I wasn't sure how this year's science would work out...after last year's thrilling ride of hover crafts, robots, white light, and electricity I thought "life science" might not be as thrilling for the boys. But leave it supercharged science to turn up the excitement level.
How is a balloon like a cell membrane? Find out...put vanilla extract in a balloon, blow it up.
And take a good sniff...smell anything? We did! The balloon kept air in but also let some out. Sounds like a cell membrane to me.
We started with something that smelled GOOD and then went to something that smelled HORRIBLE!!! I mean HORRIBLE. For days Peter and I kept saying to each other "what is that smell?" well we found out when it was time to check out out protozoa specimen. (Made with water, dead grass from the back yard and yeast, and let it sit and grow) The boys were pretty grossed out and said it smelled like....well you don't need to know. =) BUT I wish I would have recorded their reaction to looking at their specimen under the microscope. I had no idea it would have been such a BIG hit. "WOW no way" "check it out" "things are moving" "what are they" "let's stain the slide" "You've got to check this out" "are they really alive" "so cool"
Just as important as observing is recording. The next week in science will be even more thrilling and we'll return to our specimen jar to see if more critters have grown!!
How is a balloon like a cell membrane? Find out...put vanilla extract in a balloon, blow it up.
And take a good sniff...smell anything? We did! The balloon kept air in but also let some out. Sounds like a cell membrane to me.
We started with something that smelled GOOD and then went to something that smelled HORRIBLE!!! I mean HORRIBLE. For days Peter and I kept saying to each other "what is that smell?" well we found out when it was time to check out out protozoa specimen. (Made with water, dead grass from the back yard and yeast, and let it sit and grow) The boys were pretty grossed out and said it smelled like....well you don't need to know. =) BUT I wish I would have recorded their reaction to looking at their specimen under the microscope. I had no idea it would have been such a BIG hit. "WOW no way" "check it out" "things are moving" "what are they" "let's stain the slide" "You've got to check this out" "are they really alive" "so cool"
Just as important as observing is recording. The next week in science will be even more thrilling and we'll return to our specimen jar to see if more critters have grown!!
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