Thursday 4/30: You’ve got Freezing Power!

I must be honest, one of the fun parts of this job (owning a science camp) is getting to “do science”. We’ve tried many experiments in our day. Sometimes the work, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes they are less than spectacular. As I was getting ready to do this experiment, Matt saw what I was doing and was like, “That is never going to work.” I must say, I secretly agreed with him. But boy were we both wrong! Needless to say, this is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time! While this experiment is super simple, it does take a little preparation before you can do the experiment.

Materials needed: at least two bottles of water (distilled or purified), two ice cubes, a clear glass, plate, timer

Preparation: Take your bottles of water and place them in the freezer. Try to lay them flat and make sure that they are undisturbed. Set the timer for 2 hours. As soon as the timer goes off, it’s time to do the experiment, so don’t put the bottles in the freezer unless you will be able to do the experiment in two hours. The secret is, the water needs to below 32 degrees but not freezing. If you open the freezer and the water is frozen, it won’t work. That is why you should always do at least two bottles of water so you have more than one chance incase it doesn’t work the first time.

States of Water– Primary & Intermediate (K-5)

You remembered the three states of water, right? Knowing the boiling and freezing point of water is important. If you want to boil water to make noodles, you need to know that the boiling point is 212 degrees F. If you want school to be cancelled due to ice and snow, you are looking for temperatures below the freezing point, which is 32 degrees F. Let’s take a look at ice and how/where it occurs in nature.

Explore an Ice Cave– Primary & Intermediate (K-5)

Greenland: Land of Ice– Primary & Intermediate (K-5)

Isn’t ice amazing? And beautiful? But I bet you’re starting to think, “Ms. Andrea, what are we going to do? You said that it was super cool, but then we looked at the states of water and then explored ice caves and glaciers. What on earth are we going to do?” Well, we are all going to be like Elsa and make some ice. And no, I don’t mean put water in an ice cube tray and come back 5 hours later. You are going to have a glass of water, touch it, and turn the whole thing to ice. Yes, really.

Move over Elsa, it’s time for me to make some ice! VIDEO REVISED!!!

Now, usually I encourage you to do the experiment with me. For this one, it will probably work better if you watch the video first (while you’re waiting your water to cool), so that way you not only know exactly what to do but you know exactly what to expect. The video has been updated at 3:35pm 4/30, so you can see the experiment that works 🙂