Wonderful Worms

Earthworms don’t have eyes, ears or noses, and instead of lungs, they breathe through their skin. But more than just learning some fascinating facts, bringing live earthworms into the classroom gives children an up close encounter with a gentle, harmless animal.

I recently brought earthworms to Yvonne Fisher’s classroom at Dawson Orman Education Center. After reading a story and practicing moving like earthworms during circle time, we spread out some newspaper and let them crawl across the table. The children squealed with delight as they watched the earthworms stretch and squeeze their bodies. Almost every child was willing to pet an earthworm, and most also picked one up and laughed as it tickled their hands.

Earthworms are everywhere and are very beneficial to plants. In one yard of earth, there can be thousands of earthworms!  Go for a walk and hunt for them. Try digging in the dirt or lifting up rocks and leaf litter. Look on the sidewalk after a heavy rain and model good stewardship by returning them to some dirt where they can dig back underground. Most of all, let children know that they don’t have to be afraid of something just because it moves!

 A word about earthworm care:

Remember that they breathe through their skin and need a damp environment; so keep a spray bottle handy, but avoid letting them “swim” in water. They can drown too! They eat dirt and decaying leaves, so if you plan on keeping them a few days, be sure to provide them with food.

 Literature connections:

• Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser
• Garden Wigglers by Nancy Loewen
• An Earthworm’s Life by John Himmelman
• Earthworms by Claire Llewellyn and Barrie Watts

Onion Peel Eggs

Instead of dyeing eggs this April with a kit, try turning the craft into a science experiment by using onion peels. This is a traditional German way to dye eggs that I learned from my grandmother. She was even featured in a local paper back in the 1970s.

The process is easy, and there are many ways to play around with the concept. You will need yellow or brown onion peels, but you can try other colors for different results, although purple peels do not result in purple eggs. You can also lay other items on the eggs, such as a clover leaf, before adding the peels to create images on the eggs. The results are beautiful, interesting and unpredictable.

What you need:

• yellow or brown onion peels
• light colored eggs
• string

 What you do:

1. Soak the onion peels in water just long enough for them to soften.

2. Wet the eggs and wrap them in a layer of peels. Wrap and tie with string.

3. Boil the eggs for 12-15 minutes.

4. Unwrap them; dry them; and shine them with shortening or oil.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count begins this Friday. What a perfect way to observe nature with your kids and participate in a national science project. Just last week, I noticed a huge number of American Robins in my backyard. There were hundreds of them, many more than I usually see, so I researched online to find that many robins migrate. While some may stay in an area all winter long, most move in flocks place to place to find tree and shrub berries that ripen in late winter.

Science is that simple with children. I observed something in nature, had a question about it and looked for the answer. Answers can come from many different sources. Check a book out of the library or keep watching those birds to see if you can come up with your own answers. The important thing is to keep watching nature with your children and talking to them about what they see. With spring coming, the animals outside are all busy getting ready, and the plants are starting to awaken. I just saw my first flower yesterday!

How can I participate? All you have to do is identify and count the birds in your backyard over a 15 minute time period and log them into the website (www.birdsource.org/gbbc). Details, instructions and bird activity ideas can also be found on the website.

Why does it help scientists for us to count birds? Birds move over vast areas and can do so with great speed.  This makes tracking them difficult for a small group of scientists, but if they have help of people across the USA, they have more data to work with and can gain an understanding of our bird populations. This bird count is done every year, so data can be compared year to year to study the effects of weather, diseases, migration patterns and timing, as well as how populations in rural areas compare to suburban areas.

Clean Mud

Clean Mud

• 1 Roll of Toilet Paper
• 1 Bar of Ivory Soap 
• Vegetable Peeler 
• Water 
• Large Bowl

1. Take the roll of toilet paper and tear the sheets in to small pieces.
2. Place the pieces of paper in a large bowl.
3. Use the vegetable peeler and shave about a quarter (1/4) of the bar of soap into the bowl filled with the paper.
4. Add warm water to the mixture. Start out with just enough water to dampen the paper.
5. Have the child mix the ingredients, working the “clean mud” in between her fingers.
6. Slowly add more and more water to the mixture to create a slimier feeling.

 Less Mess: Place the mixture into a Ziploc bag and allow the child to feel the “clean mud” from the outside of the bag.

 More Mess: Mix small items (such as coins or small plastic beads) into the mixture and have the child find the hidden objects.

Karo Syrup Color Mixing

At a recent training with teachers involved in the PNC Grow Up Great with Science grant, we explored the properties of liquids and some unconventional ways to experiment with color mixing. Karo syrup provides a unique experience, because the colors don’t mix immediately but instead slide over one another creating a variety of shades and patterns and sometimes allowing the primary colors to re-emerge. If you are looking for an activity that is mesmerizing, try this one out. Just look how transfixed these teachers are!

Materials: Karo Syrup, Food Coloring, Large Waxed Paper Plate

Instructions:

• Put a large drop of Karo Syrup in the middle of a paper plate.
• Add one drop of yellow, one of red, and one of blue food coloring on opposite edges of the syrup. 
• As the child holds the plate vertically and lets the syrup run, the colors begin to mix and make other colors. 
• Keep turning the plate so that the syrup does not drip off. 
• What colors do you see? Can you make any new colors?
• Turn it again. Do you see any of the colors you started with?

Noticing the Details

I don’t know about your life, but mine seems to get busier and busier every day juggling work, home, family and friends. There always seems to be reasons to do things faster, just to get them done, to have time to do more things in the limited hours of the day. But the issue with faster and more is that there is little time to appreciate the details in life. Noticing details is a hallmark of a good scientist. Up close is where the discoveries are waiting, the ones that spark curiosity, make you wonder why or how or what and invite you to take another look, examine closer, or read more.  

Life can be full of these moments of wonder, but you have to slow down to find them. Have you ever noticed that drops of water cling to your fingers before falling off or examined salt to that see each individual crystal is a cube? Have you ever wondered why little rays of light seem to dance on the table when shining through a glass of water or why cream swirls in a cup of coffee? These are the types of observations that invite your mind to question and ponder how the world works, which is exactly what we want our children to be doing. What do you notice? How does it feel? How does it smell? Does it remind you of anything? What do you think would happen if…? The right question at the right time can help children focus on details, make connections and lead them to deeper learning.

One thing you should know about me is that I carry a pocket microscope in my purse, and I use it all the time. Just today I was showing my coworker, Brenda, an insect I found outside our door. It was some type of beetle I had never seen before, but the colors were amazing; lines of emerald green running down its wing edged with magenta, iridescent blues, purples and copper on its back, silver eyes made of hundreds of tiny lenses. Noticing these things myself makes me a curious person, but sharing what I am curious about with others is when the magic happens; when Brenda gets curious and calls to another coworker inviting her to look closer. We wondered together what kind of insect it might be, why its eyes have so many lenses and what the world must look like through them. You don’t have to wait for rainbows to feel the wonder of living, and the more you can model wonder for children, the more children will appreciate the world around them and want to know more about it.

Shoe Box Shadow Theater

Children are fascinated by shadows. From playing in the sunlight chasing their shadows to quiet moments waving their hands over the tops of flashlights, shadows spark curiosity in children and can seem almost magical as the shadows change shape, grow in size or “disappear” when you walk under a bigger shadow. There are numerous ways to encourage light and shadow play. Hang a sheet in front of a window and make shadows with your whole body.  Cut figures out of thick paper and make a shadow puppet play. Turn off all the lights and use flashlights to go on a scavenger hunt. Play shadow tag on the playground. Trace shadows on the sidewalk at different times of the day and see how your shadow changes. Put your shadow with a friend’s and make a three legged, two headed shadow monster! Below you will find directions for one of my favorite shadow activities, a Shoe Box Shadow Theater.

 What you need:

• Shoe Box
• Tape
• Parchment Paper or Plain White Paper
• Small Objects
• Block
• Flashlight  (Clip lights in photo purchased at the Dollar Tree)

What you do:

1. Cut the bottom out of a shoe box leaving a small edge.
2. Place paper over the opening and tape it down around the perimeter.
3. Place a small block in the middle to be the stage and aim a flashlight at the top of the block.
4. Play a guessing game with a friend. Chose a small object to put on the block and have a friend try to guess what the object is by looking at its shadow on the other side.
5. Try small plastic animals, letters, numbers, or shapes. Use your theater to tell a story or a nursery rhyme. Cut your own shapes and characters out of thick paper. Experiment with the placement of the object. How does the shadow change? Can you make it bigger? Can you make it smaller? What else can you make the shadow do?

Online Sources for Summer Science Fun

Looking for adventure this summer and opportunities to explore with your child right in your own back yard? There are tons of ideas and suggestions on the internet. Here are just a few of my favorite sites.

TryScience (www.tryscience.org) is a collaboration between science and technology centers. Try out suggested experiments at home, play online games, or view live feeds from webcams in science centers all over the world. Under the “Parents” section, download free family guides to science and nature destinations in your own city and state!

Peep and the Big Wide World™ (www.peepandthebigwideworld.com) is a preschool science cartoon based on a curious little bird named Peep. The website contains a different cartoon episode each day, games, recommended books, a free downloadable “Explorer’s Guide” and loads of fun, easy “Anywhere Science and Math Activities” that give you ideas based on themes or location.

Kids Gardening (www.kidsgardening.org), created by the National Gardening Association, offers everything you need to know to start gardening with your child. Here you can find what kind of gardening activities you can expect your child to accomplish at various ages, how to design and build a garden, tips on gardening safety, and recommendations on which plants are easy for children to grow.

Nature Rocks (www.naturerocks.org) provides local destinations for exploring nature as well as activity suggestions based on your location, age of child and how much time you have available.

Science Blog: Oobleck – This cornstarch concoction changes from a liquid to a solid and back again right in your hand!

Looking for an activity that is both fascinating and easy to make with the ingredients in your kitchen? Then Oobleck is the goo for you! It is basically just cornstarch and water, but at just the right mixture, it is a liquid while sitting still but turns into a solid the moment you squeeze it. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself! Also, Oobleck is easy to clean up. It rinses away from hands and clothes with water, or if you let it dry, it turns into a powder and can be brushed off. Just don’t pour a glob of it down your drain!

Recipe

• 1 cup of water
• 1 ½ – 2 cups of cornstarch
• food coloring

 Add food coloring to your water and slowly start adding the cornstarch. Start out with a cup and a half of cornstarch and continue to add more until the goo looks like a liquid, but the moment you try to stir, it cracks around the spoon and gets stiff. If it gets too stiff and turns completely into a solid, just add a little more water. Refrigerate Oobleck in a baggie if you are going to play with it more than one day.

 Now the real fun begins. Try poking it hard with your finger. What happened? Now try easing your finger into it. Did it react the same way? Put your hand in and try to pick some up. Can you roll it into a ball? What happens when you stop rolling it? Try pouring some from a cup, or put some in a tray and tilt. What do you notice? Try using a funnel. As the stream comes out the bottom, can you break it in two as if it were solid? Make another color of Oobleck and let the children mix the two. What other tools can you try with Oobleck? How do you think the Oobleck will react?

 The science behind it:

Cornstarch doesn’t dissolve in water like sugar or salt does. Instead, the tiny particles are suspended in the water, floating next to each other. When Oobleck is sitting still or gentle pressure is applied (such as easing your finger into it), the particles are able to move around each other and make way for things moving through it (like a liquid would act). When greater pressure is applied to Oobleck (such as poking it with your finger or squeezing it in your hand), the particles are forced closer together creating a “traffic jam”. When they don’t have space to move, the particles bunch up and behave like a solid. As soon as the pressure is released, the particles are free to move around again and will flow like a liquid.

Did you know?

Oobleck is used in games show challenges. If you had a swimming pool of Oobleck, you could run across it. Just don’t stand still!

What have you tried?

What are your Oobleck experiences or do you have other concoctions that you make with children? Share your ideas!

Going on a Nature Walk

Through PNC Grow Up Great with Science, I recently visited the preschool classes of Friends School. I came to share a backyard ecosystem I set up with dirt, rocks, decaying leaves, worms, slugs and pill bugs.  (Pill Bugs are great animals to bring into a classroom, and I’ll write more about them at a later date.) The children had a wonderful time lifting up the rocks and leaves, watching the pill bugs move and examining everything through their magnifiers, but what I want to share with you today was what I encountered after the activity, when I stayed to go on a nature walk with Blaine Hicks’ classroom.

A simple walk around the school provided a myriad of learning moments. As soon as we were out the door, Blaine stopped the children and had them use their different senses to observe the environment (listening for birds, tasting and smelling the air, feeling the roughness of the brick), and as we walked along the sidewalk, the children were encouraged to look for insects under rocks, to notice the dew on the grass and to wonder about what creatures we might find in the mulch. A 15 minute walk, that totaled less than a city block, yielded an orange and black beetle, flowers in different stages of life and decay, a tiny millipede, miniature pine cones, an army of ants, wild strawberries, clover, a feather, mushrooms and a pill bug. Children gingerly carried their findings, and every step was full of wonder about what we would find next. Blaine didn’t fill the walk with facts, information and instructions.  She explored with them; asking questions, modeling curiosity, letting the children discover their world at their own pace and teaching them how to look closely.