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    • Apr 17, 2020

Does Farting Make You Weigh Less? Let's Play With Density!



Does farting make you weigh less? Before we get started, think about it, and share your guess (or hypothesis) with someone near you. Can you explain why you think this?

What does this have to do with density!?


What you will need:

  • A large container of water (preferably clear) - a bowl, storage container, etc.

  • Several household items of different shapes and sizes that wont be damaged by water (ex. can of pop, doll or figure, silverware, piece of food, etc.)

  • tinfoil

  • a towel or paper towel to clean up any splashes

  • hypothesis tracking sheet (see bottom of post)

  • videos below


Today, we will be watching an AMAZING video by past NASA engineer and YouTuber, Mark Rober. He has many educational and super fun videos explaining science for everyone!


Tips for Parents:

  • Feel free to pause the video to discuss any ideas your child may have - if they have a question, have them form a hypothesis about the answer! If they have an idea of something they want to try, try it!

  • If your child has trouble using the recording sheet, it's okay if you help fill it out. Today our focus is their hypothesis regarding density!

  • Remember inquiry-based learning: ask lots of questions! (what do you think would happen if? why does this make a difference? which do you think will change? how can we change it so this happens?)


Start off with an introduction video by Sara to learn about our goals for this STEAM class.


Now watch this great video by Mark Rober, and follow along with your own experiments! (You only need to watch the first 22 minutes for today's purposes, but feel free to watch the whole video!)


Activity and Questions:

What were you surprised about in the video? Why?

On your recording sheet (below), write down all of the items you would like to test. Now, write in your hypothesis about whether it will sink or float.

Test all of your items, and record if they sink or float.

By creating a tinfoil surface, or boat, like Mark did, can you make any of your items that sunk, float?


Curriculum Connections:

Grade 1: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms: 2.3 investigate, through experimentation, the properties of various materials; 2.4 use technological problem-solving skills, and knowledge acquired from previous investigations, to design, build, and test a structure for a specific purpose

Grade 2: Understanding Matter and Energy: 2.4 use scientific inquiry/experimentation skills to investigate liquids and solids in terms of their capacity for buoyancy (e.g., wood floats, coins sink) and/or absorption; 2.5 use technological problem-solving skills, and knowledge acquired from previous investigations, to design, build, and test a structure that involves interactions between liquids and solids

Actual discussions about density and buoyancy are in Grade 8, so feel free to REALLY explore some of the concepts introduced here with older kids.






Additional Resources:

I highly recommend checking out more of Mark's videos! They are so creative, fun, and educational! Here are some of my favourites:

World's Largest Elephant Toothpaste Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kou7ur5xt_4


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    • Apr 4, 2020

Learn Basic Coding with Pivot Animator

What Is Coding?

Coding, also known as programming, is simply telling a computer how to do a task. Coding involves using a special language to tell a computer how you want it to do a task.

This can mean anything from making a game, like Fortnite, to how to load search results on Google, and so much more!


Today, we will be starting at the very beginning, and try coding an animation, using Pivot Animator. You will need to download the program here: https://pivotanimator.net


Why is Coding So Important?

Coding encompasses so much more than simply computer programming. When kids code, they learn a number of very useful skills, including:

  • coding is another language - learning new languages helps children strengthen their verbal and written skills

  • coding fosters creativity - just you wait until your child starts playing with this program, no prompting required!

  • a major aspect of coding is PROBLEM SOLVING - this is arguably the most important skill that a child can learn, as it is applies to almost every other aspect of learning AND play


Focus for Parents:

The cool part about Pivot is that although is is very basic coding, it doesn't feel like it at all! This activity works really well with letting the child learn through exploration and play. A great way to get the most out of the learning with this activity is to ask lots of questions, like: What do you think would happen if you did this? Why do you think this setting changes this? And my personal favourite: If it's not working the way you'd like, what can we change? What could you do differently?


Video Class:



Check out this example of an animation made with Pivot!



Challenge/Questions:


1. Create an animation with at least two figures, and 30 frames.

2. What happens when you make your frame rate higher? Lower?

3. What did you discover about the program that I didn't show you?

4. How many frames does it take to make a character move across the screen?



Coding In the Curriculum

Though coding is not yet in the Ontario curriculum, it will undoubtedly be in one of the upcoming revisions. There is a lot of debate about where coding fits into the curriculum, but it will most likely be considered a mathematics skill.

"Ontario’s Renewed Math Strategy focuses on seven mathematical process skills/expectations —the actions of doing mathematics— which include problem solving, reasoning and proving, reflecting, selecting tools and computational strategies, connecting, representing, and communicating. These mathematical processes are embedded in coding tasks and developing computational thinking skills.

From a literacy perspective, coding tasks require students to revise and edit their work, write and follow a procedure, decode and comprehend text, and communicate their learning.  Learning to code requires that students work collaboratively, persevere to overcome challenges, while developing Global Competencies, and learning skills outlined in Growing Success (https://www.teachontario.ca/community/explore/coding-in-ontario-classrooms/blog/2018/02/02/everyone-can-code-a-coding-and-computational-thinking-plc).



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    • Mar 26, 2020

Origami Jumping Frog Race


Create your own origami jumping frogs, and then challenge them to a race! Lets see which frog can go the farthest!


Materials needed:

  • paper of varying thicknesses, colours, sizes

  • scizzors

  • colouring supplies

  • a ruler, measuring tape, or measuring length of your own creation (Using non-standard units of measurements is an important skill too! You can use pencil-lengths, eraser lengths, etc.)

  • A flat surface

  • Race tracking sheet available at the bottom of page


Today's themes for parents to focus on:

Be sure to name any shapes your child creates while they are folding (there should be lots of squares, triangles, rectangles, etc.). Depending on the comfort level of your child, guide them towards finding a way to measure their frog jumps - this could be any object handy, or a ruler or measuring tape. Emphasize recording their results, and if they aren't capable, it's okay to write it for them, but be sure to have them tell you what length to record. Learning the proper terminology when measuring is also important- using words like longer, shorter, greater, lesser, etc.

To extend the learning: you can also discuss any lines of symmetry that occur while folding - this entire project is very symmetrical.


Let's go! Watch the video below for Sara's instructions for the activity. You can also print out the instruction sheet linked below, if your child is a more concrete visual learner.





Discussion questions:

  1. Which frog went the farthest? Why do you think that is?

  2. Which frog went the shortest distance? Why do you think that is?

  3. What could we change to change the way the frog jumps?

  4. Did the size of the frog make the difference?

  5. What would you change for the next time you try this?


Curriculum connections:

Grade 1: Measurement

  • demonstrate an understanding of the use of non-standard units of the same size (e.g., straws, index cards) for measuring

  • estimate, measure (i.e., by placing non-standard units repeatedly, without overlaps or gaps), and record lengths, heights, and distances

  • construct, using a variety of strategies,tools for measuring lengths, heights, and distances in non-standard units

Grade 1: Geometry and Spatial Sense

  • build three-dimensional structures using concrete materials, and describe the two-dimensional shapes the structures contain

Grade 2&3: Measurement

  • estimate and measure length, height, and distance, using standard units (i.e., centimetre, metre) and non-standard units

  • record and represent measurements of length, height, and distance in a variety of ways


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