WE HAD A BLAST!!!!

God made everything!

God made everything that exists in the six days of creation! He made everything from the giant stars and the tiniest grain of sand, to the microscopic particles we can't even see!

Let's pray... and give God praise for the things he made and ask His blessing on the day.

Bailey bowing before the Lord.

In our first big class, we learned how chemistry affects every part of our lives. From brushing our teeth, to cooking breakfast, to riding in the car to Blast class, chemistry plays a part in everything! The students learned the definition of chemistry (THE STUDY OF MATTER AND THE WAY IT BEHAVES). They learned the definition of matter (SOMETHING THAT HAS MASS AND TAKES UP SPACE). And they learned to identify solids (trees, hedgehogs, and pizza), liquids (nail polish, Dr. Pepper, and syrup) and gases (helium, hydrogen, and oxygen!)

Annamarie proves gas takes up space by trying unsuccessfully to blowup a balloon inside a 2 liter bottle. It won't blow up no matter how hard she tries! Why? Because the balloon is already full of air pressing back on the balloon!

Whoops! She pushes the air out of the bottle and it forces the balloon to "pop" up!

I need a volunteer please.....
PICK ME! PICK ME!

Be a solid! The kiddos scrunched up together in a tight mass to be a solid. Little molecules all neatly in a row, and barely vibrating.
Be a liquid! Slowly they started to slip and slide against each other just like molecules in a liquid!

Be a gas! The students started running and jumping like wild just like molecutles in a gas!

After the large group class, everyone divided into smaller groups and began the room rotation for the hands-on activities.

Payton's Class!

Payton taught about the phases matter goes through. Using the Coleman stove (energy), he demonstrated the molecules getting excited and changing from solid ice (freezing) into liquid water (melting). Then they got really excited (the molecules, not the kids) and changed from a liquid to a gas! (evaporation) Payton, wisely using an oven mitt, captured the escaping gas once again as a liquid as it condensed on the plate. (condensation) Then they got even more excited (the kids, not the molecules) when Payton brought out the dry ice to show the kids a solid changing to a gas right before their eyes! (sublimation)







SCREAMING ICE!!








Simply touch a warm spoon to dry ice and listen to it scream!









Drop a piece of dry ice in warm water and suddenly your in the middle of a fog!





Olivia's Class!

What better way to observe a liquid changing to a solid than to make yummy, extremely delicious, full-of-sugar strawberry popsicles!

NOLAN'S CLASS!

Nolan showed a video reinforcing all they had learned about matter. He quizzed the kids rewarding correct answers with....what else?....CHOCOLATE!!!

JULIANA'S CLASS!

Juliana taught the kids about the metric system. Using liters, grams, and meters, the students measured each other's noses, arms, and pony tails!

M & Ms and gummy bears were for weighing NOT eating! (I saw you sneak one! Yeah, you know who you are!!!!)

Graduated cylinders of all sizes were for measuring liquids in chemistry!

Ian doing his metric worksheet in Juliana's class.

Jeremy measures Chris.

Christopher carefully measures the pennies in the cup.

Susannah measures Alex's nose while Lacee measures McCauley's pony tail!

Everyone working hard to do their metric measure worksheet!

Sarah carefully records her findings.

LUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who's hungry?

Lunch was a fun time of food and fellowship. The students spread out around the land, on the porch and on the stairs for picnics with each other.


Chris, Joshua, and Tristan on jill's favorite swing.

Pretty girls munching and talking with one another.








Isabella, Annamarie, and Ian find a quiet spot to visit.

Austin and Brandon eating and talking.

PLAY TIME!!!!!!!!


Passing the ball...

Waging a war...


It's SHOWTIME!!

To teach the story of displacement, the boys put on a play. Nolan narrated the story of Archimedes (played by Jeremy) who was appointed by the King (played by Jordan) to see if his crown was made of pure gold or silver.




After seeing the water level rise in the bathtub and yelling his famous line, "Eureka!", Archimedes realized that water displacement could prove that the crown was in fact not pure gold! The sneaky jeweler (played by Payton) was then thrown in prison...a happy ending for everyone...except Payton.











In the afternoon large class, the students reviewed the states of matter and the phases of matter. They learned about a very important scientific law...

THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MATTER

YOU CANNOT DESTROY MATTER. YOU CAN TEAR IT, RIP IT, SMASH IT, CRUNCH IT, DISSOLVE IT, BURN IT, EVEN SWALLOW IT, BUT YOU CAN'T GET RID OF THE STUFF!

The students also learned how scientist evaluate matter.

Student volunteers tested items to see if they would be buoyant or not.




Paper towel roll...sink or swim?









A red apple....sink or swim?






Viscosity tests measure the flow rate of liquids. On your mark! Get set....go!

Juliana's Class!
Why do raisins dance!? That is a good question! Students dropped raisins in Sprite. The air bubbles from the CO2 gathered around and raised the raisins up to the surface before the gas molecules escaped into the air. Plop. The raisin then fell back down and the process starts back over! Thus, the raisins dance!

Students played a sorting game putting cards of solids, liquid, gases in the correct stack! It was a fast paced race!


I TOLD YOU THEY'D COME HOME DIRTY!!!!

The question of the century! Is shaving cream a solid, liquid, or gas!??? The truth is, shaving cream has properties of all three states of matter! The students (those sweet, innocent, adorable little darlings...) began exploring the dollops of shaving cream on the table before them - like civilized little angels. But it wasn't long before their scientific investigation turned into mayhem! Shaving cream is still dangling from the ceiling. (At least it smells clean!)






Payton's Class

Payton explained the easy five steps of the Scientfic Method!
1. Observe
2. State the problem
3. Hypothesis
4. Test your ideas
5. Record your findings




The students used the scientific method to determine which bubble gum brand blows the biggest bubbles.















Ms. Jennifer, Angelica and Sarah helped the students make necklaces illustrating the five points!

Olivia's Class!
Olivia led a huge group in making homemade lava lamps! (Oil and water just DO NOT MIX!) A little oil, a little water, a little food coloring, a few sequins and a lot of glitter and VOILA! You've got yourself a beautiful lava lamp. Roll it gently and put it by a strong light source! Drop in an Alka Seltzer tablet every now and then
to see the wave action!



Isabella and Hannah pour oil in their bottle to make a lava lamp.












Look mom! I made mine red!










Lacee's is green!









Jesse picked blue!








McCauley viewing her lava lamp in front of a light.







At the end of class, Nolan gave a short speech on orderliness. Orderliness is keeping everything that is under our jurisdiction neat, clean, functional, and in its proper place. God is a God of order, so we find order in His universe. We find order in chemistry among the molecules and the atoms. And if God is a God of order, then we should be orderly as well.

Don't forget your popsicles! Eat and go home and study, study, study all about God's wonderful world of chemistry!