REMEMBER YOU MAY NEED PARENTAL SUPPORT FOR SOME EXPERIMENTS

Do you have what it takes to be America’s Top Young Scientist? Discovery Education and 3M are looking for a few great students to inspire us with their enthusiasm for science, so show us what you’ve got! Create a short (1-2 min.) video about one of this year’s scientific topics and YOU could win a trip to New York City to compete in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge finals. Mrs. DuBose will provide the video cameras you have to come up with the short video!!

Check out the link: http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com/

• To see a list of this years science concepts click here
• To view videos of last years winners, click on the state and then scroll down to see the video 
   

SUMMER SCIENCE CAMPS REGISTRATION STARTS

Does your child love science and want to get hands-on experience in chemistry (mixing chemicals up) or learn how to be a digital photographer, create animations, explore robotics or navigate a trail using geocaching. HURRY QUICKLY..SPACES ARE LIMITED..Click below

Hey CCMS Engineers!

This past month we have been honing our designing skills during our Eggs Over Easy Challenge where we had to build a contraption that holds and egg and keeps it protected as it is dropped off a ladder. Our second challenge was the Naked Egg Drop and where we had to protect a “naked” egg as it is dropped into a contraption. This contraption had to disperse the energy so the egg was not broken as it dropped to its “death. These two projects were our testing grounds for our big PRINGLES challenge.

YOUR GOAL: Young scientist your job is to engineer a package with the smallest volume and smallest mass that will protect the chip so that it arrives at its destination undamaged. We have been lucky to get our package shipped across the the country to a middle school in California. They are going to be our epals for the month.

Hey Super Scientist..Love NASA..Well here’s your chance to become a piece of NASA HISTORY..If your idea is chosen, you can win WALL-E prizes and a trip to California to visit NASA JET PROPULSION lab to sign your name on the REAL ROVER going to Mars. You can go onto the Name the Mars Rover website to for a complete description. Since 6th graders are under 14, you must submit your essay through the mail. Click here for the form.  Mrs. DuBose will mail them off on Thursday, January 22nd.  Please bring them to ROOM 508 during homeroom time.

What does the salt do? Just like we use salt on icy roads in the winter, salt mixed with ice in this case also causes the ice to melt. When salt comes into contact with ice, the freezing point of the ice is lowered.  This allows the ice to go below 0 degrees F and create that tasty goodness we call ICE CREAM.  When we come back from Christmas we will be creating a contraption to catch a “naked egg”.  Your job is to create a design that will keep an egg from breaking as it fall from a ladder.  The shortest design that catches the egg from the highest drop will win!

To make ice cream, you will need the following materials for each student:

• one teaspoon of sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 drops vanilla extract
• measuring cups and spoons
• 1 locking sandwich bag
• 1 locking quart-size bag
• 2 cups of ice
• 1/2 cup of rock salt
• one sheet of newspaper

Instructions

1.Put one teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 milk, and 2 drops of vanilla extract in the locking sandwich bag.

2. Seal the sandwich bag. From the outside of the sandwich bag, squish the bag repeatedly to mix the contents.

3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.

Science Club members our next meeting is Thursday, Dec 18th. We will be using what we learned about chromatography and using it to figure out who stole “Santa’s Christmas Cookies” in our Cookie Caper. If you were absent, click here for a quick lesson on chromotography. To try an at home chromatography experiment, try out ZoomSci: Paper Towel Chromatography .We will then wrap up by having a “delicious” time learning how to make ice cream. To learn the science of making ice cream, click here 

If you were absent One important new piece of scientific knowledge we learned is the word INSULATOR. An insulator is basically a material that acts as a barrier or wall for heat to cross. If you were absent or just need some extra scientific info check out the LINK below. Mrs. Milutinovic and I can’t wait to see your “COOL” contraptions (cool..hehe get it..)

Remember the RULES for the BIG FREEZE CHALLENGE ARE as follows:

1. Containers must be smaller than 25 centimeters on any side.
2. Containers must be created specifically for this event. It cannot be a container made to keep objects cool or hot! Ice coolers, styrofoam cups, etc. are not allowed in their original form.
3. Containers must be able to hold any water from the melting ice cube. Leaky containers will be disqualified.
4. No electrical motors or similar devices allowed.
5. Containers must be easy to load and check.
6. No part of the container can be frozen prior to the event. This includes water, other ice cubes, dry ice, or other chemical substance.

Reference Links if you need help

• How Long Can an Ice Cube Last

• ½ cup milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 cups crushed ice
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 2 quart size freezer bags
• 1 gallon size freezer bag
  

1. Mix the milk, vanilla, and sugar together in a quart sized Ziploc freezer bag. Remove the air and zip it closed.
2. Place the bag in a second quart sized freezer bag to provide extra protection for the ice cream in case the seal accidentally breaks.
3. Place the double-bagged ice cream mixture into a gallon size freezer bag. Fill the gallon size freezer bag with crushed ice and sprinkle the salt over the ice. Remove the extra air from the gallon bag and seal it closed.
4. Use your hands to carefully shake or massage the bag for 5 to 8 minutes. You’ll be able to feel the consistency of the ice cream mixture through the bag in order to determine if it is ready to eat.

1. Mix 90 milliliters of water with 5 milliliters sodium tetraborate in a beaker.
2. To a plastic bag, add 15 milliliters white glue and 15 milliliters water.
3. Close the bag and mix.
4. Add 10 milliliters of the sodium tetraborate solution from the beaker into the plastic bag.
5. Mix until the substance thickens.

1. Place water and liquid starch into a plastic baggie.

1. Add 15 milliliters (1 tablespoon) of white glue, close the bag and mix for one minute.
2. Add another 15 milliliters ( 1 tablespoon) of white glue and mix for one more minute, then let stand for several minutes.
3. A putty-like substance will form.
4. For best results, squeeze the putty through your hands to dry it off and to get an incredibly gross feeling on your fingers.
   

1. Measure about 30 milliliters of cornstarch into a mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add 120 milliliters of water.Mix with your hands.
3. Continue adding a little cornstarch and a little water until you get a mixture that has the consistency of honey. (Add more cornstarch to make it thicker, more water to make it thinner.)
4. Sink your hand into the bowl of quicksand.
   
5. Compare what it feels like to move your hand slowly and then very fast.