Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Osmosis

During the last two weeks of our science unit on cells we learned about osmosis. We did this using eggs. We soaked our eggs in vinegar overnight in order to dissolve the shells. The  eggs then had only a thin membrane holding them together. They were rubbery and translucent and lots of fun to hold!  In order to see osmosis in action, we observed what happened to the shell-free eggs when they were placed in substances like molasses, light corn syrup, and dark corn syrup.  We discovered that the eggs lost water and shriveled up.  We learned that this is because water passes through the membrane from an area of higher water concentration (egg) to an area of lower water concentration (molasses and corn syrup)  in a process called osmosis.  We then placed the shriveled eggs in water with food coloring. Ask your child what happened. It was very cool! Check out the pictures below.













Monday, October 9, 2017

Mount Philo


Here are some pictures from our trip to Mt. Philo State Park last Wednesday! 















Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Cells!

We began our science unit on cells a few weeks ago. In one activity, students carefully removed thin sheets from an onion, created their own slides, and viewed them under microscopes. The cells of the onion were visible and students sketched their observations.
We have also been reading about cells and using a website called Cells Alive! to learn more about cells.
We did a school and cell analogy activity where we compared the school to a cell. For example, the nucleus could be compared to the main office, and the cell wall to the outer brick wall. Ask your child what the endoplasmic reticulum or the vacuole would be analogous to! This week we are beginning a very cool hands on activity with eggs to learn about osmosis. Stay tuned!