2020-21 Lesson 14: Electrical Circuits

Electricity is a type of energy that can build up in one place or flow from one place to another. When electricity gathers in one place it is known as static electricity (the word static means something that does not move); electricity that moves from one place to another is called current electricity.

A circuit is a complete path around which electricity can flow. It must include a source of electricity, such as a battery. Materials that allow electric current to pass through them easily, called conductors, can be used to link the positive and negative ends of a battery, creating a circuit.

We had a great discussion on how we use electricity and depend on it in our everyday lives. We use it to light our houses, cook our food, power our electronics, and play our games. 

For our experiment we created circuits using aluminum foil, Christmas lights, electrical tape, and 9-volt batteries. It was so fun to see the lights turn on as the circuits were created!

 

2020-21 Lesson 13: Rainbows

Rainbows are formed when light shines through water, like when the sun shines through the rain. This light is bent and reflected, like a reflection in a mirror, and this causes all of the amazing colors that you see. 

The light that we see each day is sunlight, a white light that comes to us from the sun. White light is made up of the different colors that we see in the rainbow, but when the light is all traveling in one direction, it looks white. 

During the rains, however, millions of raindrops cause the colors in the white light to separate and refract through them. Each raindrop actually makes its own rainbow, but when there are so many raindrops at the same time, the rainbows become big enough for us to see with the naked eye.

Rainbows normally appear from the rain, but they can happen wherever light is being bent inside of water droplets. Rainbows can be seen in mist, fog, spray, and dew. 

Rainbows are made up of all seven colors that come from light. These colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

A great way to remember these colors is the think of the acronym, which seems like a man’s name: ROY G BIV

There is no end to a rainbow. Even though they look like an arch to us, or an upside down letter U, rainbows are actually full circles. 

We saw beautiful pictures of rainbows and then created our own rainbows by dropping clear nail polish onto water and pulling out the film with our black paper squares.

2020-21 Lesson 12: Water Cycle and States of Matter

Water is pretty amazing! 

Water can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. 

The recycling of water over and over again is called the Water Cycle. 

There are four main parts of the Water Cycle: Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, and Collection. 

We learned about each stage of the Water Cycle and then created a Water Cycle in a bag.

We played a water cycle game to learn more about the vocabulary.

And we danced to the Water Cycle Song!