Saturday, August 13, 2011

Doppler Tim's Science Lab

One of our wonderful meteorologists here in Cincinnati has an awesome science lab online that is full of experiments and demonstrations for the classroom.  The best part is that you can either perform the experiment yourself or show the video to your students.  Check it out!


Sunday, August 7, 2011

I suppose it's time......let's start with a little chlorophyll!

Alright, alright, I suppose it is time to get back at it.  After a summer of building decks and fences, I think I am ready to focus on another year in the classroom.  My son went to a wonderful summer camp run by the Cincinnati Parks Department and I wanted to share one of the activities with you.

Finding the chlorophyll in a leaf

My take on this activity was that the students were identifying why leaves are green and what causes the green color to be seen in the Spring-Early Fall.  Of course, the explanation of the activity came from my 5 year old son, so I am sure I only heard a portion of the lesson.  I plan to extend this activity to include a discussion about the true color of leaves and the process of photosynthesis.

1.  Have the students gather a GREEN LEAF from outside.  Freshly picked would work the best.

2.  Have the students glue the leaf on a small piece of card stock.

3.  Cover the leaf with a small piece of cloth the same size as the card stock (this can vary, but be sure it is thin cloth).  I am guessing that even a section of white t-shirt would work well.

4.  Glue the top two corners of the cloth to the card stock, covering the leaf.

5.  Using a small rock (the camp was at the park, so they used rocks) or other hard object, have the students strike the cloth firmly where they believe the leaf is located.  Remember, the leaf will be hidden beneath the cloth.

6.  If all goes well, the green pigment (chlorophyll) should begin to appear on the cloth.  For older students, you could have the students attempt to create the entire leaf "in chlorophyll" on the cloth.

Hope you enjoy!  For those of us on summer break.......it's okay....no crying...we are looking forward to this right?????

RJ
http://hayesclass.weebly.com/