Prep boys have been enjoying some hands on science experiments relating to our weekly Letterland focus. During Clever Cat week we investigated how clouds carry rain. We squirted shaving cream onto a glass jar full of water. We then used pipettes to drop coloured rain onto the cream. The boys were amazed at how long it took the water to fall through the cream into the jar. We then had some fun creating clouds on our tables with the shaving cream, which caused much hilarity and cleaned the tables at the same time!
Golden Girl week saw the Prep boys growing gummy bears. Each of the boys worked through a Prep version of The Scientific Method, where we asked a question, thought about what might happen, tested our thinking, recorded what happened and then came to a conclusion.
Here are some of their ‘hypotheses’:
“I think it will melt and break down.” Harrison
“I think the head might come off!” Hamish
“I think the gummy bear is going to melt.” Edward
“I think the gummy bear will sink to the bottom.” Lucas
“I think the colour will come out.” James
“I think it will change colour.” Hugh
We left the gummy bears in water for 4 days and recorded their measurements each day. At the end of the week I asked the boys to tell me what they thought happened.
Here are some of their conclusions:
“The gummy bear went all squishy because he drank all the water.” Zac
“The colour came out and he turned into a big blob because he sucked up all the water.” Aemon
“The gummy bear got bigger and softer because the water went inside him.” Lennox
“The gummy bear got soggy because it sank to the bottom and sucked up all the water.” Ryan
“The gummy bear got bigger because it sucked in all the water.” Donovan
“The gummy bear sank to the bottom and it grew because it drank all the water.” Lewis
It was amazing to hear how many different words and phrases the boys used all describing the same outcome. As tempting as it was I did draw the line at letting the boys eat the water-logged gummy bears at the end of the week!
by Claire MacDonald, Junior Boys’ Prep teacher
