For our fun Fridays in October,we are creating Frankenworms in the library! This has been a great hands on experiment that the kids really enjoy while reinforcing tons of science concepts.
The kid were hooked from the beginning when I asked them if they thought they could make the gummy worms on their tables move. They then went through the steps of the experiment to see if they could in fact make their gummy worms come to life.
Here is where the inspiration came from!
Here are a few pictures of the kids getting in on the fun!
So, I was amazed to learn that other day that this thing that I do with apps actually has a name. I'm always thinking of and experimenting with how different apps can be used within each other. The term is app smashing! How cool is that? App Smashing! The basic concept is that you take an app, create a product in that app and then use it within another application. I first started doing this when I would save power point slides as jpeg images in order to import them into movie maker or animoto. Of course, I have found much more creative ways to app smash as I have moved along in my ability to integrate technology.
Here is a great example that anyone can use to start with app smashing. Have the students create a pic collage with their picture in the middle. Upload that picture into chatterpix and the students can then make themselves talk within the pic collage. Check out the link here for more information. http://mspanasays.com/app-smashing-pic-collage-and-chatterpix/
On Friday, we had a GREAT Marshmallow incident in our libraries. The students at AV Cato, Castleberry and Joy James Elementary attended a puppet show based on the book The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett. The students giggled and shrieked with excitement as they saw the puppets peak up from behind the puppet stage. Many students excitedly told us that this was their very first puppet show ever! The magic of seeing a book come to life with the help of puppets is something that they really enjoyed. Our friends Bob, Sally and the Ambidextrous Knight made this story seem larger then life.
Once the puppet show concluded, students watched The Great Marshmallow Experiment and discussed what would happen to a marshmallow placed in the microwave, a bowl or water and in the freezer. The students hypothesized about different physical characteristics and how those might change in each of the three scenarios above.
They discussed:
Size
Shape
Texture
Temperature
Color
View both the video of the puppet show as well as the video of the experiment below.
