Class Response Blog - #2

This week in class, we did a really cool experiment that had to do with;

THE WATER CYCLE

There were buckets around the classroom filled with water in each one. They were labeled:

-Ocean
-Aquifer
-Rivers & Lakes
-Reservoir
-Agriculture
-Industry

First, we would each get a card that said what item we would use which demonstrated each part of the water cycle. They were:

Spoon = Evaporation (If you get the spoon, you must take water out of your assigned tub of water (on the index card) and put it into your other assigned tub of water)
Small Cup = Cloud (You must walk around the classroom and when you find evaporation [a spoon], they must put their water in your cup if they have not yet reached their destination. Once the amount of water collected reaches a certain point in the cloud, it must be dumped into the Aquifer)
Big Cup = Humans (The humans must dip their cups into the Aquifer and dump it into one of the human tubs [Agriculture & Industry]

Then Pollution was added to the cycle (blue food dye) from human tubs like Agriculture and Industry. This activity really shows how human influence can not only ruin the balance of the water cycle, but also alter it completely. The human tubs were completely flooded within minutes, while the Aquifer was completely gone. However, since the ocean is so large, it was minimally effected by this. I believe this is a great way to demonstrate the water cycle and how we effect it.

Class Response Blog - #1

In class, we learned how to make;

KITES

We have been working with wind and weather. Recently, in class we were given an assignment to make kites. However, many things come in to making a kite so that it can actually fly. The kites had to be at least 20 x 20 cm long. Then, we went outside and tried to fly our kites. (Even though the wind speed was going from about 0-3 mph). This activity has taught us about wind, and how it relates with kites. The shape, structure, and stability of the kite all come in to play when trying to make it fly.