Science in Ganon Aleph

Chanukah has provided many opportunities for science in our classroom. The children learned about the scientific concept of "wax resist" when they water-colored over "invisible" designs they drew with candles. They saw that oil and water do not mix when we poured oil into a bottle of water with blue food coloring. Before our last experiment we asked the children how we could extinguish a flame. They came up with the following: blow it out, let it burn out, use water or a fire extinguisher, or call the firefighters! We tried using sand to put out a small flame, and then we placed a jar over a lit candle and watched it go out all by itself! The children learned that fire needs oxygen to burn, and the candle went out when the oxygen in the jar was all used up. We then went on to talk about fire safety rules like "stop, drop, and roll" and what to do in case of a fire emergency.