Science Circus

On Wednesday night my class put on a science circus night for Linda Vista Elementary school. The night was a success! Each student group had their own table set up around the room and each table focused on a different science concept. Students and parents could walk around the room and visit the different stations. Some of my favorite stations were the "Magic Flower" "Lava Lamp" "Pepper Star" and the "Magic Goo." The magic flower is a flower made from paper, and the students can fold the petals into the center, and when placed in water the petals open up. The Lava lamp was cool because it was just water and vegetable oil and then an alka seltzer was put into the picture and it made a cool reaction. The pepper star showed that when your finger was soapy it repelled the pepper. Click the link to read more about the pepper star: http://io9.com/5668221/an-experiment-with-soap-water-pepper-and-surface-tension. The magic goo was made from water and corn starch. It is a great way to teach kids about solids and liquids.

Our station was on Foil boats. The students had to make a boat out of foil and see how many pennies they could put on the boat before it sank. The students were able to re-do their boat to try and fit more pennies on it. Our booth was a success! Our booth was always busy and it had a line for most of the night :) The kids totally got competitive with each other over how many pennies they could fit on their boats. We put the high score on the board and many students could come back to try and beat the high score. Our station was appropriate for all age ranges of children. For the older children we encouraged them to think about denisty and buoyancy when creating their boat as well as surface area. And for the young children they were able to see how bigger boats shaped as rafts were able to hold more pennies than small boats. Parents would sometimes help the student make the boat as well. Parents were also getting competitive with each other! If students were having a difficult time creating the boat we would refer them to the poster:

I think a science circus is a great way to get parents and students involved and excited about learning science. I think it would be a great event to take to my next student placement or school where I get my first job. Teachers could pair up with other teachers from their grade level and do a fun experiment highlighting a science standard in their grade. It would be a chance for teachers to interact with parents and for students to see parent involvement with the school. It is so important for the student to feel both support from the teacher and the parent for the student's learning process.