Cow eyes and boats and oobleck, oh my!

This Friday our fourth graders will participate in a "Mad Scientist Day" of sorts. All 100 something students will rotate through three sections of science experiments that include making Oobleck, building their own foil boats, and dissecting cow eyes. The purpose of each one of these experiments is to expand our students' knowledge of each concept. Throughout the school year our students study the human body and, of course, our eyes are part of our bodies. To provide students with a very hands on learning experience, we order 30 cow eyes to dissect and examine because they are the most similar to the human eye. During the dissection, students will be able to identify various parts of the eye and how it works. Our curriculum also teaches our students about mixtures and solutions. This is where the oobleck comes into play. The students will use provided ingredients to make the oobleck and then "play" with it to determine if it's a mixture or a solution. Lastly, the students learn about matter and that it takes up space. By building their own foil boat and determining how many pennies can be placed in this boat without it sinking, the students get a real picture of matter and how it takes up space. Maybe they can also answer the question, "How do metal ships float?"

Stay tuned for pictures of our Mad Scientist Day!