Brightstorm is offering free online lessons in the following areas of math:

• Algebra
• Algebra 2
• Geometry
• Trigonometry
• Precalculus
• Calculus

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PROBLEM:

How does the type of light affect water’s evaporation rate?

HYPOTHESIS:

I think that  (place your own hypothesis here).

MATERIALS USED:

(Your materials might be a little different.  Use what you have.)

• Eleven 9 ounce Solo cups
• Water
• Weight Scale
• One Sharpie marker

EXPERIMENT:

1. Fill five cups with an equal amount of water, labeling the cups A-E.
2. Place cups in different places around the house.
3. Wait four days and then mark the water level.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 using five different cups labeled A2-E2.  Put cups in the exact same places as the first five cups.   Place A2 cup where A had been, etc.
5. After four more days, weigh each of the ten cups with the water in them, including a control cup with the original amount of water.
6. Average the two trials for each cup (A & A2, etc.) and calculate the percentages to see how much water evaporated.

RESULTS:

(Fill in the blanks with the percentages you got from your calculations.)

1. Cup A:  ____% evaporated
2. Cup B:  ____% evaporated
3. Cup C:  ____% evaporated
4. Cup D:  ____% evaporated
5. Cup E:  ____% evaporated

CONCLUSION:

My hypothesis was supported by my experiment:  (Place your own conclusion here.)

PROJECT BOARD:

Type out the Problem, Hypothesis, and Experiment, etc., and display on left side of board.  In the middle section, have the title of the project and photos or sketches of the cups of water and where they were placed.  Also, graphs can be made on the computer displaying the results of the experiment.  On the right side of the board, display the Results and your Conclusion.

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(THIS COULD ALSO BE USED AS AN INTEREST CENTER.)

This is a very interesting project!  I imagine most people know someone who lived through WWII and have heard stories of what life was like during that  period in history.   What made this particular project interesting was that the student (actually my son) interviewed several people who lived during this time period.  He received first hand information about what life was like and how so many people pulled together for the good of our country, even though they had to ration items and do without some items.  Interviewing these people helped make this project come alive for him.  We knew someone whose best friend was killed at Pearl Harbor on the USS Arizona.  It was such a sad time in history for all those involved!

Another interesting factor was that we had actually been to Pearl Harbor, saw the short movie (which made it seem like we were really there and brought tears to my eyes), went through the museum, and bought memorabilia such as a copy of the newspaper which showed the headline “WAR!”

TIPS FOR THIS PROJECT:

• Interview people who lived through WWII and get a first hand account of what it was like.
• Get copies of pictures of people who served in the war to add to the project.
• Read children’s books about Pearl Harbor.  See list below.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS ON PEARL HARBOR:

• Pearl Harbor: A Primary Source History by Jacqueline Laks Gorman. Good for ages 8-12.
• The Attack on Pearl Harbor (Cornerstones of Freedom Series) by Tom McGowen.  Good for ages 9-11.
• Attack on Pearl Harbor by Shelley Tanaka.  Good for ages 10+.
• Air Raid – Pearl Harbor!:  The Story of December 7, 1941 by Theodore Taylor.  Good for ages 12 and up.
• Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer & Triston Elwell.  Good for ages 12 and up.
• Pearl Harbor: Day of Infamy by Stephanie Fitzgerald.  Good for ages 12 and up.
  

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This is a great “big book” (or “board book” as some may call them) that is made by Funfax.  It’s great for teaching different levels:

• Young children – just talk about the basics
• ESL students – pictures and visuals are great for teaching them
• Gifted students – deeper material in the book can be used with them and higher level questions can be presented
• Science lesson – pick and choose the material in the book you need for your lesson

I’ve had my book for a while, but they are still available through Amazon.

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Most kids are fascinated with volcanoes.  When teaching about them, it is important to let kids make a volcano, have good pictures of real volcanoes, and if possible, a video, since most students are not able to take a field trip to actually see one.  If you are fortunate to be on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, then you can hike up to the top of Diamond Head, an extinct volcano.  We did this, and it was quite impressive.  Or you can visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii, which we also did, and you might get to see an actual lava flow.  We didn’t get close enough to see a lava flow, but we did walk through the Thurston Lava Tube which was very interesting.

Here is a book we own that has many great pictures of volcanoes:

• HAWAII VOLCANOES The Story Behind the Scenery by Glen Kaye

MAKE YOUR OWN VOLCANO:

1. Use a large pan,  9 x 13.   Place an empty 16 ounce bottle in the middle of it with the top off.
2. Using either papier mache, modeling clay, or salt play dough, make a mountain with vertical ridges around the bottle.  Do not cover the top of the bottle.  Paint brown and let dry.
3. Mix 1 tablespoon liquid dishwashing soap and 1 tablespoon baking soda in a cup and carefully pour into the bottle in the middle of the mountain.  (If you’re brave, you can add a few drops of red or orange food coloring in with the soap and baking soda.)
4. Place the pan with the mountain outside.  Add 1/4 cup white vinegar to the bottle and stand back.  Your volcano will erupt!

• For ESL students, be sure and label everything.
• For Gifted students, ask higher level questions.  If you want the chemical reaction, this is it:  NaHCO3 + CH3COOH –> Na+ + H2O + CO2 + CH3COO-.  When the baking soda and vinegar are mixed, it produces a carbon dioxide gas (a chemical reaction) which is the same gas that a real volcano produces.
  

VOLCANO KITS:

• Kit:  Volcano Island – Discovery Extreme Light and Sound Rumbling Volcano  by  Poof Slinky
• Our Amazing Volcanoes / Earth Science Kit by Poof Slinky

• Volcano Kit from Schylling

by Schylling

CHILDREN’S VIDEOS:

• Earth Science for Children: All About Volcanoes

• The Magic School Bus: Blows Its Top [VHS]

CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

• Volcanoes (Wonders of Our World)

• Dk Readers:  Eruption–The Story of Volcanoes (Level 2) by Anita Ganeri
• National Geographic Readers Volcanoes! by Anne Schreiber

• The Best Book of Volcanoes by Simon Adams

• The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top:  A Book About Volcanoes by Gail Herman and Bob Ostrom.  Good for PreK-1.  Not your typical Magic School Bus book.

• Time For Kids: Volcanoes! by Editors Of  Time For Kids

• Volcanoes by Jacques Durieux and Philippe Bourseiller.Spectacular photos!
• Volcanoes (All Aboard Science Reader) by Nicholas Nirgiotis.  Go0d for K-2.  Pictures look like clay.
  
• Volcanoes (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Franklyn Mansfield Branley and Megan Lloyd.  Good for PreK-2 and older.
• Volcanoes!  Mountains of Fire (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4) by Eric Arnold.  Good for 4th grade.

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Here are some suggestions:

• Stretch every lesson where possible with Higher Level Thinking Skills.
• Teacher’s manuals will often have suggestions for gifted students.
• Have the gifted students work on projects they can do by themselves.
• Just because a student is a gifted student does not mean they are an independent worker or a self-motivator.   Pair these students up with a partner who is an independent worker.
• Utilize resources.   I had one exceptionally bright first grader who would go to the library and do research on topics of his choosing with minimal supervision from the librarian.   He would either write about it or illustrate and make a poster about his research.
• Encourage students to enter extra activities offered by your district such as Science Fair, History Fair, Invention Convention, Art Contests, etc.   One year, I had a gifted second grader (an ESL student) who excelled in art and entered a district contest.  He won an award!
• Have students work on a class newspaper that they publish once a week or once a month.
• A lot of times, you can see where certain students excel in one or more of the Seven Areas of Giftedness.   Develop centers or projects for these areas.

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1.  KNOWLEDGE

• Recalling of information such as places, dates, and events (who, what, when, where, how)
• Knowledge of subject matter, main ideas, basic concepts and principles
• Memorizing

2.  COMPREHENSION

• Understanding meaning
• Applying knowledge in a different context
• Simple comparing and contrasting
• Making inferences
• Predicting outcomes
• Describing in one’s own words
• Making interpretations
• Making summarizations

3.  APPLICATION

• Problem solving
• Applying what has been learned through exhibits, demonstrations, graphs, charts, etc.
• Using information, concepts, and methods in different situations
• Using facts to answer questions such as “How is ___ related to ___?”

4.  ANALYSIS

• Dividing a whole into its component parts
• Outlining and diagramming
• Identifying literary elements and breaking the story down into different parts
• Distinguishing between inferences and actual facts
• Analyzing components of an event in history
• Identifying motives and hidden meanings
• Separating the components of the scientific process
• Seeing patterns
• Teacher asks questions such as “What is the order of steps in ___?”  or “What are the functions of ___?”  or “How does ___ compare/contrast with —?”

5.  SYNTHESIS

• Using already existing concepts to create new concepts or ideas
• Creating and designing something new and original.  This could be a short story, poem, music, plan for an experiment, new way of classifying ideas, etc.
• Combining information from several sources
• Finding solutions
• Teacher asks questions such as “How would you create a new ___?”  or “What ideas can you add?”

6.  EVALUATION

• Comparing ideas
• Developing opinions and judgments
• Judging the value of something for a given purpose, based on definite criteria
• Resolving differences of opinion
• Making value decisions about issues
• Teacher asks questions such as “Do you agree?”  or “What do you think is most important?”

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