Polar Bear Blubber experiment

My class was learning about Polar Bears. A couple of students raised their hand and asked, "aren't the polar bears freezing? How can they live like that?" Instead of just explaining why, I decided to SHOW them. I have to give credit to Pinterest, because that is where I found this experiment.

What you will need- oil, large 3 slider ziploc bags, a large clear bowl, ice, water.

Set Up- Fill up the bowl with water. Add a lot of ice. I poured in a 2 lb bag. Pour the oil inside of two bags and zip it closed. Put them straight down in the water. Next, put those two bags of oil into another zip top bag. You're ready!

Presentation- I had the students sit in an assembly style fashion. I pulled name sticks and the kids came up one by one and put their hand in the ice. I asked them how it felt. Then, I had them put their hand in the middle of the two bags of oil. Wrap their hand closed around it and submerge it in the ice. Ask them to compare and contrast with the hand in the ice versus surrounded by the oil. 

Mother's Day Activity

Mom's will tear up when they read this beautiful poem and see the little fingerprint on this keyring! The best part? Inexpensive and just a little prep work involved. Ok, so on to how I did it... I bought some Crayola Model Magic and used a cookie cutter to make the heart shape. I then poked a small hole at the top left corner for the ring. I found the poem on Pinterest. I did a quick cut and paste into a Word document. I then printed it on colored paper and trimmed it down. Next, I punched a hole in the top center and tied a bow in it. The kids came to the back table and put either a thumbprint or two fingerprints angled to look like a heart. They hardened overnight and were ready for the key rings the next day. I ultimately opted to use binder rings since it was difficult to get the key ring on the clay. I punched another hole in the top left of the poem and attached the clay thumbprint and their card to their moms. When my students came to school on Monday, many told me that their moms cried and said it was the best Mother's Day present they'd ever received. I'm so glad, because moms deserve the world!