their age have the children draw a picture or if they 5 and older a fact and a picture. Each child should share their findings with others.

Experiment 2

Blowing up a balloon using vinegar and baking soda to make carbon dioxide gas.

1.     Blow up a balloon with your mouth.  Ask why the balloon gets bigger. Someone should guess air.

2.     Put a balloon on a soda bottle-ask why it just sits there.
Put vinegar in that same bottle and put the balloon back on—why does it still sit there?

3.     Take the balloon and put baking soda into the balloon and put it back onto the bottle.  Gas should form as the baking soda falls onto the vinegar.

4.     After the class quiets down (they will be so excited about the balloon blowing up they will be squealing with joy) ask what happened.  Explain that vinegar and baking soda form a gas, carbon dioxide that blows the balloon up just like the carbon dioxide that we blow from our mouth.  You could also go further and explain we breathe in the gas oxygen from the air and breathe out carbon dioxide.

Experiment 3

Static electricity using balloons-

Blow up a few balloons.  Rub your hair and watch the balloon stick to your head or clothes or the wall and watch hair stand up.  Try other things to rub—which work and which do not- Explain about static electricity. The kids will have so much fun trying everything they see in the class.

Experiment 4

Color bursts-

Put milk into a saucer or pie pan-add a few drops of dish soap then a few drops of food coloring-watch the color disperse into moving patterns. Explain that milk is a mixture of fat and water called emulsion.  When you add dishwashing liquid the fat and water start to mix together because the soap breaks up the fat.  When you add food color it moves while the fat is breaking up forming great patterns. For more excitement and fun I let each child take paper and blot it on top of the moving colors to create a picture.

Experiment 5

Slime- for each child put some water into a cup, add cornstarch until slime begins to form and then a drop of food coloring—The screams will come as it forms slime—they will want to play with it so make sure they have smocks and cover the class tables.  Have them take the slime in their hands and squeeze it. It will become a solid, when put back into the cup it becomes liquid again.  If the kids are old enough explain that what they have made is a polymer just like plastic.

Experiment 6

Magic bag-Fill a plastic sandwich bag with water, take a very sharp pencil and stab it through the bag—from one side to another.  The water will not leak.  It can be stabbed over and over with more pencils and not leak.  Be sure to stab straight.  When you pull out the pencil the water leaks out. What happened is that plastic is a polymer and forms tightly around the pencil so it won’t leak.  This can be messy so do it  over a bowl.

 

Experiment 7

1. Slime or magic bounce –Put about ¼ cup water, 2 tablespoons white glue, in a small paper cup and sprinkle borax (found in the laundry isle of the grocery) on top. Give each child a plastic spoon or popsicle stick to mix it all -depending on the amount of borax you can either have slime or a plastic like substance that can pull or form into a bounce ball.  You can also add color to the mixture.  The mixture has caused a polymer like plastic. The kids will squeal when you do this.

SCIENCE PROGRAMS WITH MISS GAIL

gailfinds@gmail.com

 

1.  ROCKS AND MINERALS

A.    How do rocks form?

B.    How do rocks get their color?

C.    How do we identify them?

I will have the following sample rocks and minerals:

-         various quartz crystal and solid quartz minerals from many different countries: amethyst, smoky quartz, citrine, and plain quartz crystals

-         solid colorful quartz such as Mexican lace, agates of all colors, cornelian, sodalite, adventurene

-         calcite crystals of all colors and types

-         metal minerals and their use

-         mica and its use as windows, and how the Indians made their tools from rocks

-         picture jasper and picture sandstone

The children will be able to touch and feel each rock or crystal.  At the end of the program each child will be given a colorful tumbled gemstone. The program will last 1 hour.

2.  FOSSILS

A.    How were different types of fossils formed?

B.    Where are fossils found?

C.    Ages of the different fossils

D.   Fossils that can be found in our area

I will have examples of the following: 

-         fossils from the sea: shell, clam, man of war shells, shell fossils from Wyoming, squid tail, shark teeth, different fish fossils, and other types of shells

-         plant fossils: different types of petrified wood and fern fossils from Pennsylvania

-         dinosaur bones in many forms

-         dinosaur dung

Fossilized dinosaur dung is always a hit, and the children have great fun handling it!

The program will last 1 hour and each child will be given a fossil as a remembrance.

3.  VOLCANIC ROCKS AND MINERALS

A.    What is a volcano?

B.    How is it formed?

C.    Where can we find active and sleeping volcanoes?

D.   What happens to an area when a volcano erupts?

 

I will have many types of volcanic rocks and minerals: different types of geodes, obsidians, volcanic lava, pumice, etc. I will show a model volcano and let the children take turns “blowing it up.” Each child will be given a volcanic stone. The program will last 1 hour.

 

The price for each program is $150.  If you would like more than one program on the same day it will be $75 additional for each. It is suggested that there be no more than 50 students at a program. If there are more, there will be a $50 charge to cover the cost of the stones offered.

I have been a teacher and lecturer for 40 years.  At present I am teaching enrichment classes, and have the children learn to “read and write for rocks.” After learning about rocks and minerals and getting excited by their beauty, the children will beg to read or write a paper for a rock to add to their collection. I give each child a box to use as their treasure chest.