GROSS!!!

We did quite a few GROSS experiments this week in Kindergarten, all in the name of science!  But first, this was a big week in Kindergarten for another reason, too, as we learned about the voting process along with the rest of the United States!  

What began as a simple lesson in voting and using tally marks turned into quite the social experiment! It was fascinating to see how the students, when presented with a choice of whether to vote for a dog president or a cat president began spontaneously campaigning for their candidate of choice, and trying to get others to come over to their side! It turned into a political rally! 

 So then we had a time to campaign and express our opinions, and talked about what it means to express your opinion and respectfully allow others to do the same.  Then it was time to vote, in voting booths!  The best part was getting the sticker afterwards.  I guess you never outgrow that!

After the votes were counted the President Elect came to visit the class, and then all were united again, supporting our new class president, Oreo.  She was very popular with the voters, and even shook a few hands.  :) 

We had some wonderfully gross science experiments going on in our class this week.  We watched as our pumpkin decomposed before our very eyes, thanks to mold!  We looked at the mold under the microscope. 

As part of our health unit we also had taken swabs of different places we thought we might find germs, and grew them in petri dishes!  The germs were too small to see on their own, but in a big colony we could see them!  We had germs from the nose, hands, feet, door handles, mouth, and toilet.  There were some wide eyes when the kids saw that there really were germs all around us, even though we can't usually see them!

We continued our study of nutrition and the body by learning about the grain group, doing an experiment to see how yeast "breathes" bubbles into our bread, and making bread!  That was one experiment that was not gross but very delicious!

In one other gross experiment of the week, we learned about digestion!  We learned about the process and parts of our digestive system, and we measured how long our intestines would be if we stretched them all out!  Almost 20 feet long!  Then we "digested" a snack in a baggie stomach.  It was disgusting!!!