Physical Science Training Schedule

Current Physical Science 2-Day Initial Use Trainings. All workshops begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.

ESD = Educational Service District Conference Center

Solids & Liquids

Children of all ages take delight in exploring objects in the world around them. Infants are intrigued by the color of a bright red block, the shape of a ball, or the softness of a teddy bear. They enjoy splashing in bath water and watching the bubbles. Through continuing explorations with everyday materials such as these, young children gain insight into the unique properties of solids and liquids.

By first grade, children are ready to go beyond making simple observations about solids and liquids and to begin to think about more challenging questions. What properties make solids and liquids unique? Are there similarities between solids and liquids? Do liquids, like solids, float and sink?

Solids and Liquids enables students to explore questions such as these. By observing and conducting tests with solids and liquids, students learn to identify ad compare the properties of these two states of matter.

Balancing & Weighing

Many children remember the challenge of balancing on two wheels when they began to ride a bicycle. Some may have gained an appreciation of the importance of balance as they watched a younger brother or sister learn to walk. Children experience balance in many other ways: riding a skateboard, participating in gymnastics, practicing ballet, or even walking on the curb on the way to school. Many children also show an interest in stacking blocks and seeing how high they can build a tower before it topples over. All of these experiences lay the foundation for an understanding of how weight affects balance.

Balancing and Weighing provides activities that help children explore the relationship between balance and weight. They begin their investigations by exploring different strategies for comparing objects. Later, they compare one object with a standard unit to determine its weight.

Chemical Tests

Chemistry. It's not confined to a laboratory filled with test tubes---or a lecture at a university. Chemistry is the study of the world around us, of chemicals and how they interact. Everything is made of chemicals, from the pencils we write with to the oceans where we swim. We are made of chemicals. When we eat or breathe, chemical reactions take place inside of us.

Many student have been amazed to realize that chemicals are, in fact, all around us. And, they are surprised that chemistry is a topic they can explore in their own classroom. To study chemistry is to make sense of the world. In a way, it's like solving a mystery.

In Chemical Tests students begin to use critical thinking skills to solve mysteries such as "What are the identities of five unknown solids?" By conducting a variety of physical and chemical tests, students explore some concepts basic to general chemistry: physical and chemical properties and how to describe them, and changes that may occur when different solids and liquids are mixed together or separated. As a result, students are introduced to solubility, filtration, evaporation, crystallization, and acids, bases, and neutrals. Along the way, they also develop essential skills: observing, recording, questioning, analyzing, and drawing conclusions.

Electric Circuits

The modern world would not be possible without electricity. Electricity lights our homes and industries; powers many forms of transportation; supplies complex lines of communication through telephones, televisions, radios, and computers; and provides us with a dizzying array of labor-saving devices, both in the home and at the workplace. What's more, a knowledge of electricity has given scientists new ways to pursue other disciplines - chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine.

Children are fascinated with electricity. They wonder how it powers so many different kinds of devices. Electric Circuits will help them begin to answer their many questions by opening the door to the world of electricity. The unit makes use of electrical "stuff," such as wires, bulbs, and batteries, and includes investigations that are both useful and fun.

Food Chemistry

What could be more important to our lives than food?

Food Chemistry allows students to investigate basic nutrients found in the foods they eat. Through a series of physical and chemical tests, students discover which nutrients - starches, glucose, fats, and proteins - are found in common foods. Through reading selections they also learn more about the role these nutrients play in human health and how these nutrients are related to the growth and development of their bodies. They also learn about vitamins and the fascinating history of their discovery.

Floating and Sinking

Children of all ages are curious about why some objects float while others sink. They may have seen air bubbles rising through the water after someone jumps in, or watched boats, leaves, or sticks floating in a pond. Some may have noticed that they sink in the bathtub but float in the ocean.

From such observations and experiences, children have developed ideas and question about floating and sinking. They may think that weight has something to do with why things sink or float. Other may suspect that size or even the liquid plays a role. How these factors and others affect the behavior of objects in liquids is the focus of Floating and Sinking. The activities in this unit provide experiences upon which children can build a more complete understanding of the phenomenon of buoyancy.