sand and soil Sand and soil Materials For Both the Dry Table and the Wet Table • Curiosity Center signs: Dry Sand, Dry Soil and Wet Sand, Wet Soil (pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/ parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.) • bag of topsoil (not potting soil) • bag of play sand • disposable plastic dinner plates (2 per child, plus some extras; can be used with multiple children.) • craft sticks and/or plastic forks For Just the Wet Table • small containers of water • plastic eyedroppers (inexpensive, child-friendly sets can be ordered online or purchased at local school supply stores) • bucket of water (or sink) and paper towels for cleaning hands • bucket for dumping wet sand and soil • Optional: Curious George magnifying lenses Handout Family Science Activities: Water, Mud, and Rocks (pbskids.org/ curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.) Background Photos sandy desert, mud puddles, plants in garden soil, adobe houses, making adobe bricks, sand sculptures Science Concepts • There are many different types of “dirt,” including sand and soil. • Sand and soil look and feel different. They behave differently when mixed with water. • When mixed with water, sand and soil can be used as building materials. Explorations Set up a Dry Table and a Wet Table. Give a plate of sand and a plate of soil (small amount) to each child. At the Dry Table, these plates can be reused by the next group of children. At the Wet Table, the wet sand and soil will need to be dumped and new sand and soil provided for the next group of children. At the Dry Table Introduce kids to the sand and soil at the dry table. Have children look, smell, and touch as they compare. (Kids may want to use the magnifying lenses.) Ask: • What things can you see in the soil? What things can you see in the sand? • What does the soil feel like? What does it smell like? How about the sand? Do you think you could tell the difference with your eyes closed? • What happens when you squeeze the soil in your fist? Does it stay together? How about the sand? What could you add to sand to make it hold together better? Invite children to do the following things with the dry sand and soil, then talk about the results. • Make tracks with fingers, stick, and fork • Make a hill and dig a hole At the Wet Table Have the kids move to the Wet Table. Have them add drops of water to a plate of sand and a plate of dirt. Ask: • What do you notice? • How does adding water change the look and feel of the soil? Of the sand? • Try to make a mud pie with the soil. Do you need more water? • Build something with the sand. Do you need more water? • What happens if you add too much water? Try it. Curiosity Center 1: Curious George is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: © 2008. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY. Major funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s ® ‚ Sun-Maid ® , and public television viewers.
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sand and soilSand and soil Materials
For Both the Dry Table and the Wet Table
• Curiosity Center signs: Dry Sand, Dry Soil and Wet Sand, Wet Soil (pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
• bag of topsoil (not potting soil)
• bag of play sand
• disposable plastic dinner plates (2 per child, plus some extras; can be used with multiple children.)
• craft sticks and/or plastic forks
For Just the Wet Table
• small containers of water
• plastic eyedroppers (inexpensive, child-friendly sets can be ordered online or purchased at local school supply stores)
• bucket of water (or sink) and paper towels for cleaning hands
• bucket for dumping wet sand and soil
• Optional: Curious George magnifying lenses
Handout Family Science Activities: Water,
Mud, and Rocks (pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
Background Photos sandy desert, mud puddles, plants in
garden soil, adobe houses, making adobe bricks, sand sculptures
Science Concepts • There are many different types of “dirt,” including sand and soil.• Sand and soil look and feel different. They behave differently when mixed with water. • When mixed with water, sand and soil can be used as building materials.
Explorations Set up a Dry Table and a Wet Table. Give a plate of sand and a plate of
soil (small amount) to each child. At the Dry Table, these plates can be reused by the next group of children. At the Wet Table, the wet sand and soil will need to be dumped and new sand and soil provided for the next group of children.
At the Dry Table Introduce kids to the sand and soil at the dry table. Have children look,
smell, and touch as they compare. (Kids may want to use the magnifying lenses.) Ask:
• What things can you see in the soil? What things can you see in the sand? • What does the soil feel like? What does it smell like? How about the sand?
Do you think you could tell the difference with your eyes closed?• What happens when you squeeze the soil in your fist? Does it stay together?
How about the sand? What could you add to sand to make it hold together better?
Invite children to do the following things with the dry sand and soil, then talk about the results.
• Make tracks with fingers, stick, and fork • Make a hill and dig a hole
At the Wet Table Have the kids move to the Wet Table. Have them add drops of water to a plate of sand and a plate of dirt. Ask:
• What do you notice? • How does adding water change the look and
feel of the soil? Of the sand? • Try to make a mud pie with the soil.
Do you need more water? • Build something with the sand. Do you need
more water? • What happens if you add too much water? Try it.
Curiosity Center 1:
Curious George is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: © 2008. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY. Major funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s®‚ Sun-Maid®, and public television viewers.
Tips for SuccessBackground photos help children make connections between the activity they are doing in the Curiosity Center and phenomena in the natural world.
Science Concepts • Water drops may stick to each other and to other objects.
• The natural shape of a water drop is round, but the shape may change depending on the size of the drop or on the forces acting on the drop.
Explorations Look at the photos of raindrops and dewdrops. What do the kids notice?
Give each child a piece of wax paper on a tray or baking sheet.
Demonstrate how to fill an eyedropper then release the water, drop by drop. Let kids experiment. What happens when they hold the eyedropper high above the tray and squirt water on the wax paper? (Kids can use the magnifying lenses to look at the shapes of the water drops.)
Have the kids use the straw and eyedropper to move the water drops around. They can try tilting the tray as well. Ask questions to keep the explorations going:
•When you use the eyedropper to move a water drop around the wax paper, how does the shape of the water drop change?
•What happens when you make one drop touch another drop?
•Try blowing through a straw at a water drop or water puddle. What happens?
•How many different ways can you make a big drop break into smaller drops?
Materials• Curiosity Center sign: Water
Drops (pbskids.org/ curiousgeorge/parents teachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
• plastic eyedroppers (inexpensive, child-friendly sets can be ordered online or purchased at local school supply stores)
• small containers of water
• food coloring, for tinting the water
• plastic trays or baking sheets with rims—1 for each child
• wax paper, to place on the trays
• drinking straws (cut in half)
• container for pouring off excess water
• paper towels for clean up
• Optional: Curious George magnifying lenses
Handout Family Science Activities: Water,
Mud, and Rocks (pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
Background Photos pictures of dewdrops, raindrops, etc.
Curious George is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: © 2008. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY. Major funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s®‚ Sun-Maid®, and public television viewers.
water dropswater dropsCuriosity Center 2:
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Science Concepts • Reducing, reusing, and recycling are three key ways to
conserve resources and protect the environment.
• Recycled materials can be used to make other things—in this case a toy boat.
• Wind can move floating objects.
Explorations Set up a boat building area (with recyclable
materials) and a boat sailing area (with basins of water).
Build a Boat Recycling is just one way that we can help take care of the Earth. We can also try to reduce by buying fewer things and by reusing the things we have. As you introduce the building materials, talk about Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. Point out the “recycle symbol” on the bottom of a container and talk about what it means. Let kids hunt for the symbol on other containers. Tell kids that today they are going to reuse the materials at the Curiosity Center to build toy boats. Provide help as children build their boats. Encourage lots of different designs!
Sail Your Boat Display and discuss the pictures of windy days. Ask:
• Have you ever been outside on a windy day? What did it sound like? • What did it feel like? What did you notice was blowing in the wind?
Have kids blow on their hands, first making a soft breeze and then a strong gust of wind. Have them demonstrate other ways to make the air move and create wind (waving their hands, fanning the air with objects). Invite them to use wind power to make their toy boats move across the container of water. Can they make their boat turn in different directions?
Materials• Curiosity Center signs: Build a Boat
and Sail Your Boat (pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
For the Build a Boat Area• clean recycled materials for building
toy boats: small plastic food containers, lids, trays, and bottle caps; foam water “noodles” sliced into discs; etc.
• craft sticks or coffee stirrers (for masts)
• paper rectangles and triangles cut from colorful magazine pages (for sails)
• waterproof modeling clay and masking tape (for attaching masts and sails)
For the Sail Your Boat Area• large, shallow basins of water so
kids can sail their boats
• drinking straws (cut in half) and pieces of cardboard for blowing and fanning boats
Handout Family Science Activities: Going Green
(pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
Background Photos objects made from recycled materials (for example, playground swings and climbing structures made from tires), windy day pictures of sailboats, wind farm windmills (for generating power), trees blowing, child blowing a pinwheel, etc.
recycle, reuse–Build a SailBoat!Recycle, Reuse–build a sailboat!
Curiosity Center 3:
Curious George is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: © 2008. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY. Major funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s®‚ Sun-Maid®, and public television viewers.
After kids have explored moving their boats by child-generated wind power, they may enjoy using small battery-powered fans. Remind kids not to put the fans in the water.
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Science Concepts • Wind is moving air.
• Wind can move things.
• Wind has speed and direction.
Explorations Talk about the Background Photos.
Ask:• Which of these pictures shows a
windy day? How do you know? • Can you see the wind? How do you know it’s there? • Have you ever been outside on a windy day? What did it sound like? What did it feel like? What did you notice was blowing in the wind?
Have children demonstrate different ways they can make the air move and create wind (blowing, waving their hands, fanning the air with objects). Have them practice creating a soft breeze, then a strong gust of wind.
If you are using the black and white Make a Pinwheel template (shown on left), have children color the pinwheel. For a more colorful pinwheel, encourage them to color the back of the sheet, too. Then ask the adults who accompanied the children to help their kids cut out and assemble the Curious George pinwheels. (Instructions are provided on the template.)
Invite children to explore ways to create wind and make their pinwheel spin—for example, by blowing at it or walking with the pinwheel held in front of them. Kids will discover that the wind needs to hit the pinwheel at the right angle in order to make it spin. Ask:
• What do you notice? • What makes the pinwheel spin?• Can you make it spin faster? Slower? • Can you make it spin in the opposite direction? How?
Tips for SuccessMaking a pinwheel requires adult help, so this is a good Curiosity Center to include when parents and kids are participating together at an Earth science event.
Materials• Curiosity Center sign: Pinwheels
(pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
• Make a Pinwheel Template (The Curious George Web site offers two templates: a two-sided full-color version and a one-sided, black-and-white version for children to color before assembling. Go to Activities & More, then Curiosity Center Activities.)
• unsharpened pencils with erasers
• crayons and markers
• blunt scissors
• pushpins
Background Photos windy day pictures (trees blowing,
hair blowing, etc.), sailboats, wind surfers, wind farm windmills (for generating power), child blowing bubbles, child blowing a pinwheel
pinwheels!pinwheels!Curiosity Center 4:
Curious George is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: © 2008. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY. Major funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s®‚ Sun-Maid®, and public television viewers.
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