We're serious about science

We had a fun time doing marble roller coasters this weekend.  I'll try to post the project by the end of the week.

Money money money

J's been obsessed with his piggy bank since a very young age. Under close adult supervision, even kids under 2 can learn to take money in and out of the piggy bank (I'm sure you can find one super cheap at the dollar store). Ours was a shower gift from a friend. Also, we never walk past money on the ground anymore since J is always interested in filling his bank.

Toddler age:

*Take the money out of the piggy bank.

*Identify that there are different coins that represent different amounts of money (don't go into too much detail).

*Start counting with the money (count as high as your child has attention span for).

*Put coins back into piggy bank.

*Shake piggy bank - what kind of sound do you hear?

*Is the piggy bank heavy or light?

Older Toddler/Young Preschool age:

*Take out the money from the piggy bank.

*Sort the money into different piles, one for each type of coin.

*Identify the types of coins by name (ie. penny, nickel, dime, quarter).

*Start the conversation that pennies equal 1, nickels equal 5, dimes equal 10 (even if they are the smallest!), and quarters equal 25.

*Count pennies as high as your child can given their attention span.

*See if you can start counting by 5's or 10's (probably not, but worth the try).

*Count coins as your kid puts them back into the piggy bank.

Older Preschool/Early Elementary:

*Sort money into different piles by coin type.

*Count how many of each coin there are.

*Introduce addition: if your child has 3 pennies in his bank and you find 2 pennies (say on the dresser) and add them to his bank, count how many he now has.

*Which is more money: 3 pennies or 7 pennies?

*If 7 pennies are more than 3 (hope I didn't ruin the above bullet), and dimes are actually worth 10 pennies, can you identify with is worth more: 7 pennies or 1 dime?

*Count by 5's for the nickels and see how much money you have in nickels (early multiplication).

*Count by 10's for the dimes and see how much money you have in nickels (early multiplication).

*Have your child divide the pennies into equal piles (I recommend one per person in the house). How many does each person get? (Early division)

*Have a treat that costs 8 cents and see if your child can come up with a combination of coins that equal 8 cents (addition/subtraction).  If your child has 11 cents and it cost 8 cents for the treat, how much money does he/she have left? (yay, math word problems aren't really that scary).

*Take your child to a party store, where you can buy little fun, cheap toys with his/her coins. This can show that money actually represents something.

*Consider allowance for chores to add to the wealth.

Yay, math!

Nightly Reading

No joke (or alteration of the scene), this is how I found J on my nightly check-in before I go to bed.

At this rate, he'll know his multiplication tables in no time.

Park Science - Parallel Bar

We live in a small apartment without much wiggle room. However, we have a park nearby. This has saved my sanity on numerous occasions, but I'm a worrywart - I've always been a little bit of a chicken/scaredy cat when it comes to taking risks that could result in injury. Unfortunately for me, I have a son who has the "I can do anything" attitude of my dearest little sister (who was deemed "concussion queen" of the family and left a few dents in our elementary school floors). I've also learned if I don't let him try, I usually cause myself more grief. Luckily, playing on the playground uses a lot of science, which I'm trying to explain to J as he's learning (so he can do it right and understand "What happens when..." in a safe and controlled environment). I was also a recreational gymnast in my past, so I feel pretty comfortable spotting J as he learns.

While playing on the parallel bar (chin up bar?) the other day, J was swinging his legs. He let go before I was able to get to him, and SPLAT, he had a face full of sand and the wind knocked out of him (I'm still a big sand as a landing material proponent). He's ok and wanted to continue playing after a few snuggles.

We've been working on the only drop when your legs are perpendicular (straight up and down) from the ground and you aren't swinging. However, it's been a few weeks since we've been able to go to the park and he must have forgotten.

Here's what happens:

When you hang still, your center of mass is directly inline with your feet, making it easy to let go and land on your feet (with bending your knees, of course - and the obligatory "Tada!" after making a perfect landing).

What J did the other day:

His center of mass still wanted to be directed downward (thanks to gravity). However, with his feet still swinging backwards, he ended up with a moment (rotation) which resulted in him splat-faced on the sand. I don't recommend experimenting with this way, as it really hurts to get the wind knocked out of you, and it doesn't taste good to eat sand.

However, you might try falling a different way (in a safe environment - meaning on soft/safe landing materials - sand, gym mats, etc. - and not from very high). In my family, we come with built in cushions, so falling on our behinds is no big deal.

J demonstrates the slight forward leg swing (think opposite of the second drawing):

When J lets go in this position, he's going straight to his bottom. Please note, I would recommend a more centered position on the bar, as scraping the playground on the way down is also no fun (he didn't drop from this position). Also, if you swing too much forward, you'll end up on your back (also, probably with the wind knocked out of you) and/or hitting your head.

I might not recommend going out and seeking your own answers to this experiment, but I'm sure if you have a monkey like I do, he/she is experimenting on their own and figuring it out (physics). Now you might be able to explain why a straight drop is recommended and not to let go during a swinging motion.

P.S. My biggest fear is that J returns to the ledge after hanging and lets go with his center of mass still not all the way on the ledge, falling head first off of the playground equipment. So, yes, I encourage straight drops. Practice makes perfect (or at least a little more relaxed mommy).

Silly Putty Proportions

This silly putty recipe made a gigantic amount of silly putty and took 2 adults a good 30 minutes to knead (with a little help from J).  Ultimately, it split up into quite a few different little hands (who weren't around to help knead it).

This large silly putty blob was made from 2 cups white Elmer's glue and 1 cup liquid starch (StaFlo) (J was in charge of the food color, so I'm not sure how much actually made it in the batch):

Massive amount of silly putty

I wanted to experiment since that's what scientists do best (and I wasn't 100% satisfied with try # 1).  I wanted to get the optimal proportion for each kid at the preschool I'm visiting on Friday (mainly to be organized) and make sure the experiment could be replicated and the questions I ask will be able to be answered.

So, I varied the glue/starch ratio to see what happens.  I started with 1:1 since I found a site that said it works that way.  FALSE.  It was just a gooey mess, so I added more glue to get it 1.5:1 (white).  I kept the other at 2:1 (blue).

The white putty had 3/16 of a cup (1/8+ half of 1/8) of glue and 1/8 cup of liquid starch.  The blue had one drop of blue food coloring, 1/4 cup white glue, and 1/8 cup liquid starch.  Both fit nicely into zipped sandwich baggies.

My opinion of the two:

I'll stick with the 2 parts glue to 1 part liquid starch (the original recipe).  Mixing it in a smaller batch allowed less kneading and it absorbed the liquid starch much better than a bigger batch.  Thus, it's not as gooey or stretchy as the previous batch.  It actually feels more like silly putty.

The 1.5 part glue to 1 part liquid starch made the putty come out almost the texture of egg whites (and I'm guessing having it white color didn't help me with that association).

Anyways, I'm excited to be bringing science to the kids tomorrow.

Main points to Friday's lesson:
*Intro to chemistry - you have two (or more) different parts, and when you mix them together, you create something new.
*Intro to material science - some materials behave differently when pulled at different rates (under different loading conditions, ie. soft gentle pull versus a fast tug).
*Have messy fun.