Shooting Stars...Meteors!

I WONDER how a meteor can change Earth?

After we inquired into how dinosaurs and super crocs have changed over time, the children naturally wanted to learn more about meteors and how they can change Earth. They already knew a lot about the meteor theory that killed the dinosaurs, but they were wondering what other changes could happen if it landed on Earth now. 

We first took ACTION into our new line of inquiry on meteors by reading articles in National Geographic for Kids. Luckily, we found a copy of an issue online about our topic! 

 

Then, we took our investigation further by watching a video online about meteors and asteroids.

Finally, to make CONNECTIONS between what we read and heard, we extended our thinking in an experiment. I WONDER if the size of the meteor that lands on Earth matters?

The calm before the storm!

The children chose three different sized spheres as our meteors. They threw them past Earth’s atmosphere and into it’s brown sugary-flour crust! The results WOWed the children! The biggest meteor caused the most amount of changes on our Earth. Once we removed each meteor, the children also noticed how craters were left in the ground. 

The DISCOVERY of craters left by the meteors led into another rich discussion! I also showed the kids my connection to seeing a crater at Meteor Crater in Arizona! They also realised how heavy the meteors can be!

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Making Butter!

When the children came to school, they saw a table with cream, a bowl, a whisk, plastic zip-block baggies with marbles inside of them, glass jars with plastic marbles and 2 loaves of fresh bread. Their curiosity boomed into overdrive!

I WONDER what we are making today? This was the common question throughout the class, but I didn’t spill the beans…yet! They had to execute the experiment first and watch the changes happen to the cream in order to DISCOVER the mystery treat. 

The kids EXPLORED and took turns with a partner in the shaking of the cream. A few whisked the cream in a bowl, a couple shook the cream violently inside of a jar and some shook the cream in a baggie with a marble. 

Shaking inside of a jar

Whisking the cream

Shaking in a baggie

After a while, they DISCOVERED some changes happening to the cream. They saw it change colour, from white to yellow. Some of them saw small lumps in the cream. Others noticed how it went from a liquid to fluffiness like with scrambled eggs. The excitement was roaring in class! 

But, what did we make?

After our muscles were aching from all of the shaking, we took a deep breathe and REFLECTED on our findings.

At first, the kids were fixated on the fact that the substance looked like eggs, so it must be just that. But, then they connected the bread on the table with the yellow, slimy mixture. WOW...we made butter! They also DISCOVERED which method of shaking worked the best in making butter. We decided making butter in the glass jar with the plastic marble worked the best!

Finally, it was time to taste our Science creation! 

Once we finished our mini-feast, we REFLECTED on whether we enjoyed the butter or not. We recorded our answers on a graph. Looks like the majority of us loved it!