It’s too cold out there!
When winter weather sets in and it is too cold to go to school or play outside, it is a great time to learn more about the concepts of ice and cold. Enjoy these activities as you explore the magic of a fast freeze.
Fast Freeze!
Which do you think will freeze faster, hot water or cold water?
- Start with a hypothesis (prediction)
- Design your experiment…
- Here are some questions to ask your child:
- What will you use to hold the water? (make sure to leave room at the top because water expands when it freezes)
- How many samples will you freeze?
- How will you make sure everything stays the same except the temperature of the water?
- How will you measure the time to freeze?
- Run the experiment your child designed and compare the results with his hypothesis.
- Was it right?
- Are you surprised?
Melting Ice
Which method do you think will melt ice most quickly?
- Pick 3-5 methods of melting to test, for example: place it in water, sprinkle with salt, hold it in your hand, blow it with a hair dryer, drop it…what other methods can you think of?
- Make a hypothesis (prediction) about which method will work most quickly
Now test your hypothesis. Don’t forget that when you change the melting method (variable), everything else in your experiment should stay the same (control).
