Chemistry and Lines

Is it Chemical or Physical?


That was the question for our science get together this week. I set up about 5 fairly simple science activities for the kids to work through and determine if a physical or chemical change occurred.

We started simple- adding hot water to solid ice. To produce the physical change of matter.


Then we moved on to adding our "chemical" aka bleach to a tube of colored water and produced a chemical change- proved by the color change.


Then another simple physical change- each pair broke an egg into a jar...and then stirred it. All physical changes- it was still an egg.

On to a simple version of elephant toothpaste. Which was a water bottle with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide in the bottom. Then they added a drop of dishsoap. Then they were each give a cup of 2 T of water and 1/2 a tsp of yeast to mix together...and pour into the bottle.

This one is fun. More exciting than baking soda and vinegar I think. A chemical change as proved by the gas produced (bubbles) and heat.

I wanted to do a bigger version- if I had the higher percentage of hydrogen peroxide....Science Bob has a nice version and this one...was really cool looking....

And our final experiment was making flubber. A very small amount of it. Each kid was given a tube containing about a Tbsp. of premixed water and borax and a cup of about a Tbsp. of glue. Then they mixed the 2 and shook until the reaction took place. The formation of a solid/precipitate proves the chemical change.

We then moved inside for LINES

We talked about types of lines from simple horizontal and diagonal to more complex contour lines. They each sectioned their pages into about 9 squares and drew different types of lines in each section. While they were doing this I showed them various artist's prints to see the usage of lines in each.

Then we moved on to blind contour drawing. They did really good at this. I warned them it might be a frustrating task, but that it was good practice and a way to train your eyes to draw what they see. We started with drawing a bottle and then they began to gather other objects to attempt to draw blindly. Pencils, baskets, their hands and feet....

The final activity was to use contour lines to add depth and detail to their drawings. We started by tracing hands on to the paper and then observing the difference between that and the real thing. Then they began to add all those little lines to their hands- nails, knuckles, creases- to give the hand more detail.