Octavia and the Purple Ink Cloud


Today we read this cute story about an octopus who just can't get her ink cloud right.  It is a great story to enforce color recognition and to keep trying.
Octavia.php
We made a Cartesian diver to represent Octavia.  The pics are kind of hard to see I think because they reflect off the water.  When you put a little colored water in the diver it will spit out an ink cloud just like Octavia.

How to make a Cartesian diver.  Preparation takes  a lot of adult preparation, but the kids love squeezing the bottle to see the ink cloud. (good for the muscles)
You need a plastic pipet.
I've gotten them in art and education stores in the science section. 
(I will give you some links for using a straw and an eye dropper)


Cut the end off and put a nut on the end to weigh it down.
Now is when you may want to decorate it like an octopus.  Use waterproof materials and make sure you don't cover up the hole.  We used electrical tape, string, and tried permanent markers, but they weren't so permanent.

In a cup make enough colored water to cover the pipet.
Here is where you have to do some timely experimentation.  Squeeze enough water into the pipet to make it barely float.  Just the very tip should stick out of water.  Try letting water out one bubble at a time.  If it sinks you have to squeeze some water out.
Put it into a bottle of water.  Seal it tight but don't glue it.  You will have to take it out and redo it after a while.

When you squeeze the bottle, the octopus will dive down the bottle.
When you let go, ink will squirt out.
We tried putting blue water in the bottle and red in the diver to make it purple when the ink came out but that didn't work.  So I would stick to just putting purple in the pipet.  I have found that 2 liter bottles are too hard for little hands to squeeze.  This water bottle was perfect for squeezing but makes it hard to see because of the bumps.  I would suggest trying to find a small smooth bottle 
Here will show both how to use a straw and medicine dropper.

Comments

  1. Deborah StewartJuly 8, 2011 at 9:21 AM

    I am going to have to try this so I can see how it works. I will have to find the book too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LeeanneAJuly 12, 2011 at 9:46 PM

    I love this - I want to try it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Math Centers- Number work

Image
Children get to explore numbers in a variety of forms.  Numeral to set These types of games are very simple to make.  Pick any theme.  Cut shapes or buy them already cut out.  Then find something that goes with the shape to use as counters.  I like using those shaped erasers you can buy at the dollar store. Here are butterflies cut from the ellison machine. I put numbers 1-10 on the front and 11-20 on the back just so higher level thinkers can have a challenge.  I have snowmen, cars, Christmas trees, hearts, and flowers.  Any little manipulative piece can be paired with a shape to make a thematic game. You can also buy store bought games and adapt them to your needs.  This game is cute but is too easy.  It is set up more like flash cards so that kids can count the number of M&M's on each card.  I use bowls or thought about making candy jars with the little M&M pieces. great number work This site has the cutest printab...
Read more

Changes, Changes- A book of building and a craft too

Image
Changes, Changes is a book by Pat Hutchins This book has no words and I was amazed at how it kept all the children's interest.  We predicted what the people would build next.  At the end of the story we recalled all the different things that were built.  They did great with it.  Some even asked to read it again.  Since we share all our books from Creative Curriculum with another class, we had to give the book up for the day. I decided to let the children make their own structures like in the book. Like the book states, plans change. My lesson plan shows the intent of the activity below. First, we worked together to watercolor paint a large piece of paper.  I then cut out shapes from the paper, and I added some other paper scraps from other cutting projects.  Next the kids were asked to glue some shapes down to make something.  I recorded what they made on each page along with their name. We turned it into a book we will keep in our library....
Read more

Stages of Writing

Image
     I don't have a lot of experience with a specific writing curriculum, but I have acquired a lot of knowledge though observation, conferences, college classes, and reading.  I was very fortunate to have a really good language arts teacher in college.  She showed us how important real literature and writing go hand in hand to teach children to read and write.      Before a child is ready to write, Handwriting Without Tears , has shown that children progress in markings in a certain order.  First, side to side, then up and down, then a cross, then a circle, then a square, then a triangle.  This just states that diagonal writing is the hardest for little hands to make.  So, don't start writing with letter A.  When children start to assign meaning to their marks, then starts the real writing. I found this very neat worksheet somewhere and thought it was a good description for parents to look at.  I hang it up...
Read more