Ta-da!
For many years, I've been organizing students into Cooperative Investigation Teams for their hands-on science work. As a rite of passage, third graders are invited to act as Facilitator for their groups, reading directions, making sure everyone participates, and generally keeping everyone on task. First- and second-year students act as Materials Manager (with a green job tag to represent "Go," Materials Manager is the only team member permitted to leave the lab area to ask questions or get materials), Scribe (with a special pouch shown above, the Scribe records the teams' thoughts and observations), Illustrator (charged with creating graphs and scientific illustrations of the team's materials set-up), and Clean-Up Coordinator (responsible for organizing the group's clean-up efforts).
After some research (and consultation with a friend who works in the Education department at our science museum), I concluded that Nasco offered the cheapest sets of child-size goggles. However, the set came in a rainbow of colors and I anticipated some arguments along the lines of, "I want to wear the pink ones!" "No, you wore them last time. It's my turn to wear them!" To prevent such time-wasting unpleasantness, I color-coded the job tags to match the goggles. If you're the Materials Manager, you wear the green goggles. Facilitators wear the orange goggles, and if you're the Illustrator, the pink goggles are all yours. When we're not using them, the tags and goggles store neatly in a shoebox-sized plastic tub. (To get the plastic job tag holders, I stalked tables at the end of conferences and recruited friends who dutifully passed along their badge holders after attending conferences--gotta love free supply procurement!) As we worked up to beginning the hands-on work of science this year, I asked the children, "What do scientists do?"
* They "observe" and "measure things" and "draw pictures."
* They "ask questions" and "think about the question and try to find an answer."
* They "research other scientists' work."
* They "experiment" and "investigate."
* They "think about safety" and "consider hazards."
* They "collect things."
* They "look for clues or evidence."
* They "write reports to share information with other scientists."
We then discussed the tools of science:
* collection containers
* measuring tools such as beakers, graduated cylinders, balances, spring scales, measuring tapes, meter sticks, rulers, thermometers, and timers
* observation tools including hand lenses, microscopes, telescopes, and binoculars
* a compass (or GPS) for field work
* notebook
* and from my students who vividly remembered our paleontology work: super glue, digging tools, brushes, straws, forceps, (and one child recalled having seen in some of my photographs of field work the measuring 'rod' used to measure the level at which fossils are found)
Meanwhile, every day, the children were asking eagerly, "When are we going to do science with our Science Groups?" Soon, my small scientists, . . . soon!
For our first investigation, I challenged the children to a Coin Trick: How can you get the coin into the cup without touching the coin or applying a force to the coin?
The answer lies in science, not magic. Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object will remain still unless a force causes it to move and a moving object will keep moving unless a force causes it to stop. (This is also called inertia.)
So, if we use a force (a pull or a quick flick) to move the card, the coin should remain where it is, floating just above the opening of the cup--right?
Nope.
The trick of this demonstration (technically, it's not an experiment without variables) is to use gravity to your advantage. You don't have to use a force to move the coin. Earth takes care of that for you. When you remove the index card barrier between the coin and the bottom of the cup, inertia causes the coin to remain in place and gravity (Earth's pulling force) pulls the coin into the cup.
Magicians use the same science strategy for the tablecloth trick when they pull a tablecloth from under plates and glasses and silverware. Get permission, watch the how-to video, and then try this at home. Remember to consider mess potential and safety! What could happen? (Perhaps it's best to try this first with the cheap plates.)
Do you believe in magic? I believe in the magic of science to capture the hearts and minds of children!
More fun with inertia and gravity!
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