By:

Monique Czaczkowski and Kevin VanHaaren

Table of Contents

Differentiated Instruction Strategies Page 3 6

-Individual Activities
-Group/Class Activities

Predict-Observe-Experiment (P.O.E) Activities ... Page 7 16

-Dancing Raisins
-Colour Changing Milk
-Tornado in a Bottle
-Mentos Geyser
-Egg in a Bottle
-Water Screen
-Tea Bag Missile
-Elephant Toothpaste
-Lava Lamp
-Magic Sand

For more P.O.Es visit: http://weirdsciencekids.com/FunExperiments.html

Ice Breaker Games Page 17

Differentiated Instruction Strategies

Individual Activities:

Fist of Five: Students use their fingers as a scale of one to five to

express their understanding

Speedometer: Students move crossed arms from being together to
apart to show how much they understand a particular topic.

Thumbs up, Middle, or Down: As the class if they understand a concept. If they think
they get it, thumbs up. If they are not sure, thumbs middle, if they dont get it, thumbs
down.

Individual Response Boards: Each student has a small white board or chalkboard.

The teacher asks the class a question and the students record their response on the board.

Exit Cards: The teacher asks a question before they leave and have them write down the
answer on a Q-card.

Index Card Summaries: After a lesson, have the students summarize what they have
learned on an index card.

3-2-1 Summarize: Students state three things they learned, 2 ways the information
relates to them personally, and 1 question they have about the material.

Two Roses and a Thorn: Name two things that you liked about a chapter or lesson
and one thing you did not like or you still have a question about.

Circle, Triangle, Square: Something that is still going around in your head (triangle),
something pointed that stood out in your mind (square), and something that squared or
agreed with your thinking.

Red/Green Card: Students hold an index card (that has a red circle on one side and a

green circle on the other) in front of them where you can see it. If they are following along
with you and understanding the concept, they show the green circle side. When they miss
some information, need clarification, or dont understand, they turn it to show you the red
circle. This is much more effective than having them raise their hands and lets you know
shortly after they are lost instead of at the end of class.

Three Minute Pause: After the teacher presents a lot of new material, she asks the

students to think for three minutes about what they have learned. They can jot down notes
or sketches to show what they have learned.

Bubble Maps: This is a good brainstorming activity or design process

of describing attributes of something.

Double Bubble Maps: Similar to a
bubble map but with two main bubbles. It works well for
comparing and contrasting two things.

K-W-L: Students respond as a whole group, small group, or
individually to a topic as to What they already know, what they want to learn, what they
have learned and record it using a graphic organizer.

Group/Class Activities:

Four Corners: Teacher can choose anything to label the four corners of the classroom.

The teacher may ask an opinionated question and have the students go to the corner they
agree with.

Jigsaw: Divide the students up into four groups and provide
each group with some material to study. Allow the students to
become experts on that particular topic. Then, by choosing one
student from each group, develop four different groups and
allow the experts to share what they studied with the rest of
the group.

Inside-Outside Circle: Half the class makes a circle facing out. The other half makes a
circle facing the inside circle. They ask each other review questions then rotate in the same
direction.

Think-Pair-Share: Have the students read or study something. Give them time to think
and reflect. Put the students in pairs and let them discuss the material. Let the pairs share
what they have learned or their thoughts.

Pass the Ball: The teacher asks a question and then throws a ball to a student who has to
answer the question. If the student answers the question correctly, he/she gets to shoot a
basket. If the student answers the question incorrectly, they pass the ball to a teammate for
assistance.

I Have-Who Has: Give students card that have an
answer on the top and a question on the bottom.
When one student asks their question, the student
with the correct answer says the answer, and then
asks their question. This cycle repeats until all
questions are asked.

Trash Basketball: Wad up a piece of paper. Tape off three lines on
the floor each farther away from the trashcan. One by one students
come up and answer a question on a flash card. If they get it correct,
they choose to shoot a 10, 20, or 30-point basket.

Eagles/Hawks: This is a great strategy for having students cycle
through working with random partners. Students sit in partners and decide who is the
eagle and who is the hawk. When students are ready to move to the next partner you
announce, Eagle fly or Hawk fly and one partner must get up and find a new partner.

Graffiti: Post chart paper around the room with a topic, question, or problem on it. In

groups, students write their ideas on the chart paper. When signaled, they move to the next
paper. Once done, groups do one more round to read the ideas of others.

Gallery Walk: This activity is good for having students share information after a jigsaw
activity. Each group puts their ideas on a large paper and hangs it on the wall. In groups,
students then cycle around the room examining the ideas/work of others. One alternative
is to have one group member stay back and explain the groups work.

Student Conference: One-on-one conversation with students to check their level of
understanding.

One Question, One Comment: Students are assigned a chapter or passage to read
and create one question and one comment generated from the reading. In class, students
will meet in either small or whole class groups for discussion. Each student shares at least
one comment or question. As the discussion moves student by student around the room,
the next person can answer a previous question posed by another student, respond to a
comment, or share their own comments and questions. As the activity builds around the
room, the conversation becomes in-depth with opportunity for all students to learn new
perspectives on the text.

Coloured Cups: Give students in groups 3 different coloured cups. Green means they are
doing well. Yellow means they need help. Red means they are stuck and need a lot of help.
This is a great way for the teacher to monitor group work.

Predict-Observe-Experiment (P.O.E)
Activities

Dancing Raisins Experiment

Materials:

A can of colorless soda (e.g. 7-Up or Sprite)

Water
2 tall, clear glass or plastic cups
Several raisins (fresh raisins work the best)

Demo Description:

1. Pour the can of soda into 1 tall glass and fill the other tall glass with water.
2. Drop 6-7 raisins into the glass.
3. Watch the raisins for a few seconds.

Explanation:
Initially, because raisins are denser than the liquid in the soda, they sink to the bottom of
the glass. The carbonated soft drink releases carbon dioxide bubbles, which stick to the
rough surface of a raisin. This lifts the raisin due to the increase in buoyancy. When the
raisin reaches the surface, the bubbles pop, and the carbon dioxide gas escapes into the air.
This causes the raisin to lose buoyancy and sink. The rising and sinking of the raisins
continues until most of the carbon dioxide has escaped, and the soda goes flat. Also, with
time the raisin gets soggy and becomes too heavy to rise to the surface.

Colour Changing Milk Experiment

Materials:

Regular milk (not skim, fate free, or low-fat)

Plate
Food colouring (red, yellow, green, and blue)
Dawn dish washing soap (or one that claims to "cut the grease")
Q-Tips / Cotton swabs

Demo Description:
1. Pour enough milk onto the plate to cover the bottom.
2. Towards the center of the plate add one drop of each food coloring (red, blue, green, and
yellow).
3. Dip the Q-Tip / cotton swab into the Dawn Dish Washing soap.
4. Insert the cotton swab into the milk in the center between all the food-colouring dots and
hold it there for about 15 seconds. Do not move the swab around, stir, or mix.
5. Watch as the colors swirl and explode!
6. Repeat with another fresh soapy swab in a different place on the plate. Look carefully
and notice the colors continue to swirl and mix even after you have removed the swab.

Explanation:

Milk contains many things but much of it is made up of water, proteins, and fats. When the
"grease-cutting" soap is added to the milk, the fat and protein chemical bonds are
deteriorated and everything gets set loose. The fat and protein molecules explode in all
directions. The molecules in the food coloring go all over as well, making it easy to see what
is happening. Changes in surface tension also contribute to the water molecules in the milk
zinging around. When the Dawn soap is added, it destroys the bonds that hold everything
together, causing the colours to fly!

Tornado in a Bottle

Materials:

2 Plastic bottles (empty 1 L water bottles work well)

Water
Coloured lamp oil (Optional)
Food colouring (Optional)
Small Styrofoam balls (Optional)
Small washer 1/4"
Duct tape

Demo Description:

1. Fill one of the empty bottles to the top with water.

2. Add a couple drops of food coloring if you want.
3. If you have small Styrofoam balls put them in to simulate flying debris.
4. Put the 1/4-inch washer on top of the filled bottle.
5. Now invert the other bottle on top of it so they are connected. Use duct tape to make a
nice water tight secure connection between the bottles. One bottle should be empty and
one should be full.
6. Take a little extra time to ensure the bottles are snug / flush against the washer before
duct taping them together. You want everything perfectly flat when you tape.
7. Turn the bottle with the water upside down so the water is on top. How long does it take
for the water to drain into the bottom bottle without squeezing it (a long time).
8. Now try this! Make a Vortex and watch how fast the water moves from the top bottle to
the bottom bottle. To make a Vortex put the bottle with the water on top. Hold the bottles
with your hand in the middle where the two connect. Then twirl the bottle around in a
circular motion for a few seconds and hold still. Wham!

Explanation:

Twirling and swirling the bottle creates a vortex as the water moves down through the hole
in the washer. What you see is basically a hurricane in a plastic bottle. When the vortex is
generated, air from the bottom bottle can more easily move to the top bottle and the water
comes out quicker. Try looking in the center of the bottle as you do the experiment and you
will see the hole in the middle also known as "the eye of the hurricane". It takes more time
for the water to move down when you let the bottle sit without making a vortex because
the water and air must take turns moving through the hole in a burping effect.

Mentos Geyser

Materials:

Mint Mentos
Large bottle of Diet Coke
Test tube (or some creative insertion device)

Demo Description:
1. Unwrap the Mint Mentos.
2. Put them into a tube of any sort.
3. Uncap the diet coke.
4. Dump them in and run.

Explanation:

When you drop the Mint Mentos candy into the Diet Coke it starts to foam and erupt into
the air. Do not use the fruit Mentos because they have a smoother surface that will produce
a small or no reaction at all. The Mentos and Diet Coke experiment is an example of a
physical reaction.

There are many factors that cause the physical reaction. Ingredients contained in the Diet
Coke (carbon dioxide gas, benzoate, caffeine, aspartame, potassium) and Mentos mints
(gelatin and gun Arabic) react when combined together. However many scientists think the
primary cause of the eruption reaction may be attributed to the physical makeup of the
mint Mentos candy itself and the nucleation on the surface. Nucleation on the surface of the
mint Mentos is evidenced by all of the tiny little holes found there. These small nucleation
holes permit carbon dioxide bubbles to form very fast and grow rapidly when the Diet
Coke is added. What results is a big eruption of foam.

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Egg in a Bottle

Materials:
Clear glass bottle (I.e. Starbucks Ice Mocha Glass)
Hard boiled eggs (medium size)
Lighter
Bowl
Water
Paper

Demo Description:

1. Hard boil some eggs. Let them cool in a bowl of cool water for at least 10 minutes.
2. Carefully remove the shells and put them back in the cool water bowl. Let your unshelled
hard-boiled eggs sit in the water bowl until you lift out to put onto the bottle top in step 7.
3. Set a hard boiled egg on top of the glass jar and show everyone it will not go down into
the container on it's own without force. Then remove and put back into the water.
4. Dip your finger in the water and get a little moisture on it. Rub that on the rim of the
glass to give it a little lubrication.
5. Rip a small piece of paper off.
6. Light the paper on fire with the lighter. Let it get going pretty good and then quickly put
the ignited paper into the glass bottle.
7. Now be fast with this part. After you put the lit paper into the glass bottle, gently place
the egg on top of the bottle. Be quick because the fire will go out fast.
8. Sit back and watch the egg get sucked down into the bottle. Listen for the cool sucking
sound as it goes inside!

Explanation:

When we ignite the piece of paper it heats the molecules of air inside the bottle. This makes
the molecules expand and move away from each other. They go up and out of the bottle
with the heat from the fire. Once the fire is extinguished the air cools down, but the egg on
top of the bottle prevents new air from outside from entering the bottle. The air pressure
inside the bottle is now lower since new air from outside has been prevented from moving
inside (new air can't fill the empty space in the bottle). This means the air pressure outside
is greater than inside the bottle. As a result the greater air pressure outside pushes the egg
down into the lower pressure bottle.

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Water Screen

Materials:

Plastic mesh bag used for produce at the grocery store or wire screen door mesh
Glass bottle
Rubber band
Index card
Water

Demo Description:
1. Cut a piece of plastic mesh or wire screen large enough to cover the mouth of the glass
bottle with some extra room.
2. Place the mesh over the bottle mouth and secure it with the rubber band.
3. Pour water through the screen and fill the bottle. This will illustrate to everyone that
water really does go right through it. Fill it all the way up to the top.
4. Take the index card and cover the screen. Now turn the bottle upside down with the
index card still covering the screen. Once upside down, slowly remove the index card.
Magically, the water does not come pouring out through the screen.
5. When your ready to prove that there was no trick or secret substance covering the
screen, while still holding the bottle upside down, tip the bottle to one side or the other.

Explanation:

When you submerge a screen into water and then pull it out, you will see that water fills the
screen holes. This is due to a force called cohesion. Cohesion is the attraction of molecules
that are the same to each other. Surface tension allows water molecules to form a
membrane. As a result, water stays in the bottle even after the card has been removed. The
water molecules are bound together to form a thin membrane between the screen
openings. When you tip the bottle it breaks the surface tension and the water comes
whizzing out.

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Tea Bag Missile

Materials:

Tea bag
Plate
Lighter or matches
Scissors

Demo Description:

1. Use the scissors to cut the tea bag at the top where the string meets the bag. Make a nice
flat straight cut through both sides of the tea bag.
2. Empty the contents of the tea bag out.
3. Open the tea bag and shape into a cylinder.
4. Place the tea bag cylinder onto the plate.
5. Use the lighter or matches to ignite the top of the tea bag.
6. Watch it close as it burns and takes flight!

Explanation:

When the tea bag is ignited hot air is generated and begins rising. As the tea bag burns
thermal convection currents start to form between the tea bag and the plate. Eventually the
tea bag has burned all the way to ash. As this happens the thermal convection currents
become stronger than the weight of the tea bag ashes and propel them into the air.

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Elephant Toothpaste

Materials:

30% Hydrogen peroxide

Sodium iodide 2M
Food coloring
Dawn dish soap
Empty clear plastic soda bottle
Plastic trash bags
Container or basin

Demo Description:

1. Cut open some plastic trash bags and tape them to ground or table. This will make clean
up easy and limit the mess.
2. Put on plastic lab gloves and safety goggles. Do this at the beginning. 30% hydrogen
peroxide is nasty stuff and can cause major skin burns. You do not want this to make
contact with and part of unexposed skin, eyes, etc. Be careful!
3. Secure the plastic soda bottle into the container or basin you have chosen to use.
4. In a separate plastic cup measure one teaspoon of sodium iodide. Mix in one ounce of
water. Mix until the sodium iodide dissolves into the solution.
5. Pour 50 mL or 1.69 ounces of the 30% hydrogen peroxide into clear plastic soda bottle.
6. Pick your favorite food coloring and add a drop or two to the 30% hydrogen peroxide in
the bottle.
7. Add a nice squirt of dawn dish soap into the bottle with hydrogen peroxide and Food
colouring. Squirt the soap down the inside wall of the plastic bottle. Let it run down.
8. When ready very quickly pour the sodium iodide solution into the clear plastic water
bottle containing the 30% hydrogen peroxide, food colouring, and Dawn soap. Do it fast
and stand back.
9. A large steaming foam column will erupt from the water bottle like lightning as the
exothermic reaction occurs and instantly decomposes the oxygen in the hydrogen peroxide.
As the erupting column settles is will produce a big foaming pile of steam!
**Remember don't touch the foam without gloves and goggles.

Explanation:

The chemical reaction that takes place is called an exothermic reaction or one that releases
heat. 30% Hydrogen peroxide is very strong and contains 10 times the amount of oxygen
when compared to the kind typically sold in pharmacies and supermarkets. In this reaction
we are adding a catalyst in the form of sodium iodide to decompose and release the oxygen
in the hydrogen peroxide instantly. The food colouring adds some flavor and the soap
produces the foam. Its actually oxygen gas trapped in the soap bubbles that creates the
foam or elephant toothpaste. When hydrogen peroxide is broken down and decomposed, it
releases oxygen gas, heat, and water.

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Lava Lamp

Materials:

Clean clear plastic soda bottle (16 oz) with cap

Vegetable oil
Food coloring
An Alka-Seltzer Tablets
Water

Demo Description:
1. Add vegetable oil to the soda bottle until it's about 3/4 full.
2. Add about 1/4 water to the rest of the bottle.
3. Put about 10 drops of your favorite food coloring into the bottle. Make sure your water
color is dark.
4. Break 1 or 2 Alka-Seltzer tablets into chunks.
5. When ready start dropping the chunks into the bottle. Sit back and enjoy the lava lamp
show. You can let the lava lamp settle and repeat by adding more chucks of Alka-Seltzer
tablets.
6. Once you have used up all the Alka-Seltzer tablets. Top off your soda bottle to the rim
with the vegetable oil and screw on the cap. Let the lava lamp settle and then try tipping it
back and forth to see the neat waves that are created when oil and water don't want to mix.

Explanation:

First and foremost we have learned that oil and water don't mix. Even if you give the bottle
a good shaking, you will notice the oil molecules go into little bubbles and don't mix with
the water. However, the food coloring and water do mix well. Water is more dense or
heavier than oil. Therefore when we added the water it sank to the bottom of the bottle.
The oil was lighter than the water so it floated on top. When we added the chunks of Alka-
Seltzer tablets to the water there was a reaction. The reaction created small bubbles of
carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide bubbles attached to the blurbs or strands of colored
water and caused them to float to the surface. Once the bubbles popped, the color blurbs
sank back to the bottom of the bottle and a new one rose in its place. This created the lava
lamp effect.

15

Magic Sand

Materials:

Sand
Silicon spray
2 clear plastic or glass containers with large mouths

Demo Description:
1. Layout the sand on a piece of cardboard or on top of some newspaper. Spread it thin.
Spray the sand with a couple coats of the silicone spray. Make sure to mix the sand around
between coats to ensure coating all sides of the sand. Let the silicone dry overnight or at
least 12 hours.
2. Fill the clear plastic cups or glass containers about 1/2 full with water.
3. Add a generous amount of the magic sand to one of the containers.
4. Notice that the sand appears to be dry even though its under water.
5. Prove its still dry by pouring the water from one container to the other.

Explanation:

Magic sand works because the silicone coating makes it repel the water molecules. The
scientific term for this is hydrophobic meaning to "fear water". Regular sand referred to as
being hydrophilic or "water loving" because it will absorb water. You can explore the
properties of water molecules by making a hypothesis about what will happen when you
add water to both magic sand and regular sand. Then perform the experiment and note the
differences between hydrophobic and hydrophilic sand.

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Ice Breaker Games

Two Truths and a Lie: Ask students to arrange themselves in a circle. Instruct each

student to think of three statements about themselves. Two must be true statements, and
one must be false. For each person, he or she shares three statements (in any order) to the
group. The goal of the game is to determine which statement is false. The group votes on
which one they feel is a lie, and at the end of each round, the person reveals which one was
the lie.

Lost on a Deserted Island: Given the scenario that everyone is lost and stranded on a
deserted island, each person describes one object that they would bring and why. After
everyone has introduced their object and why they have chosen that object, divide into
smaller groups and ask everyone to work together to improve their chances of survival by
combing the various objects that they introduced.

React and Act Game: Ask five people on each team to randomly select an event from
the bag. Instruct them to react to this event, without explicitly giving away what the event
is. Choose a time limit (usually 30 seconds-1 minute) and when you say GO! have all five
people to simultaneously react to their event using exaggerated gestures, facial
expressions, and their voice (I.e. just won the lottery- raise his or her arms and scream
excitedly, jumping up and down). Each of the five actors can interact with each other. After
time expires, the other members of the team try to guess what happened for each person.

Extremes: Where do you stand? In front of the room, create an imaginary line. All
the way on the left side is one extreme, and all the way on the right side is the other
extreme. Make sure there is enough space for people to stand anywhere along this
imaginary line. Ask your students several questions (I.e. winter or summer, sweet or salty,
Hawaii or New York City, rock music or classical, chocolate or strawberry, morning person
or night person?). Everyone will then respond by standing somewhere along the imaginary
line according to how strong of an opinion they have on that item. If they are neutral, they
will stand in the middle.

Group Juggling: Ask the group to form a large circle, with everyone facing the center.
Start by tossing the ball across the circle to another person. As you toss, say the name of the
person to whom you are tossing. This lets them know the ball is coming to them and lets
everyone hear their name. Once that person catches (or retrieves) the ball, they pick
someone else, shout their name and toss them the ball. Play continues with the one ball
until it makes it to everyone in the group.

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