My friend Iris
sent this photograph of discovery bottles she created with her students. She
took recycled bottles and engaged the children in what I call a “grass roots”
science experiment. From left to
right, this is what they put in the bottles and what they learned:
1. Foam squares and water. The kids
discovered that foam floated to the top and the bottom. The water turned pink when it was left
in the sun over the weekend.
2. Grass clippings and water. Children discovered the water
turned green.
3. Orange sand, clay, and water. The water turned muddy and after a while
the sand settled at the bottom
4. Glitter, glue, and water. The glitter
made blobs at first and then after a lot of shaking the glitter suspended in
the water.
5. Black and tan sand and water. The
children noticed that after the sand settled the tan sand stayed at the bottom
and black sand made a layer at the top.
The water stayed murky.
6. Wood mulch (from the playground ) and
water. Some mulch sank and some stayed at the top. After being in the sun a couple of days the water turned
green.
I love this
because it proves once again that you don’t have to do costly and time consuming science projects! Science is what the children do, not what the teacher does! Way to go Iris!
