Are You Infected?? Studying the spread of germs!

We started the day by doing an experiment about how germs spread. Everyone was given a cup of water with their name on it, and Ms. D put a special chemical (Borax) into one cup (without telling the students who had it) that would represent a virus in that person’s system. Then, everyone was asked to choose three people in the room to exchange water with. With each exchange, person A would give person B five spoonfuls of their water, and then person B would give person A five spoonfuls of theirs. After three exchanges, Ms. D came around with chemical #2 (turmeric) and put it in the cup. Turmeric is a natural acid/base indicator and it turns red when exposed to a base like Borax, so anyone infected had their water turn red or pink. Students documented their experiment in a lab report including a title, hypothesis, question, materials, procedure, results/data, and a conclusion about how germs are spread. In our class you appeared to have a 25% chance of becoming infected if one person came in with the pretend virus.

Later in the day, we went over paragraphing as part of language arts, writing a paragraph about what we would do as principal for a day. We did this together, with Ms. D writing on her computer such that everyone could see the paragraph together on the projector. For journals, everyone had to copy the paragraph down and make any changes they wanted to its wording. The main purpose was to talk about how to make paragraphs more interesting with a hook and a strong concluding sentence. Ask your child what things they shouldn’t use for a concluding sentence!

Other time in the day was dedicated to MUSIC, a discussion together about relationships in class, and time to work on their Body Systems Expert research or writing. Homework is to continue working on any research needed. Also, I asked students to think about where the most germs in the school would be in preparation for another experiment either tomorrow or Monday, depending on how Ms. D’s kitchen prep goes tonight. Please also bring in a jar for art. Monies for YPC and Pizza Lunches are due on Monday.

Have a great night!