Magnet Explorations

January 29, 2024 Mrs. Muhr Inquiry

Last week we did an experiment to test which items in our classroom are magnetic and which are not. Today learners got a chance to explore 5 different magnet themed stations. By the voice level and smiles I could tell they had a blast! This exploration wraps up our Physical Science unit.

GeoMags– This station allowed learners to build creations using double sided magnet sticks and metal balls. They got pretty creative!

2. Disk Magnets– Learners were able to float magnets by harnessing their power to repel. Others used attraction and repel to roll disks across the table.

3. Horseshoe and Wand Magnets– These powerful magnets were fun to hold against one another to feel the magnetism as they attracted and repelled.

4. Iron Filings– Learners could decorate faces using iron filings by moving them with a magnet stick. They could also make the iron filings “dance” inside the tubes with a magnet.

5. Bar Magnets– At this station, learners could explore magnets to see what happens when the North and North poles are near each other and when the North and South poles are together. Unfortunately, these bar magnets lost some of their magnetism during storage and weren’t as strong as in past years, but that didn’t stop learners from exploring!

Exploring Electricity

January 23, 2024 Mrs. Muhr Inquiry

We have been learning about electricity and got to explore circuits a bit this week during Inquiry. On Monday, learners worked in groups to build a circuit using wires, a light bulb, a battery, and a connecting platform. There was lots of excitement as light bulbs started lighting up!

On Tuesday we tested different materials to determine which items were conductors (electricity could travel through them to light the bulb) and which were insulators (electricity did not travel through them so the bulb remained dark). Ask your third grader to share with you what was discovered during this exploration.

A penny is a conductor. The lightbulb lit up!

More Matter Experiments

January 4, 2024 Mrs. Muhr Inquiry

We are learning about Matter during Inquiry. We have done 2 cool experiments this week.

Mixing Solid and Liquid

Students experimented with adding drops of liquid (vinegar) to solids (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda). They used a pipette (dropper) to drop a little liquid at a time. We took time to observe and record what happened. The most exciting step was watching the gas bubbles created when the vinegar was added to the baking soda.

Balloon Blow-Up

Our next experiment was to see if we could harness the gas created by mixing vinegar and baking soda and use it to inflate a balloon. It worked! We tied off the balloon and noticed that the gas was very dense because the balloon dropped quickly to the floor. Both of these experiments can be completed at home with a few ingredients from your kitchen if you third-grade scientist wants to demonstrate.