Here is the data we have gathered so far.  While there has been some variation the following represents the median result for all classes combined.

F=Float, S=Sink
Balloon Temperature

Hot
Room
Cold

Water
Temperature
Hot
F
S
S

Room
F
F
S

Cold
F
F
F

We have concluded that Balloons float when they are the same temperature or warmer than the water they are in.
Now the question is: Why? Why do balloons tend [...]

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If you live around here you had better like snow.  I was walking in my backyard this weekend.  It was tough going as I was sinking up to my waist most of the time.  The snow depth in my back yard is 34 inches at the measuring post.  While that is not unusual for winter, [...]

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Science is about interesting questions and finding answers.  Science is messy, roughly following a method, but messy nonetheless.  Scientists spend a good deal of time thinking about how things work and how to figure out anwers to problems big and small.  There is time spent designing experiments, reading background information, talking with colleagues, doing experiments, [...]

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Today was the final challenge in our Remotely Operated Vehicle Challenge. After about a week of planning and practice the groups from our two classes had their final challenge; navigate to a given location, put a cap on a jar. The simplified assignment from my previous post is:
Working with another 8th grade science [...]

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Here is the link to the activity at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
http://www.nasm.si.edu/education/cybercenter/planets/cybercenterfull.htm

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Here is the link to the excel graphing tutorial for today.
http://kms-science.wikispaces.com/relational-excel

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Here is my rendition of the two ways to boil water.

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Remember when we boiled water by cooling? Well I think we may be one step closer to understanding what is going on. Here is a quick look at some of the ideas we have been looking at.
Syringe and Tube Systems

We learned that gases could be attenuated and compressed, while liquids cannot.
Boiling Water
Through many [...]

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I came across this eighth graders video on boiling. I think you might be interested. Do you think this might have anything to do with what happened in class Wednesday?

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Heat a pot of water long enough and it boils, right? Sure. Then cool it off and it boils again? No, that doesn’t happen, but it did!
We defined boiling water as water that bubbled rapidly when heated. But then we cooled off some water and it boiled. Huh?
The process of science, [...]

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