Making lemonade from lemonades

We have a lovely lemonade tree out the back which goes mad with fruit, particularly at this time of the year -which reminds me that there's a great lesson around observations and lemons (http://static.nsta.org/files/sc0802_25.pdf or https://www.nsta.org/elementaryschool/connections/200802MinogueConnection.pdf without the reading)... Anyway, normally we're busy giving away as many of the lemonades as we can -the kids in my class used to love them but this year we've been a bit busy ignoring the fruit and so got a surprise when a few kids turned up at the door asking if they could have some lemons. Of course we said yes, and then found this beauty as the boys were picking "for a feed"!

I thought they'd be great for a quick observation... what has happened here? Is it one lemon or two? What would be there reasons for choosing either -especially if you only showed the first picture -there's only one connection to the tree (the "peduncle extremity" according to Saint Google and http://www.speciale.it/english/citrusfruit.html... I'm always amazed at the level of vocabulary that's out there for those who are experts in that particular field) but if you look at the other photos there are clearly two ends!

I did think that there's a conversation here about twins -identical and fraternal but that might be a bit deep! However in our science 'quickie', could children attempt to draw a cross-section of what they think this lemonade might look like? As always, I have a few thoughts about this (!) -how are they drawing the cross-section? How do they label and describe parts? Children might not know the different parts in specifics but should know "peel", "flesh", "seeds" and perhaps "segments" (although I do wonder about showing them a picture to use a starter with some of the simple names). 

Once they've had a go, you can show them my photos of the interior. I was actually surprised how much 'space' or gaps there was in the fruit -I thought it would be full of flesh but just mutated a little.

"Engaged in Science" certainly was happening in my house -and what's really interesting was it was my wife who was the curious one! And the lemonade was consumed happily -but not by me... yuck!

Of course, giving children some lemons to look at rather than one on a slide is always better... use magnifying glasses to look at the skin, the layers of skin, the segments, inside a seed, etc... lots to talk about, to taste, to smell, to generate questions (which is what the lemon of a lesson does).

As always, have a great day! Thanks to those of you who leave a comment -nice to know people do read these!

Paul

Engaging Children in Science

the originator: Mike Senator (image: today.com)

I was down in lovely Otorohanga last week doing some science with the students there. Before I started with the seniors, a couple of boys were trying to toss their water bottle up in the air and then landing right way up on the desk. Apparently, it's a "thing": (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bottle-flipping-trick-videos-youtube-banned-in-schools-a7346131.html), and I've seen kids doing this in my home town of Te Aroha as well. The aim is to toss a bottle with some water in up in the air and have it land standing upright.
Anyway, I wondered if this is something that could have some science applied to it and the flip can! I found this article online with the science of fluid dynamics attributed http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bottle-flipping-trick-videos-youtube-banned-in-schools-a7346131.html, as well as another article slightly more tongue in cheek -http://www.sciencealert.com/the-internet-just-lost-is-mind-over-this-teen-flipping-a-water-bottle-like-a-pro.
So could children work out what's going on? Could they discover the best way of holding the bottle (holding the cap seems to be best)? How much water is best? Could they film the flip to see what the water does (might need to be coloured?)? Is there a better height to be to flip or toss the bottle both for the flipping person and the surface the bottle is being flipped onto? I love thinking like this -grabbing 'stuff' that is out there and thinking about the science... because I know this is what scientists do as well! And having found a few websites out there with some explanations, I do feel my theories are affirmed! Mind you, I'm also aware that this could start the craze at your school!
Besides all the lovely physics happening here, there's lots for the science capabilities too...
Gather and Interpret Data: what are children noticing? Can they film the toss? Infer/Think about what's happening as they try different amounts of liquids (in fact would different liquids make a difference?), different holds, etc. How will they record their observations? Will they use a table or chart? There's lots of variables going on here -how will they try to keep the changes to a minimum, and why is that important?
Use Evidence, Critique Evidence: Can children try to explain why this works? I'm not expecting the physics answers with all the vocab but students may be able to see what the water is doing in the bottle. Apparently a third of the bottle filled with water is best and if it's coloured, children could see clearly what the liquid is doing. There are plenty of apps out there to slow film down for them to see how the water affects the rotation. When I talk with teachers about this kind of science, they are keen for the children to 'know the answers' and I know I'm very much the same! Sometimes the issue with letting the children loose on Google means them finding the answers but not understanding the answers. They may even be able to repeat what the website says! By getting them to explore first, they may have a better idea of what the website or video is saying... which leads me to another capability.
Interpret Representations: As students look online, they will find diagrams, charts, visual representations, and video explanations discussing the science. Do they understand? Could they explain how the pictures 'work', for example, this explanation from the links above. There's a lot of information here!

Could children film their own bottle flipping and then see if they can correlate the stages in the explanation with their own toss? Do they agree? I'm a big fan of students sharing their own explanations through drawing a diagram, etc. How will they label the picture? How do they show movement, eg of the water? Once they've drawn their diagram, children should have a better idea of their explanation and feel more confident in writing an explanation (if you wanted students to write).

Of course, you may end up with a pile of children wanting to do this all lunchtime but I guess you could put restrictions on the flip! An idea just popped in my head -does the bottle size matter?

As I was talking about this at home, my niece mentioned people trying to balance softdrink cans in their rims with a little liquid in...

Have fun!
Paul

Engaged in Science

Just a quick note to share something that happened over the weekend. One of the capabilities that I'm particularly interested in seeing 'happening' is the Engaged in Science capability. This is where children are becoming almost independent in their science thinking of the world around them and in particular issues. If we're serious about the essence statement in the NZC, we need to be deliberate in our efforts to creating responsible, critical and informed citizens.
I was at a DoC centre in Nelson last week and they are releasing lots of fantastic resources to support teachers (http://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-education/) with getting our students engaged in their local environment and doing science stuff! The resources do have the Nature of Science as a part of the planning and it would be simple enough to tag the capabilities alongside.

Anyway, the 'thing'... I was chatting to the hairdresser as she cut my hair and she made mention of the fact the salon seems to always be louder in cool mornings than if it's warm. It got us chatting about this (and if you know me, you would know I was asking lots of questions like "Prove it" and "How do you know that it's louder?"!). We had an observation from the hairdresser and then we were using this observation to think more about this idea. We used prior knowledge about our own memories -that on still days sound does seem to travel further. We also did a bit of science talk as I had read something recently about sound travelling through water very well so was thinking that perhaps a humid day might be better for sound travel... We were musing and discussing and both of us were interested. And those of you who think I'm making this up -the hairdresser then posted this on Facebook!

Rather than getting too deep science-wise, I was wanting to share this as an example of getting science out there. Not just for children but for ourselves as well. Not only is there plenty of science-themed news out there but let's start being inquisitive, curious, wondering... Let's start thinking about what we read... I remember reading something about dogs peeing north and south (http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/03/dogs-sense-earths-magnetic-field/) and thought pfft! I take my dog for loads of walks and he's yet to show this natural compass bearing (unless there's something up with Te Aroha, magnetically speaking!) preferring to pee in any direction. However, it did make me want to critique and challenge the finding and that's one of the things science is about... Neither the hairdresser nor I really knew that much about sound travelling but we did have some prior knowledge and a few science ideas. She used good ol' Google to give us some more ideas but I'm sure that she will be monitoring the salon in the future... wanting evidence of her theory!

So get out there and find out stuff! Why do some weeds and flowers grow in clumps? How come the cup 'tings' at different pitches with the spoon after you stir the coffee? Why is a fruit a fruit and a vegetable a vegetable? And why does my toast and jam still fall jam-side down?!? 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dropping-toast-butter-side-down-2253601

And what interests me is that scientists are fascinated with this everyday science just like us! That last one I put in for fun and then thought 'hmmmmm', googled it and found: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2410532/Why-toast-falls-butter-Scientists-finally-uncover-reason--height-table.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttered_toast_phenomenon. Yes, I know the last one is wikipedia but now I want to look up the link to buttered cats! Science is so cool!

Paul