2020-21 Lesson 16: Five Senses

Our five senses include the sense of smell, sound, sight, taste, and touch. We use our five sense daily! We did some voting to see what students preferred to smell and taste. Sweet and spicy foods won for best tasting. Students like to smell good odors such as food baking and flowers. 

We learned some facts about our five senses from this Scholastic worksheet. 

We popped popcorn and used our sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch! It was fun to eat it afterwards!

Finally we watched a video about our 5 senses on PBS.org. 

Here is the link if you'd like to watch it again! 

https://www.pbs.org/video/science-trek-five-senses/

2020-21 Lesson 15: Acid or Base?

Acids and bases are two special kinds of chemicals. Almost all liquids are either acids or bases to some degree. Whether a liquid is an acid or base depends on the type of ions in it. If it has a lot of hydrogen ions, then it is an acid. If it has a lot of hydroxide ions, then it is a base.

Some examples of acids include vinegar, soda, and citrus juices. Some examples of bases include baking soda, dish soap, and window cleaner. 

Today you can determine if a liquid is an acid or a base by measuring it's pH. There are different ways to do this including using acid base indicator papers (Litmus Strips) or by using a pH meter. 

Acids have a pH number less than 7. Bases have a pH number greater than 7. Water is neither and acid or a base but is neutral. 

Experiment!

We tested 8 liquids with Litmus paper strips to see if they were acids or bases. We tested: Orange Soda, Lemon Juice, Apple Juice, Vinegar, Dawn Dish Soap, Baking Soda, Hand Sanitizer, and Water. 

It was fun to see the paper turn red, orange, green, and blue. We compared the colors on our indicator chart and recorded our answers.