D for Dissolve

See what we did for other letters in the Alphabet in Simple Science.

D for Dissolve

Investigation Ideas

Dissolving Kool-Aid

Materials:

Kool-Aid Packet, Water, and clear cups

Procedure:

This investigation was pretty simple.  I set out three cups of water.  Then we dissolved a little bit of Kool-Aid to one cup and the rest of the packet to the other.  After making observations about differences in color, smell, and taste, I had him predict what would happen to the cup with most of the Kool-Aid in it if I added a lot more water.  I then poured all the cups in a pitcher and added the remaining water left on the recipe (2 Qt, I think).  We talked about the color changes.  I poured off just a little bit into a cup, then I had him pour in the sugar.  At first, all the sugar sat at the bottom.  I asked if that sugar had dissolved yet.  Then we stirred it all up and I asked him where the sugar went.  Then I let him compare the Kool-Aid with sugar and without sugar.

The Conversation:

For the most part, I just asked Xander what he noticed after I mixed the little bit of Kool-Aid in.  I asked him where the powder went and if we could still see any of the powder.  With the third cup, we discussed the changes in color and that some of the powder was still left because it had not all dissolved.  After he tasted all three, I asked which he liked better and why.  He said the dark one tasted pretty sour!  When we made the big pitcher, I asked him where he thought the sugar went.  We talked about how the sugar changed the liquid.  I asked him which one he liked better and why he liked it better.  Basically, through the whole conversation, I emphasized the idea that the powders dissolve into the water, but they do not disappear.

Extensions:

With older kids you could definitely talk about saturation point.  You could also bring in temperature and investigate whether things dissolve better into hot liquids or cold liquids.  If I had had time, I would have also liked to dissolve some salt in water, then boil the water off to prove that the salt didn't disappear.

 Dissolving Marshmallows

Materials:

Marshmallows, clear cups, various liquids

Procedure:

We put Sprite, orange juice, apple juice, lemon juice, hot water, and cold water in clear cups.  Then we put two marshmallows in each and stirred.  I asked Xander to tell me what he thought would happen to the marshmallows.  We walked away for a while and came back to check on them.  We found out that only the hot water dissolved the marshmallows.  Then he ate ALL of the remaining marshmallows (including those in the lemon juice). 

The Conversation:

Before we added the marshmallows, I asked him what he thought would happen.  Then as we were stirring, I asked him what he noticed and if he saw any of the marshmallows starting to dissolve.  After we came back, I asked him to look in each one and see if any dissolved.  When he found the one that did, I asked him what happened to the marshmallows.  Did they disappear?  Did they go away by magic?  And we discussed that dissolving meant you sometimes couldn't see it anymore, but that it was still in there.

D Week

Letter Formation/Pre-Writing

Tracing the letters with his write and wipe cards.  How cute is that facial expression?

Practicing writing in his sand box.  I've been pleasantly surprised how little mess he's made with this box.

Q-Tip Painting (from 1+1+1=1)

 Play Dough Letters
I got out our alphabet stamping play dough mat and the letter D mat from 1+1+1=1.  He hadn't played with play dough in a while, so really enjoyed it.

 Using his Build a Letter Templates and HWWT pieces. I have him build with the foam pieces on the templates first, then I let him use the wooden pieces on his own. He is always SO proud of himself when he builds recognizable letters.

 Letter Maze

Literacy

Beginner Spelling Cards
We did the next four Beginner Spelling Cards.  I always make sure I put out extra letters, so it is still challenging for him.  He filled the cards perfectly, but struggled to make the words without the cards.  He kept making "bat" instead of "boat."

Alphabetizing

I gave Xander some of our magnetic letters and asked him to put them in the order of the alphabet song.  He still wants to make them into words, but is starting to figure it out.

Cut and Paste Phonics Hunt

This week we did letter D from our Cut and Past Phonics Hunt.  This week I moved Xander up to some new scissors.  Before we were using training scissors, which have a spring to open the scissors for him.  Now he has to open them all by himself.

I recently ordered him What's Gnu? a game about making words.  He LOVES it.  We don't play competitively yet, though.  He also needs someone to make sure he is making "real" words, not silly made up words.

Playing by himself while Mommy studied.

We did a phonics page and some other letter D pages from Raising Rockstars Kindergarten.  Most of the activities themselves are pretty easy for him, but I wanted him to have practice reading and following directions.

Hanging his work on the wall, all by himself!

Thinking Skills

Doing yet another sequencing puzzle.

Math

Practicing showing the quantities 5 and 6 with tally sticks.

Art

Decorating a card to send in the mail.

Science

We're still doing our Alphabet in Simple Science, and this week was D for Dissolve

Spanish

Mostly he just watched The Magic School Bus in Spanish as well as one of the discs of Kid Start Spanish

Life Skills

This week we converted Xander's crib into a day bed.  He helped screw the bolts in and did a surprisingly good job!

Preschool Backpack

Here is what was in this week's Preschool Backpack:

Block Buddies

Spelling Puzzles

Spanish vocabulary puzzles

Learning Links and pattern cards

Geoboard and rubber bands

 Worksheets (full list used here) with dry erase sleeve

3 Books for him to read aloud

This Week's Work

C for Cook

See what we did for other letters in the Alphabet in Simple Science.

C for Cook

Investigation Ideas

How Can We Cook It?

Materials:

Carrots and/or Potatoes

Procedure:

We started off with some raw baby carrots and a potato.  I explained how we often use heat to cook things before we eat them.  Cooking foods can change them.  I then explained some of the different ways we could cook things, including microwaving, baking, boiling, steaming, and sauteeing.  We cooked both of the vegetables each way.

Then I lined up each vegetable, and we talked about the differences.  He got to try, and retry each one.

The Conversation:

For this one, I had to ask some pretty leading questions.  Xander was too busy wanting to eat the vegetables, that he did not really want to discuss them first.  I asked him to look at the raw veggies and the cooked ones and tell me any differences he saw.  I had him feel them, to see if they felt the same.  I had him taste them, to see if they all tasted the same (the stinker linked the raw carrot and raw potato best).  I had him bite the carrots to hear if they still crunched.  He loved the crunching!

Extensions:

There are more ways took cook things (grilling, broiling, frying, etc).  You could also involve different foods.  With older kids I would also talk about food safety.  We cook things like meat and eggs to kill bacteria, but it also denatures the proteins, leading to changes.

For something to do while waiting on the veggies to finish baking, I got out some popcorn.  We compared the popcorn before and after cooking.  It is a fun food because it changes shape, texture, color, smell, and taste.

Cooking Lengths

Materials:

Your favorite cookie dough, a light color works best though

Procedure:

I think this has been my favorite of all of the investigations so far.  We talked about how cooking things changes them.  I had him think of pancake batter and muffin batter, and how they changed into pancakes and muffins.  Then I asked him if he thought how long we cooked things made a difference.  I explained we would be making cookies, but some we would only cook a little bit, some a little longer, and some a really long time.

We started with three balls of cookie dough.  I used parchment paper to make it easier to remove one at a time.

 Then I baked them all for 5 minutes.  It as long enough to have some changes, but not cook them all the way through.  I pulled them out and had him look at them to see how they changed.

 I put just one of the cookies on a plate to let him poke and feel.

 He, of course, was impatient to taste it also.

 I put the other two back in the oven.  I pulled out another cookie a few minutes later.  When I had two of the cookies out, I had him look at them to make predictions about the third.  I baked the third cookie for quite a bit longer and then had him compare them all.

 His favorite part of the investigation.

The Conversation:

I asked Xander a lot of questions about his observations.  How was the cooked cookie different from the dough?  How did the color change the longer we baked the dough?  How did they feel different?  How did they taste different?

Extensions:

Another easy investigation would be to keep the cooking time the same, but change the temperature of the oven.  For older kids you could also compare the size and baking conditions of the cookie.  For instance, how does cooking one regular cookie compare to baking a giant cookie or a tiny cookie?  What if you baked it in a muffin tin or in a covered container?