escape the classroom- science edition

I'm super excited to tell you about a really engaging activity we did in my classroom.  It started with my trip to the escape room in town and just how much I loved it.  Then I made my own kids an Easter hunt 'escape' style.  I was thinking there had to be a cool way to bring it into the classroom.  There's at least one company out there making ready made 'escapes' on different topics.  I tried one of theirs and then decided I could make my own that would suit our needs even better, I'll tell you about them at the end of this post.   Admittedly there was a good deal of time invested in the creation and then in the set-up, but the rigor, engagement, and fun levels were all so high, it was absolutely worth it.  High rigor, high fun, high engagement are a sought after trifecta in the classroom.  I have used that word twice in a week here.  Score. 

The topic for this escape was as a cumulating review for the measurement science unit I teach.  I teach it four times in the year to each of the four third grades, so I was thinking time investment wise,  a science activity would get the most play in my classroom.  Bang for my buck. 

To put the kids into their groups, I passed each student a popsicle stick. Because this is not my first rodeo, I had pulled one stick of each color in my hand and handed it to a student I felt like could be a leader for that group.  I also had one stick of each color in the back of the pile in my other hand and handed it to students who needed spread out.  If you're a teacher, five kids immediately came to mind.  

The first challenge was to get into the color group you were handed and build the puzzle.  Once the puzzle was built they waved me over and I gave them the first challenge card and sent them after their supplies.  Each group needed one cup of water, one syringe of water...

and one bucket of supplies. We do four types of measurement in my science unit, length in cm, capacity in ml, weight in g, and temperature in C.  I wrote cards for the first three and have the option to add a temperature card at a later date.  I didn't want the pressure of having temperature sensitive setup elements.  I also was concerned about time. 

Card one had three questions.  The number choice next to the answer they selected were the numbers for the first lock, a three digit lock.  For example, question A's answer was 2.  20ml.  The first number in the combination was 2.  Should they have answered it correctly on their first guess, they were able to open the lock.  Every group but one ended up back at their desks trying to figure out where they went wrong. 

The question about measuring the water in their syringe was tricky for some because I filled them with 20 ml water and 30 ml air.  Few groups remembered that they needed to get rid of the air.  I did not expect that to be a tricky element. 

The first lock was on an old wooden art kit that I added a flip style locking piece to. 

Inside was card two.  There was one card in each location for each group.  The groups had to relock the remaining cards back up for the next group.  I found that I was needed to circulate around and help with locks and the relocking was a bit tricky.  

Card two required them to set up and balance the scales and then do a little weighing.  All the pieces needed were in their buckets.  

A few groups had to go back and reweigh their items.  I gave very little help and allowed them to make mistakes and have to go back and start again.  It was interesting who in each group was the real problem solver, who was too bossy to listen to their team mates, who went for the fast and easy answer and then wasn't right and who was slow and patient and careful  in their work. 

Card two gave them a four digit number that was the combination to a four digit lock that I had placed on one of our lockers.  

Inside that locker was card three. 

Card three required some measurement in centimeters.  And careful reading of the directions!  The lock was a five digit lock that was actually 4 digits and a numeral at the end.  I had to made some last minute adjustments to the card to make the work. 

That five digit combination opened the last locker where I had placed the awards.  There was a pile of first place awards that the first group took, second place awards that the next group took, etc.  I was able to do this activity with my final quarter science class and then with my homeroom the next week as well and both times the winning group was not the group I had guessed would win.  Slow and steady wins the race. 

One helpful hint should you choose to create your own is that  I added a card for myself that had the lock information,  and the supplies listed clearly organized.  When I se this up next year I know exactly what to program the locks to and what materials to set out.  

I've been messing around with locks for a few different things in class and have quickly learned that the cheap ones I ordered on amazon to start with were just that.  They broke the first activity.  They were a non-descript black lock with three digits, 2 for like $7.  I ended up slowly collecting locks from target and really like this programable Masterlock style that is $7-8.  I've picked up all different colors to help me distinguish the locks on my set-up sheet. 

Also, the kids found it helpful to have a little tutorial using the locks before we started.  Most had zero experience with using a lock.  

I've also decided that as I create different activities using the locks I need to make sure to always set them back to 0000 when storing them.  Otherwise, I might not remember what card they went with last and end up having to trash them. 

I mentioned that I would tell you about the company I tried out that makes escape workshops.  They are called The Escape Classroom.  They are pretty new and don't have a lot of workshops out yet but they do take requests.  I will say that I tried their perimeter and area freebie and it was good. It was geared for 4-6 grade I think and I used it with my 3rd graders.  It was challenging, but doable.  I let them use calculators because we hadn't learned multiple digit multiplication yet. It took them 2 hours, but they loved every second.  I had some feedback for the company and they were great to work with.  They replied super fast and took my comments to heart and made some changes.  They sell their workshops for $15 each, which is a little steep for my teacher's checkbook.  If my school would pay, that might be something to look into.  

magnets- preschool style

I've been sorely neglecting my blog lately. I'm on day four of a massive pool cleanup project and the garden has been more work this spring since we increased the size and capacity.  I'm not sure if those are the things that have been keeping me busier, but I do feel busier than normal.  School is out for me in a few days and Bee has only 7 more, so I'm sure things will slow down a bit here really soon.

This lesson is a few weeks old, but we did some magnet work.  I had brought in these two stuffed dogs that have little magnets in their noses and sort of kissy faced each other.  I can't remember what lesson I used them with but the kids loved them and I knew I wanted to do magnets when given the chance.   -I just found it:  I used the dogs in a valentines day hot potato game.

Anyway, I found these great magnets at Blick art store and used some birthday money and some 40% off coupons to get them.  They are nice and strong and had the right 'look' to them.  I was able to get one magnet per friend.

This was a shorert lesson since we had graduation practice this day.  I walked the kids through a chart with items to test for their magnetic-ness (spell check says that's not a word- seriously?).  We made predictions and checked our guess.  The one we all guessed wrong about was the pop can. 

After I felt pretty sure they understood the process,  I gave them a partner, one sheet per friend and a bag of things to test.  They worked spread out around the room testing the items in their bags and recording their answers.

I had tried to make sure that each group had at least one student in it that I felt could figure this activity out and record it properly.  A few groups had it just right, but there were groups marking every box and groups marking nothing.  

When the kids were mostly done, I called them back to the circle and we went over the answers.  I had a large sheet just like their individual sheet.  We don't have a lot of technology... ok, any technology at our preschool.  I could have just had it loaded up on the smart-board, but we'll probably never have one of those.  We're old school- crank pencil sharpeners, chalkboards, and we even ring a hand bell to get their attention.

I finally got Lou to let me bring in our magnet building pieces.  I bought these when I was pregnant with Bee and saved them for years before letting her play with them.  Lou has taken them as his own now. 

I have a magnet book in a box in storage somewhere, and didn't get to the library to find one.  Instead, I read this Pledge of Allegiance book.  We are saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the graduation program and our class has not been saying it all year.  We needed to hear the words more clearly and do a little practice.

When my parents came for pick up time, one of the moms asked her son if he had given me what was in his cubby.  It was a magnet book- a really good one that would have made for a great read aloud today. We all had a good laugh about it.  Oh well, next year.

baking soda and vinegar on a tray

I saw this on pinterst, but can't track it back to a clickable link.  Sometimes things there are just pictures taken from an iphone, so there's not a real source.  Anyway, baking soda is spread out in a tray and vinegar and food coloring are poured into cups.

The kids use eyedroppers to pour small amounts of the vinegar on the tray.  There is the usual vinegar/baking soda bubbling and lots of color mixing.

It only took my kids a few minutes though to take it to the next level.  That's the messy level.

They figured out that if you added the baking soda to the cups, there was even more fizzing.

They decided that If your whole hand got involved it got even more fun. 

Then there was pretty much chaos on the tray.  We did get 20 minutes or so of good exploring in.  There's no way I'll be doing this at preschool- some of my little friends get a little excited about a potential mess.

Science Zone

It's another picture overload from Spring Break. I'm not even captioning most, except a disturbing one in the middle.

I think my sister had as much fun as the kids.

 These photos are from Discovery Zone in Springfield, MO. We could have spent all day there.

So, this was my favorite exhibit.  I'd never seen anything like this and then after talking to a staff person, I was sort of disturbed.  This is a 5-7 day old embryo of a baby chick.  It's still alive and you could see the heart beating!   They had them at daily stages.  This was the last.  I thought perhaps the chick could continue to grow and survive like this, but they just get a new one every 2 days as this little chick dies. 

There was  neat DNA experiment that Bee got to lead us through.

And then there was another thing that the kids were just a tiny bit too little for....

The girl supervising even encouraged Hubby's goofy leaning to the side. 

Note the sign:

Lou wouldn't try this static machine, but everyone else did!

Here's a larger version of our wooden xylophone!

You would think this is the last of the spring break pictures, but it's not...