2020/21 Lesson 6: Turkeys!

 

For this lesson we learned all about Turkeys! Here are some fun facts we learned:

 There are wild turkeys and domesticated turkeys. 

Did you know there is archeological evidence of turkeys dating back 10 million years? Wow!

 Turkeys live in 49 states in the United States. The only state that you cannot find turkeys in is Alaska. 

Eighty-eight percent of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving and 46 million turkeys are consumed in the United States on that holiday! 

Male turkeys have a wattle and a snood. Male turkeys, or Tom turkeys, can gobble and fan their tail feathers. 

Female turkeys, or hens, can lay eggs once a year. 

A group of turkeys is called a flock. 

They live in woodland areas throughout the year and are omnivores. 

They purposely eat pebbles and rocks which help them break apart food in their gizzards. 

They are interesting birds and we learned a lot of new facts about turkeys!

We made chromatography turkey feathers and gobbler wobbler turkeys!

2020/21 Lesson 5: Chemical Reactions

A chemical reaction occurs when two or more substances combine and a new substance is formed. Evidences of chemical reactions include: changes in color, new smells, gas being released, newly created substances, heat, and fire. Scientists (Chemists) have discovered many useful items by combining elements and the reaction created a new substance. Some of these discoveries have included soap, rubber, plastic, and cement. 

To test our knowledge of chemical reactions we observed a reaction between baking soda and vinegar. The baking soda and vinegar reacted and released a gas which blew up a balloon!

We also made bouncy balls! Here is the recipe if you want to make one at home.

2020/21 Lesson 4: Coding with Ozobots

We communicate in different ways. We can speak, use our bodies, or even send digital messages to communicate. A computer can communicate too! The way a computer communicates is through coding. A computer is programed to recognize codes and those codes give the computer directions on what needs to be done. 

In science we learned about various ways computers are used in science. For instance scientists use machines controlled by computers to explore outer space, dive to the deep ocean floor, to prepare and package foods, to help in the medical field, and to dismantle dangerous nuclear objects. 

To use what we learned about coding, we played with Ozobots and Beebots from the SUU STEM library. Thank you SUU!

Ozobots are programed to follow codes that can be created by drawing with markers. The Ozobots recognize the colors black, red, blue, and green and will follow their paths. The Ozobot will perform various 'tricks' when the colors are drawn in the corresponding codes. 

The kindergarten had fun giving directions to the Beebots!