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At-Home Science Project: Pencil Poke without the Soak Polymer Exploration

by | Jun 6, 2020 | At-Home Enrichment | 0 comments

Please find below our daily SolBe Family update letter containing helpful resources and exciting projects to explore while we all do our part to stay home during this pandemic. Subscribe here to receive daily updates.

June 5, 2020

SolBe Families,

Science Friday!

We will be sharing our Social-Emotional Learning Resource articles beginning on Monday 6/8. For now…here is another classic science experiment for “Science Fridays!” Sometimes you just need some good ol’ fashion excitement!

Project of the Day: Pencil Poke without the Soak-Polymer Exploration

Materials

  • Ziplock plastic sandwich bag
  • Sharpened pencils
  • Water

The Experiment

Watch this video for step-by-step project directions and ways to communicate the science behind this experiment to your kiddos. If you try this at home, share your pictures and videos with us on Instagram @solbe.learning so we can see how your experiment turned out!

Step One

Lay out all of your materials! I recommend laying a towel out or trying to experiment outside…this is a wet one!

Step Two

Fill your ziplock up about 3/4 of the way to full with water and squeeze all of the air out of the top of the bag. Be sure your pencils are sharp!

Step Three

Exciting part! Hold the bag up with one hand and slowly push the pencil through both sides of the bag. Do not use force, the bag will pop- as you see in the video experiment!

Step Four

Poke additional pencils through one at a time. Ask plenty of questions to encourage the kids to create and test hypotheses. “If we add another pencil- will water burst out?” We learned a lot (and had a few chuckles) from our failed attempts. We also enjoyed pulling the pencils out at the end `and watching the water shoot out from our puncture holes.

Most important direction, as always: HAVE FUN!  

More resources to follow in the coming days. Feedback and more ideas welcome! 

Above all, be well and stay healthy!

The SolBe Team


Be Supported

We’ve felt the uncertainty that occurs when our children are in the care of someone else. At SolBe, we know you will always be your child’s first teacher; we’re here as a knowledgeable partner in your child’s education.

From our experience, children rise to the intellectual life of those around them, so we are committed to growing as individuals and as a team. You can count on us to provide a warm and engaging learning experience for your little one.

Be Inspired

We’ve spent thousands of hours in classrooms that either overstimulate, underwhelm, or actively prevent educators from delivering the highest-quality education and care. At SolBe, you’ll go beyond the traditional four-walled classroom.

Our award-winning, inventive and uplifting learning spaces stimulate the senses and instill feelings of home-like safety and comfort. They allow for your child’s, and our educators’, changing needs and emotions. They create room for wonder—for learning, and living, outside the lines.

Be Immersed

We’ve seen what’s lost when things are done the way they’ve always been done before. SolBe is an adaptive Spanish exposure program that refuses to accept the status quo.

Our inventive practices grow from the shoulders of giants, with roots in the Reggio Emilia approach, the Montessori method, and well-researched cognitive disciplines that attend to the whole child. We create opportunities to develop character attributes that your child will benefit from for a lifetime. Collaboration. Communication. Independence. Healthy risk-taking. Critical thinking. Emotional awareness. Resilience. Intellectual curiosity. Creative innovation. An authentic love of life and learning.

Be Well

We know what it’s like to forget to feed ourselves—physically, mentally, and emotionally. At SolBe, we understand it’s impossible for you to pour from an empty cup. And we do what we can to keep your cup full.

Our learning ecosystem is designed with children and educators—and you—in mind. Seed-to-table nutrition program. Yoga and mindfulness. An all-inclusive experience so you don’t need to worry about finding time to provide meals, diapers, or wipes (unless you want to). Evening and weekend family programs.