BFSU

Unfortunately I have had some computer issues, and I am not able to upload pictures at this time, but that issue will hopefully be resolved soon.  I've got some great pics to post so far!  As I type this, my boys are sitting at the kitchen table creating booklets about the three states of matter.  We are only in our second week, but I am loving Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Bernard J. Nebel, Ph.D.  Tuesday I introduced our lesson on solids, liquids, and gases and we learned how to classify substances into these three categories.  I used my Scentsy warmer to illustrate how matter can change from a solid to a liquid to a gas (particles in the air that we can smell).  We also sprayed air freshener from one corner of a room to see how long it took for the other person on the opposite side of the room to smell it (about 1.5 minutes).  Today we talked about how water changed to ice and we also melted butter.  This showed that temperature affects the state of matter.  We then took an ice cube and melted it, then let it evaporate on the stove, showing that the heat changes it from solid to liquid to gas.  I had a glass with ice cubes inside sitting nearby so we could see the water condensing on the side of the glass and I could explain how the water vapor changes back into liquid water.  We are having a lot of fun in science!