Homemade Plastic

Since I'm being lazy this weekend I decided to just do an experiment using ingredients that I already have. I typed Borax into google and found an experiment called homemade plastic here: http://listverse.com. It is pretty easy. Just combine water, Borax, food coloring, and Elmer's glue. The child can experiment adding more liquid or more Borax and see what type of plastic is made (softer or firmer).

Hopefully mine turns out like this

Here's the science worksheet. It'll be easy to compare and contrast because he just did an experiment using Borax and glue but they are different experiments.

After the experiment, I'll have him brainstorm at least 5 adjectives that describe his experiment. On Thursday, we will use those words to write a story about the substance. 

Homemade Bouncy Balls

My science experiment for tomorrow comes from www.sciencebob.com again. I'm moving away from the vegetable oil/vinegar/baking soda concoctions and into more direction involved experiments. It might be a little difficult but tomorrow we are making:

Bouncy Balls!

I went on a mad goose chase this afternoon looking for Borax and finally found it at Safeway. Kinda expensive but hopefully I'll get some more use out of it than just tomorrow. The ingredients for this project are:

• Warm water
• Cornstarch
• Borax
• White glue
• Food coloring

The directions are on the link that I listed above so I won't waste your time going over the whole experiment. Here is the typical science worksheet:

Rationale behind this activity:

• Reading instructions
• Making predictions
• Motivation (for each activity that he finishes during therapy he earns an ingredient)
• Following directions
• Thinking about first, then, finally
• Using compare and contrast thinking 

WHOOPS:

So I just tried this. 5 TIMES. From 5 different recipes. And it didn't work. My hands are now covered in glue, stained blue from food coloring, and have a weird smell. So I wouldn't recommend doing this. However, since it is the night before my lesson and I have a full day tomorrow, it is either do this experiment or nothing. And I think my kid would riot if I didn't have science. So... I think we'll probably do it. Then, I might tell a white lie and say that the ball needs to dry over the weekend. Since I know it won't work, I'll just go buy a bouncy ball and give it to him on Tuesday and explain that the experiment didn't work. I'm not a horrible person, right? Yay, failed science for everyone! 

The mess I got left with...

Bouncy ball fail

Quick Update: Volcano = Success

I have a test and a quiz tomorrow and a lesson plan to write so I don't have time for more than just a quick update. The session today went great. The "Johnny Appleseed" book was so cute and he loved tossing the bean bags into my homemade toss game. But, he loved the volcano explosion activity best of all. My wonderful boyfriend volunteered to make a volcano for me and it turned out great. The kid's eyes got as big as saucers when he saw it. It was the usual experiment with baking soda and vinegar. Here are pictures of the volcano:

Here is the science worksheet I created

Fireworks in a Bottle

Materials:

• Soda bottle
• Vegetable oil
• Water
• Alka-Seltzer tablets (thanks Bayley!)
• Food coloring

So in contrast to Tuesday's experiment "Lava in a Cup" we are going to do "Fireworks in a Bottle." I found this experiment on Mommy-labs.com. This how is it supposed to turn out:

We can only hope that I can actually get it to work today

First, I'll have the child read and follow the instructions. As we are watching the experiment, I'll tell him to remember the lava experiment and be thinking about how this is the same and different. Afterwards, he can fill out his science sheet:

Just like last time, the child can fill out the first, then, finally sections. Then, since we have done a similar experiment, he will compare and contrast at least one part of the experiment. After he is done, I will save the science sheet and add it into his science notebook.

Lava in a Cup

http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/lavacup.php

I found this science experiment on Science Bob's website. It has so many cool experiments but I was especially looking for one that wouldn't cause a big mess.

Materials needed:

• Vegetable oil
• Water
• Salt
• Food coloring
• Clear cup 
• Lava in a Cup worksheet

For this experiment I wanted to incorporate some of my therapy goals (using superlatives, reading/following directions, and using "first, then, finally" to organize thoughts). The whole point of the experiment is to see how "heaviness" impacts how things float. Oil is lighter than water so it floats. However, when salt lands on the oil, it brings it down into the water. As the salt dissolves, the oil bobs back to the top.

First, the child can read the instructions and perform the experiment. After brainstorming why the experiment might work we'll start working on the worksheet:

This worksheet took me far too long to make!

The child can fill in the superlatives: heavy __oil___, heavier __water__, heaviest __salt__. Then he/she will detail what happened in the experiment "First, Then, Finally."

I'm going to save all of the experiment worksheets that we do so that there will be a "Book of Experiments" by the end of the semester.