At Eagle Creek Academy, we like to get our hands dirty!
4th Grade : Loch Ness Monster Challenge
After reading about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster, students inquired into how to build a raft, and using the Scientific Method, they constructed a hypothesis about the best way to make their excursion business a great success. In pairs, they drew a detailed design plan to build their model raft. Next they tested their experiment using marbles (the tourists), improving their model where needed, and comparing their results with others. They integrated math into their inquiry, having to calculate the total amount of income per week, based on the price per ticket, the amount of income per raft excursion, the number of excursions per day, and the total number of hours of operation. What a challenge!
1st Grade: Candy Corn
Students had to predict which liquid -- hot water, cold water, vinegar or vegetable oil -- would change the candy corn the most. First, they wrote a hypothesis. Many students predicted the oil would make the biggest change since it was the thickest liquid, but they quickly learned that hot water had the biggest effect. After we cleaned up, we drew pictures and wrote down our conclusions. Since we had done the hands-on activity, their pictures and conclusions were much more detailed and explanatory than they would have been if we had just talked about what heat can do.
2nd Grade: How Do Milk & Ice Make Ice Cream?
Students faced a challenge when they were given a list of ingredients and materials and the task of figuring out how to make ice cream from scratch. Here is what they received:
  • Ice cubes
  • 1 cup of milk
  • ½ cup of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1 pint-size Ziploc bag
  • 1 gallon-size Ziploc bag
Working in small groups, the students shared and recorded their hypotheses in their notebooks. Then, they were given a recipe and compared their plans to the actual plan. When they finally made the ice cream, they got to see how ingredients work together and change each other. For example, they saw firsthand that salt lowers the freezing point of ice, causing the ice to begin melting. They also learned that, when the milk mixture reaches the right temperature, the fat particles in the milk smash into each other and make big molecules of cream. Now, when their 10th grade chemistry teacher tells them that one substance can actually change another substance, they will be able to see in their mind's eye how that can happen.