Mother of Light Center Weekly Review (12/11/24)

Happy Holidays everyone!
Last Thursday, December 5, me and a handful of others from my robotics team ended the year on a high note with our final session of the year, holiday-themed. It was a bit more relaxed, but there was plenty of learning along with the fun. We held 2 longer stations, one with a chemistry dissolving lab and the other with a creative activity with clay.
For the chemistry lab, we dissolved candy canes and salt in hot and cold water, sparkling water, as well as in acids such as vinegar and sprite. The kids got to participate, in helping to pour the solids and liquids. We discussed experimental design, including a hypothesis about what would dissolve fastest and slowest, and controls. But also we discussed with them the chemistry all around dissolving, how the solute doesn’t “disappear”, how hot water and stirring might speed up the dissolving, and also drawing a diagram with the molecules. We gave them each a candy cane, explaining when they suck on it, their saliva, just like the liquids they tested, dissolves the sugar in the cane.
In the other station, the kids practiced their visual skills in sculpting ornaments of various Christmas-themed 3-d shapes out of clay, including a globe, a sleigh, Santa's hat, a snowflake, or what else they wanted to sculpt, and took their artwork home. This more relaxed activity was an opportunity for much personalized attention: talking and bonding between volunteers and kids. This last session was a big success!

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