Thursday, April 19, 2012

Homemade Gak Slime


I found this recipe online on how to make homemade gak slime! - Yes it's easier to buy it but a lot more fun to make it!

Materials:

Elmer’s Glue® (8 oz bottle of Elmer’s Glue-All)

Borax (a powdered soap found in the grocery store)
Large mixing bowl
Plastic cup (8 oz size)

Spoon

Measuring cup
Food coloring
Water

Zipper-lock bag (or plastic container) to store it in
Warm Water

This recipe is based on using a brand new 8 oz bottle of Elmer’s Glue. Empty the entire bottle of glue into a mixing bowl. Fill the empty bottle with warm water and shake. Pour the glue-water mixture into the mixing bowl and use the spoon to mix well.

Add a drop or two of food coloring.

Measure 1/2 cup of warm water into the plastic cup and add a teaspoon of Borax powder to the water. Stir the solution – don’t worry if all of the powder dissolves. This Borax solution is the secret linking agent that causes the Elmer’s Glue molecules to turn into slime.
While stirring the glue in the mixing bowl, slowly add a little of the Borax solution. Immediately you’ll feel the long strands of molecules starting to connect. Keep adding the Borax solution to the glue mixture (don’t stop mixing) until you get a perfect batch of gak. You probably wont use all the borax solution unless you want really stiff gak.

When you’re finished playing with your gak, seal it up in a zipper-lock bag or plastic container.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Playdough Geography


You can find the pdf of this project at:
http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/en_US/discover/teachers/pdf/7F53D612-D56F-E112-497CE221E79B18F7.pdf?soc=fbk_doh_pds_0412_007

Purpose: Students are introduced to the term
continent. Students learn the names and locations of the seven
continents.

Objectives:
• Students learn the term continent.
• Students name and locate the seven continents.
• Students identify the continent they live on.
• Students use PLAY-DOH compound for a “hands-on”
activity to form the shapes of the continents in the location they belong.

Curriculum Areas:

Social Studies

Geography

Visual Arts

Mapping Skills

Math

Continents
·
Science
·
Language Arts
·
Fine Arts

Grade Levels

Pre K

K

1

2


Supplies Needed:
• PLAY-DOH compound (seven colors, enough for each
student to form continents)
• Large map of the continents (can be found at mapsofworld.com
website)
• Student copy of a map outline of the continents
Directions:
1.
Using the large map, show students the continents.
Point to each continent and have the students count them. Tell them that the
lands of the world are divided into 7 continents. Have them repeat each
continent’s name after you as you point to the continent.

2.
Point to
North America (or your continent) and tell the students that we live on the
continent of North America. Ask: “What continent do we live on?”

3.
Pass out the continent map outline. Explain that
the students will be getting a different color of PLAY-DOH compound for each
continent and they will mold the PLAY-DOH compound to the shape of the
continent. You may need to model this.

4.
Pass out the PLAY-DOH color for North America.
Have all students shape their PLAY-DOH compound on the North American outline.
Ask: “What continent do we live on?”

5.
Next, pass out PLAY-DOH compound for each of the
other continents; one at a time so that you can say the name and help the
students recognize each continent. Then have students mold the PLAY-DOH
compound onto each continent.

6.
Give each
student a bit of PLAY-DOH compound to make a small boat. Tell them that they
are going to cruise around the continents and say each name as the cruise by.

7.
Close the
lesson by having the students pretend with their boat to cruise the ocean to
each continent they molded and say the continent’s name. Review each day.

Extensions:
• Sing a song using a familiar tune that includes all of
the names of the continents. Point to the continents as you sing.

• Search the web for facts and pictures of each
continent.


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Moon Phases - Fun with the kids


Science is Yummy Mom!
I found this awesome project on pinterest. Teach Moon phases with Oreo Cookies! I thought I would take it a step farther and teach them the definitions of the moon phases and also look up what the moon was doing right now!
#1 - Oreo Cookies (use Popsicle stick or butter knife to scrape off the frosting. (Of course we let the kids & mommy eat it) ;)
#2 - Found a cute Moon Phases Worksheet at(http://ww
w.education.com/worksheet/article/learning-moon-phases/)
We colored the sun to show how it lights up the moon depending on what stage the moon is in. It helped them to better match the oreos to the phases. If you want to expl
ain the phases of the moon her are their definitions.

New Moon - The side of the moon facing the Earth is not illuminated. Additionally, the moon is up throughout the day, and down throughout the night. For these reasons we cannot see the moon during this phase.

Waxing Crescent/Crescent - During this phase, part of the Moon is beginning to show. This lunar sliver can be seen each evening for a few minutes just after sunset. We say that the Moon is "waxing" because each night a little bit more is visible for a little bit longer.

First Quarter/Half During first quarter, 1/2 of the moon is visible for the
first half of the evening, and then goes down, leaving the sky very dark.

Waxing Gibbous/Three Quarters - When most of the Moon is visible we say it is a Gibbous Moon. Observers can see all but a little sliver of the moon. During this phase, the Moon remains in the sky most of the night.



Full Moon - When we can observe the entire face of the moon, we call it a Full Moon. A full moon will rise just as the evening begins, and will set about the time morning is ushered in.


Waning Gibbous/Three Quarters - Like the Waxing Gibbous Moon, during this phase, we can see all but a sliver of the Moon. The difference is that instead of seeing more of the Moon each night, we begin to see less and less of the Moon each night. This is what the word "waning" means.


Last Quarter/Half - During a Last Quarter Moon we can see exactly 1/2 of the Moon's lighted surface.

Waning Crescent/Crescent - Finally, during a Waning Crescent Moon, observers on Earth can only see a small sliver of the Moon, and only just before morning. Each night less of the Moon is visible for less time.
#3 After we had fun "learning" we looked up how the moon is suppose to look tonight.
#4 - And the best part is after we got to eat our "Moon Oreos" with some Milky Way Juice (aka Vanilla Almond Milk)