Week Four - Beach - Science Time

The best thing about learning about the beach is to be at the beach - which is where we are headed tomorrow, so this will be a little short as I have a household of four to pack for a week.

The experiment for this week is to create a Motion Ocean. The folks at National Geographic have detailed instructions to make this a fun experiment for many different ages. Besides what kid doesn't like to get wet when it is hot?

I also found a great blog, Along the Way, that also did a beach theme in 2010. They made sand and it seems like something that a four year old could easily do - especially with the jumping and shaking. You may need to explain the sand a little more so they really understand that they made actual sand. This blog also talks about really looking at sand to understand what it is and talking about how it got there.

Other possible ideas:


Create a sand sensory area - after playing with the sand for a while add water. Talk about the difference between wet and dry sand. What different things could you do based on whether the sand is wet or dry (build a sand castle, pour it in a bottle, etc)? Then leave the wet sand out to dry check it out after it has had time to sit in the sun - what happened?


Explore shells - if you have shells around your house get them out and talk about the differences and similarities. Talk about the sea animals that live in shells and draw a picture of their favorite shells while talking about the different shapes and patterns they found on the shells.

Tomorrow - movies and games (especially helpful for long car rides/anticipation)