Science - Thursday

Science activities are some of my very favorite, which means that every now and then you have to indulge me in a little bit of an experiment update.

Remember last week's science activities posted here? Little Miss I loved the potting soil, and especially loved planting her seeds. And I am thrilled to report that her seeds have been growing like mad! Check out my proud baby girl below, that little sprout coming out of the cup in her hand is hopefully well on its way to becoming a full-fledged sunflower.

Hmmmm----I really did try to rotate this a bunch of times, just tilt your head to the right and imagine you are oriented correctly. That little orange arrow points to Miss I's plant!

I've been so thrilled with how fast this seed germinated and grew. Miss I has loved checking in on it every day, and if there is something any of us know about kids it is that patience is a continual work in progress, so the fact that this was a fast-growing plant was perfect...so perfect it deserves a product plug:

And this picture turned out completely upside down = awesome!

We ended up picking this little baby up at Home Depot for a whopping 95 cents! SCORE. I was a little skeptical, but our plant has really taken off - plus it was super easy to use the mini cup and greenhouse to get the plant off to healthy start, and when we transplant it into a bigger pot next week it sets us up for another great science activity.

Now, on to today's {AWESOME} science experiment!

knowledge of Earth and Science

PBS Skill Targeted:

• Typically enjoys playing with sand, dirt and water. Begins building vocabulary for talking about their properties (e.g., soft, heavy, wet).
• Experiences changes in weather, and may develop associations with particular weather conditions (e.g., needs boots when there is snow on the ground).
  
  Activity:
  Volcano
  
  **Remember this movie from when we were kids? Miss I has recently discovered The Land Before Time series, and she is fascinated (maybe a little terrified) by the volcanoes constantly erupting in the background.  Thus the inspiration for this activity.
  
  
  
  Directions:
    Place an empty baby food jar on a tray. Surround the jar with playdough. Form the dough to look like a mountain. Put a drop of red food coloring and a tablespoon of baking soda in the jar. Then add some vinegar to it to make it erupt.
  
  
  
  **I am really looking forward to this today - I made these sort of volcanoes with my dad all the time as a kid, and still remember many of those moments today!