We described our experiment in a previous blog post and today we dug up our first set of buried utensils (both plastic and biodegradable) from the organic garden exactly one month after first "planting" them.
Unfortunately, our markers in the garden were disturbed despite the DO NOT TOUCH signs but the 6th grade persevered and dug up the first set of plastic and biodegradable utensils and took them back to the lab for evaluation.
Each of the utensils (knife, fork, and spoon of each type) was cleaned of dirt and weighed on the triple-beam balance. Their masses were recorded by Tom on the computer.
The results showed that not much change in masses had occurred but this was the first of three buried sets to be measured. We will do the second set in another 30 days and the final set right before Christmas (yes, Christmas) break. This exercise is helping our first year Science Fair students get hands-on experience with the different parts of the requirements for their experiment and research paper while learning about natural resources and the long life of plastics in our environment.
Grade 7 began their introduction to the wonders of the microscope with the newest additions to our lab, four new Wolfe microscopes. They learned the proper way to transport them and the various parts that are used to magnify specimens as well as how to calculate the total magnification based on which lens they were using. They would agree that an entire new world is opening up for them!
