When I heard that Baton Rouge temps were dropping below freezing, I took advantage of the teaching opportunity to investigate ice with our elementary students. We rarely experience such cold temps and the children's experience with the process of water freezing was minimal. Some had never even watched the slow process of ice cubes being made because of the convenience of refrigerators with automatic ice makers.
After a discussion about at which temps, Fahrenheit and Celcius, water froze and other variables that may effect the process, their task was to select a container, add the amount of H2O they thought would freeze, and an optimal location in the yard. Some added special touches of leaves and pebbles to their creations, too.
The next morning when coming into school they were very excited to take a look at the results. To our surprise, each amount of water in different shaped containers did in fact freeze. Some not 100%, but everyone was happy to have something to hold up to the sun and enjoy. :))
I'm hoping that this is something they'll be inspired to do on their own at home the next time freezing temps come around. They're pretty and fun!
