Five For Friday: Building Inquiry into the First Weeks of School

Summer. It's so lovely. But now that my August calendar is filling up, it's hard to realize July is almost over! The summer has been a good mixture of keeping busy and relaxing at home! 

This week I thought I would take a different approach than my normal Five for Friday! We are going with a theme! ;) 

This week we did a lot of fun science experiments at home this week and I was thinking about how they would be great experiments to introduce the idea of inquiry and the scientific process at the beginning of the school year. Kids need the opportunity to learn to ask questions and we need to give them some fun opportunities to build their questioning skills while also giving them opportunities to work together.

Lots of these are "what do you think will happen?" experiments, with great chances to build observation skills in the middle, but offer lots of room for "what ifs" after the experiment is over. The best inquiry experiments are ones that lead to more questions when it is over! ;) 

So. Here are FIVE fun experiments to try with your kids at school!

{one}

baking soda + food coloring + vinegar

This has been one of Alex's favorite experiments for a long time! I did it at school once two and the kids thought it was so amazing! :)

{two}

glass cups + water

We all know this one. ;) but we had a fun conversation about why there were different sounds. He had a little trouble figuring out how to do it, but overall it was fun to try!

{three}

bottle + yeast + water + balloon

This was really cool! Check out the link for the measurements. We didn't think it would work, and Will did double the measurements because we were using a bigger bottle.

http://tinkerlab.com/yeast-sugar-experiment/

{four}

hydrogen peroxide + dish soap + yeast + water + food coloring + bottle

Alex's reaction is so funny! :) He did play with the foam a bit after it was over. He noticed how warm the reaction was as well. Follow the link for more info!

http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/08/fun-science-experiment-for-kids.html

{five}

string + straw + balloon + lots of tape

The possibilities with this are ENDLESS! It would have been a fun to have races too. 

I thought these would be some fun ideas for the first weeks of school! It would also help your kiddos be really excited about school. 

See what other teachers are up to this week at Kacey's Five for Friday!