There's Not Too Much That Beats Gilbert Gas!

Wow!  This week we added two new first graders and three new kindergarten students.  They had a bit of the "deer in the headlights" look when they arrived, but to be fair, so did I!  LOL  Seriously, they are an incredibly fun class.  I loved the way the E day SAGE students welcomed and helped our newest friends!

We started our day with an activity to get to know one another better.  The students created simple drawings to share some of their interests and a little about themselves.

 

 Next we worked individually in the TOPS Math program.

We had a really fun day!  We have been waiting for the exciting arrival of our favorite Quirkle, Gilbert Gas.

Thanks to Steven Spangler Science and a Google search or two, I was able to find some exciting experiments that teach the states of matter.  We discussed the different forms water can take.  The students easily shared what they knew about the water cycle.  They knew water was a liquid and when it it frozen, it forms ice which is a solid.  They knew water evaporates when it is heated and becomes steam or water vapor, a gas.  A few students knew clouds were made of water vapor and when the clouds are too full of moisture, the gas changes to liquid in the form of rain.

I wanted to explore the states of matter with something with which they are unfamiliar.  Dry ice was perfect.  We learned dry ice is a solid and that it is the frozen form of carbon dioxide.  We discussed carbon dioxide freezes at -109 degrees Fahrenheit so we needed to protect our skin from it by using gloves or tongs to handle the ice.  The students also learned dry ice sublimates and goes from solid straight to a gas.  Check out some of our experiments in the video and slide show below.

Boys and girls, what was your favorite experiment?