Experimenting with Magic Markers and Ice

This post is especially for teachers I work with. Next year we will all be trying out a new unit of study in science and writing workshop. We'll teach the kids how to design their own experiments, and how to write up their results. Baby L and I tried it out the other day, and here's how it went. (You could use the same materials for experiments with your kids, or you could use our "lab report" as a mentor text for their writing.)

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or caregiver reading this, have fun doing experiments with your tiny scientist! If you know some great links to other fun easy experiments, please share!

Baby L's Lab Report

The questions we had:

What happens when you color on ice with magic markers?

What happens when you stir water with a magic marker?

What happens when you mix the colors?

What happens to soap suds when you add color?

What we used:

1. bowls of water

2. ice cubes

3. markers (nontoxic, washable)

4. some bubble soap

5. spoons and cups

What we did:

1. We had a giant chunk of ice-cubes that had melted together in the ice-tray in the freezer, so we took that out and put it in the big wooden bowl.

2. We poured some water on it to see what would happen. Not much. It made the ice chunk look shiny and slippery.

3. We colored on the ice chunk with magic markers. It was so cool! The ice turned different colors!

4. We poured some more water on the ice chunk, so now there was lots of water in the bowl. The water changed to the color of the magic markers!

5. We moved some of the ice into a new bowl. The ice was clean! No colors when we moved it!

6. We colored the clean ice and poured water on it. The same thing happened- the water changed colors again!

7. Then we poured a little water with no ice into a third bowl and stirred it with a marker. The water changed colors!

8. Last, we stuck in some hand soap to see what would happen. We made lots of suds, but the suds didn't really change color even when we stirred in more magic marker!

New Words for Baby L:

Melt

Drip

Suds

Mix

Stir

Frozen

Pour

Slippery

Taking Our Tiny Scientist to the New York Aquarium

Yesterday we braved the pouring rain and howling wind and packed up Baby L and drove to the New York Aquarium. We brought along with all the books we could find about sea life, and read them on the way!



One great thing about this book...













...and this book....













are the audio recordings of the books on the CDs that come with them. We have four or five books from this series and all of them are equally as beautiful. Baby L, Daddy B, and I loved listening to the the CDs all the way to the aquarium, and we felt like experts on sea life by the time we arrived!

And then, one of the first things we saw when we got there...









He (or she?) looked just like the turtles in our book!

But Baby L's (and Mommy and Daddy's) FAVORITE thing of all at the aquarium was this guy:









I nearly bought a stuffed animal version of the walrus, but it was Baby L who said, "Put back!"(One of her favorite things to say these days--especially if it's a food she doesn't want to eat). I listened to her and I put back the toy walrus... we really do not need any more stuffed animals... but I kind of wish I had brought him home to cuddle with!

Leaf Collecting With Your Tiny Scientist

On your next walk outside, collect some leaves!

Try to gather up a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and textures. Your little one will have fun noticing the tiniest details.

Set up a box somewhere in the house where your tiny scientist can have fun taking leaves out and putting them back in. Babies love filling and emptying!

And for grown-ups here are some great sites for identifying trees! Once you look up your tree you can try using the name of the tree as you talk about leaves with your little munchkin:

What Tree Is It?

LEAF Tree ID Key

Tree ID App for iPhone

Make sure to use lots of descriptive vocabulary to talk about the size, color, shapes and textures while you're talking with your baby about the beautiful leaves you collected! Talking to your little guy or gal is a great way to keep them interested and immerse them in the world of language and words that scientists use.

Baby's Favorite Color!

The next time your little one is playing with her blocks, watch closely. Does she rummage through the box, taking out only the blue ones?

That's what Baby L does! Blue is her fave right now!

If you pour all of her blocks out, you can see that the blue ones are scratched and banged up, while the red, green, and yellow blocks are practically new. Personally, I think it's just about the coolest thing I've ever seen! Early on, babies will sometimes start to develop preferences and favorites. And it's not limited to colors. Just a few examples include favorite sounds, favorite toys, and of course favorite foods!

At first I wasn't sure if L was choosing the blocks because of the color blue, or if it was because of the shapes. So I started watching her more closely, to see if there was a pattern.

At bathtime, Baby L digs through the foam letters in the bath tub to find the blue ones!

When she plays with her links, she gnaws on her blue links and carries them around with her, casting aside the others haphazardly!

Before dinner, we always read a couple books. Of these three books, guess which one she picks?

You guessed it. The blue one!! As a matter of fact, 123 New York is one of her all time favorite books. Right up there with Where's Baby's Belly Button and Good Night Moon.

Preferences are a sign that your baby is beginning to form categories for things. That is, L. recognizes "blue" as a category. She can discriminate non-blue things from blue things; an early and important step in her life as a learner. Just as a scientist observes, classifies, and sorts his or her specimens, Baby L is beginning to notice that not all blocks, links, or books are the same. Sorting and categorizing objects by color is just one step on her long journey toward developing an understanding of the world around her. Go Baby L!

So have fun watching closely and listening carefully to your little scientists. See what you notice. Post a comment and share!