Is It A Solid or a Liquid? & Thanksgiving Prediction Buddies

Is it Thanksgiving break yet?  Last week was absolutely crazy & I have been sick again!  This time with a fever & sinus infection that I at last gave in & went to the doctor for some meds.  I am so looking forward to some time off.  Last Friday my 4th & 5th grade science classes did a buddy project with the first graders.  First my fourth graders & their first grade buddies did a state of matter lab where they tested the properties of Oobleck.  We discussed what the molecules of solid, liquid & gas look & act like.  Then we tried the slow finger poke, fast finger poke, pour, bounce, form it in a ball and after each test we tried to decide if the Oobleck was acting like a solid or liquid. 

Oh boy did we make a mess & can you believe I forgot to take any pictures!  Every year I tell myself never again but it must be like giving birth you forget the "pain."  LOL  I think we are still finding corn starch in the most unusual places and I am still getting dirty looks from our school janitor.  LOL  I only wish I would have taken a few pictures. 

I did take pictures of the fifth & first grade buddy project.  This was really fun for the kids & the teachers!  This project is definitely a kepper.  First the first grade teacher read us a book about the Mayflower.  Then my fifth graders got their first grade buddies on the Scholastic Mayflower Virtual Tour in the computer lab & they toured the Mayflower together.  Next on to the science lab where we discussed prediction.  The first grade teacher found this buddy project on First Grade O.W.L.S.  We had a lot of fun first trying to make a boat out of clay that would not sink.

 

 

Boy was this tough.  The secret was the wider the bottom of the boat the better the boat floated but watch out for those holes.

Voila!  We got the boats to start floating with a few bears.

 

Then on to predicting how many bears our little boats could hold.  Hmmm? 5, 10, 15, 20, 100?????

The maximum bears our boats would hold was 19!

 

We had so much fun with our first grade buddies.  This was so much better then the Thanksgiving webquest that I usually have my fifth graders do.  Now I need to come up with a great first & fifth grade buddy project for Christmas.  No corn starch please!

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!