Science experiments

We had fun with a couple of science experiments this week!

First we explored force and inertia by rolling a marble along a path so that it struck another marble or marbles.  The boys (Connor especially) were fascinated to discover that the marble or marbles he rolled caused only that same number to move after the collision rather than making all of them move.  We had a good chat about force and inertia that I'm sure they probably didn't get 100% at this point, but that's okay--my purpose was more to introduce the idea and develop interest in science than to have them master the concepts.

We did another experiment today to discover how ink marks from different markers run when they get wet, which of our markers would run the farthest, and what colors we would see as the ink ran.  

By the time the 10 minute wait was over, their attention had moved elsewhere, so we really didn't discuss much other than whose dot ran the farthest and what colors we saw.  But even if they don't totally "get" that black is made up of other colors, they've seen it.  The more I think about this, the more I think I may talk about it again with them soon.  Oh, and the dot that didn't run at all was a dry erase marker.  You know, in case you were wondering. *grin*