Week 11

This week we did a series of experiments. Starting with placing M&M's in water. When placed in the water, the M&M's outer shell of color slowly began to dissolve, changing the water color. My group was able to notice a couple of cool aspects during this process. The colors tended to relatively stay in their own space. They did not mix until they reached the middle of the plate. Next, we noticed that the color was only taken off the part of the M&M that was submerged in the water. One question we had was what would happen if you placed the M&M's in other liquids? (cooking oil, milk, etc.) 

Our next experiment was the suction of a plunger. We tried to suction the plunger to multiple different items including the table, ground, and both white and brown cardboard. We found that the plunger created the most suction on the floor and the table. When placed on both cardboards there was a significant difference. The brown side of the cardboard had a very low amount of suction and released air pretty quickly. The white side of the cardboard, it also had very little suction but released air a little slower than the brown side. 

Our next experiment was taking a water bottle out of a cold cooler, wiping it off, and watching it adjust to being outside of the cooler. Although you would suspect that condensation would form on the outer side of the water bottle, this did not happen. This led us to ask questions like, where does the condensation come from? Was the temperature change not enough to cause condensation? 

Our next experiment was placing two regular cans of Coke, one being a normal normal-size can, and one a smaller one. Along with two cans of Diet Coke. Once again being a small and normal can. In this experiment, we learned that three of the four cans floated. The normal-sized Coke was the one that sank. 

Next, we placed vinegar and baking soda in a plastic sandwich bag. We observed that the chemical reaction caused a fizzling sound. the bottom of the liquid to turn cold to the touch, and the bag began to fill up with air.  This led us to ask the question, why did the bag turn cold when using two room-temperature ingredients?

Lastly, we investigated different ways to melt ice. We started by placing an ice cube on a wooden board. The ice cube melted very slowly. Next, we placed the ice on a non-stick pot. The ice began to melt faster than the wood, but still at a slow pace. Lastly, we placed the ice cube on a stainless steel pan. The ice began melting very fast. In this, we learned that students would most likely come up with an "incorrect" hypothesis for this specific experiment because generally, the metal seems to be colder to the touch than the wood would be. 

I would love to do these experiments in my future classroom! I think it would be a great way to allow students to be free and play. Along with this, if allows students to be curious, and ask questions for themselves.