Chemistry and Physics, 3rd – 6th grade

Begin reading Electrifying our World. We will have a special speaker, Derek McGill, teaching our class. With this being his area of expertise, I believe this Friday will be a very interesting class! It would be great if the kids have some previous knowledge before his presentation on Friday. So, feel free to read the entire chapter, if you’d like.

For this week, our goal is to begin gathering your resources and request any library books you may need. We need to have everything together by the start date in two weeks (meaning a question, resources, and supplies). I would like for them to read about their topic in at least one other source, besides just their textbook. This can be a book, magazine article, encyclopedia, internet article, etc. They have a handout in their folder to fill out based on information they find in their additional source. This handout is not due yet. Just gather the resource for this week.

Also, this week I plan to read over the questions that were submitted in class Friday. I will send you an email of approval, so you can go ahead and be looking for resources. Or, I’ll let you know if the question needs to be modified. If you do not have a question yet, please email me this week.

It may be helpful spending some time this week looking through the information in their science fair folder. Some are trying to make this too complicated.

Here’s some ideas for questions, for those who do not have one yet:

What makes a rainbow?

Can different colors make things warmer?

Which detergent is best for removing stains?

What type of paper makes the best paper airplane?

How does mass affect a pendulum swing?

What’s the best shock absorber for dropping an egg? (Take pictures for this one, don’t bring it to the church)

How does changing the height from which a ball is dropped impact its bounce?

What’s the best shape for a parachute?

What’s the best material for a parachute?

How do pulleys affect the amount of mass that can be lifted?

What materials are best for conducting electricity?

How does a container’s size and shape affect evaporation rates?