This week, our scientist showed us how to take the baking soda and vinegar reaction to the next level. Baking soda is a bicarbonate and vinegar is an acid. When the two meet they cause a chemical reaction with CO2 as a byproduct. However, what happens when you combine the two in a sealed ziplock bag? We hypothesized the bag would explode, the seal would break and the liquid would spill out, or bubbles would happen inside the bag like usual. Turns out you get a nice loud pop and an explosion. Check out the video below for all the details. We're loving all these cool science experiments!

1. Fill the paper towel square with 1.5 T baking soda to create a pouch.
2. Pour the warm water and vinegar into the ziplock.
3. Take your materials outside.
4. Put the pouch in the ziplock and seal it.  Step back and watch!

Today we had our first scientist of the week. We explored the chemical reaction that occurs between hydrogen peroxide (H202) and potassium iodide (KI). When H202 and KI are mixed, the KI acts as a catalyst to break down the H202.. We're left with a few things: water (H20), oxygen (O2), heat, and few other byproducts.  The iodide (I) is the catalyst because it doesn't get broken down. The heat is created because the chemical reaction is exothermic. meaning that heat is a byproduct of the reaction...190 degrees worth of heat to be precise! Check out more details below and thank you to our first scientist for being so knowledgable and organized!

1. Take all the materials outside, put on your gloves, and safety goggles.
2. Measure the hydrogen peroxide and pour it carefully into the flask.
3. Add 10 drops of food coloring...color of your choice. 
4. Add 4 counts of dish soap.
5. Carefully measure and add 15 mL of potassium iodide.  Then step back.

An exothermic chemical reaction during the breakdown of H202.

This week we started a year long endeavor called The Gratitude Project.  In past years, we have spent a lot of time reflecting on gratitude. This year we're focusing on people and the moments that bring us gratitude. We'll be writing a weekly gratitude letter to send in the mail...because getting snail mail is always the best! We're working on our writing skills, reflecting our how fortunate we are to have amazing people in our lives, and learning how to address letters!  Thank you in advance for replying to my address requests :)

Gyotaku is the traditional Japanese art of printing using fish and other marine creatures.  We've been using rubber fish, not actual fish, but it's just as fun.  We learned how to create a print, intentionally choose color, and consider the background.  You may see a practice print coming home, but the final is going in our portfolio.  Thanks, Ms. Elise.  

"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole live believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein
We finished our first read aloud, and it was amazing.  We fell in love with the characters, cheered for them, had empathy for them, learned from them, and ended up proud of them.  We learned about dyslexia and how everyone's brain is wired just a little bit differently; this is called neurodiverisity.  We realize that if everyone were the same, the world would be a very dull place.  We also learned that everyone deserves to be treated with kindness because kindness is always a choice.  Did you know some really creative geniuses are believed to have had dyslexia? (Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and the list goes on and on.)

We've been playing this really fun game during math workshop.  It's an actual, real live board game called Prime Climb.  It's super cool because you can play with up to four people., everyone can be working on different kinds of math at the same time, there's neat strategy involved, and it's actually really fun.  Check out the pictures below and the directions if you're interested in learning more about it.  If you want to go all out, here's the link to get this board game for home.
Prime Climb