Smelly Lesson

In grade 3 the current unit is They Made a Difference. In science lab we will be doing some investigations honoring certain scientists who have made a difference. We started with Linda Brown Buck and Richard Axel who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work on smell receptors and the brain. You can read about that HERE.

For our lesson, we did discussed why is is important to be able to identify smells. We talked about how some smells remind us or a person or a place or a holiday. Students had 10 scents to identify. We made sure to smell carefully because some of the smells were a little strong (vinegar and garlic). The favorite smells seemed to be cocoa powder and cinnamon.

I get the film canisters from Odenlab. It is always fun to tell the kids about cameras with film and waiting weeks to complete a roll and get the photos back. 

Brrr! It is cold!!!

How cold it it? In grade 7 we are taking advantage of the difference between outside and inside temperature to explore heat transfer. This week we looked at the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales. Students made these handy conversion graphs using google sheets.

In our next lesson we calibrated blank thermometers. Students used ice water as their zero and boiling water as their 100. Then they measured the distance between the two points and made marks for every 5 degrees. 

On the right is a student thermometer reading about 18C and a lab thermometer reading about 20C.

Another set of thermometers with pretty close readings. 

We will discuss particles and forms of heat transfer next. Here is a fun clip to watch. Try this at home.

Click to see the Veritasium Clip "Misconceptions about Temperature"