Mrs. Wargon’s third grade boys at Yeshiva Tiferes Moshe just finished their unit on chemistry. The boys learned that all the atoms that Hashem created in our universe can be found in the Periodic Table of Elements. These elements can be combined in different ways to create all of the matter that exists.
They were amazed that water is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, which are gases that are flammable (H2O), yet water will put out fires. Salt, which is a white solid powder that our bodies need to stay healthy, is a compound of a soft metal (Na) and a poisonous green gas.
The boys watched in amazement as baking soda and vinegar created a gas. What gas did we create? They waited, holding their breath, to see if a flame would blow up if it was hydrogen, if the fire got bigger, it was oxygen or if the flame went out, if it was carbon dioxide. Can you guess what happened?
We watched as burning chametz changed to a new type of matter called ash. Ask your kids to “polish” silver – you are breaking apart a compound called tarnish, which is oxygen and silver – both on the Periodic Table of Elements.
We hope the boys enjoy the Oobleck they made. (Is Oobleck a solid, a liquid, or both?) Our boys are very excited to start our new unit on Space. Did you know that the sun and the stars are made up of plasma, which is the fourth state of matter?