Science Experiments

Question: TEACH elementary school science?

in my chem class, we have to teach a classroom of 3rd graders something about chem or biology.

if you have any experiments or mini-labs i can teach them, that would be great!

i don’t want anything that every student has done. (i.e. making slime, invisible ink)

if you have any links, that would be helpful.

i’d also like it to be about 1.5-2 hours long, so i need it to be something interactive for the kids.

Answer: 1. 1.5 – 2 hours is an awfully long stretch.

2. If they have done it before, then adding a new twist will make the lesson interesting and more likely to be successful. Trying something new has endless potential for disaster. Unlike some adults, kids like repetition. That is the hardest thing for teachers like myself (who gets bored easily) had to learn.

3. I would try ooblek (cornstarch and water), which some kids will tell you is BOTH a solid and a liquid (but is actually a non-Newtonian fluid). That takes you right into before-and-after discussions of the definitions of solid and liquid.

Wilder Elementary Mentos Geysers – Cool Science Experiment