FRIDAY


SCHOOL


Sewanee Elementary helps students beat the "Winter Blahs" by having volunteers from the community come in and teach special "mini-courses" in fun topics. This spring Student Affiliate members Elizabeth Henry, Margaret Anne Gray and Sarah Fried, as well as chemistry student Deanna Gonzales, helped Lab Coordinator Jennifer Bachman teach a course called "Kitchen Chemistry" to two eager groups: K-2nd graders then 3rd-5th graders.  This year's program focused on chemistry experiments one can do in his or her own home.  The students got to make their own lava lamps, see how much energy food gives off when it is burned, and investigate the mysteries of combining Diet Coke with Mentos candies. During the last Friday's presentation, students made their own egg tempera paints and created crystal stars and designs on black paper.

Here is Sylvan Huber-Feely with his lava lamp.  Lava lamp - making instructions can be found in the book Crisp Packet Fireworks by Chris Smith and Dave Ansell, also known as the Naked Scientists (Great Britain).

We also showed the students how to make volcanoes out of clay and make them erupt with baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, and soap bubbles.

This is a picture of our typical food burning apparatus.  We lit a fatty food on fire with a grill lighter and then placed it under a can of water.  We measured how much heat the burning food transferred to the water in the can.

Diet Coke and Mentos - WHOOOPEEE!!!  Photos by 5th grader Isabel Butler.

3rd grader Carly Grace Pate works hard at getting her design to look just right!

More hardworking, happy students!

               
           

Sarah enjoys the lava lamps as Daniel Mc Donough looks on.