Taking Our Aquarium's Temperature

Here is what we are doing tomorrow in science. We are experimenting with the water temperature in our aquarium. Here is how we are going to proceed.

• Problem- What is the temperature of the aquarium's water throughout the day?
• Background Knowledge- oxygen in water, carbon dioxide in water, it is fresh water
• Hypothesis- Students created their own hypothesis.
• Research- None for this experiment
• Materials- thermometer, aquarium with water
• Method  

1. Put thermometer in water.
2. Velcro the thermometer inside the aquarium.
3. Wait ten minutes before reading the thermometer.
4. Read the temperature on the thermometer.
5. Record the time and the temperature on the table on the white board.
6. Turn on the aquarium light.
7. Read the temperature on the thermometer.
8. Record the time and temperature.
9. Repeat until the end of school.

• Conclusion- Done after the experiment.
• Extensions- Done after the experiment.

Science Experiment Methodology

Today you are going to post your science methodology. I want you to put the original and the revised versions of your step by step process and then explain why you had to revise it. For example:

Original Methodology

1. Gather materials
2. Put beans in the cup
3. put dirt in the cup
4. etc.

Revised Methodology

1. Gather materials
2. Find two beans that are the same color and texture.
3. Check the mass with the digital scale to make sure both beans have similar mass.
4. etc.

Reflection

I had to change my methodology because I forgot to write how I was going to need to check the characteristics of the beans so that they could be as similar as possible.....

Investigate 1 Mixture and Solutions: Can We Separate a Mixture?

Yesterday we conducted an experiment where where we created a mixture of salt, diatomaceous earth, gravel, and water. Then we used filters to see if we could separate the mixture. We had planned on recording the lesson, but Ustream died on us halfway through.
Write a post on one thing you learned from the experiment.

Here are some links you can leave a comment on when you are through.
Comments for Kids
ABC's and Transformations
Bacteria Conclusions

The Practicality of a Teachable Moment: How Can I Clean These Records So I Can Play Them?

Rarely do I take a teachable moment and create a full blown production out of it. Usually it is a matter of time, since I rarely have enough. Today I made time to do the experiment and record it as a lesson.

Saul found a bunch of 45 records on a piece of property he is helping to clean up. He brought them to school to show me. He asked me, "Can we play these?"

Unfortunately, the answer was no. One reason was because we didn't have a record player at school; the second reason was because the 45's were incredibly dirty. I decided we could do an experiment to see how we could best clean them.

You can watch the video to see the start of the experiment.

If you watched the video you noticed that I quickly discussed the PH balance of the solutions I used. I felt that this was a good way to introduce the information, without having to do a full blown lesson on acids and bases. I don't have anything against lessons on acids and bases, it just isn't what we are concentrating on now. Remember this started as a teachable moment, not a planned lesson.

Hopefully, when the students do have a unit on acids and bases they will remember this lesson. I suppose they are much more likely to remember me trying to play the 45's in class. That reminds me... Do any of you have a record player I can borrow?

UPDATE

Here are some pictures I took after the records sat in the solutions for about 18 hours. The solution that is brown looking was the lemon juice. It looked like that when I poured it. I thought it was interesting that the labels held up as well as they did. Draino was the solution that basically dissolved the label . After I rinsed the records off in the sink, Saul wiped them with a soft paper towel to see how clean they were.

Watch this video to see and hear Saul's conclusion to the experiment.

We still need to borrow a record player to see if they will play.