The kindergarten program in Florida was implemented in 2017 to support a range of developmental standards for children from the very early years to kindergarten. In 2017, These standards set down the skills and knowledge children are expected to achieve during each year of their schooling.

STEM

What is STEM? Simply put, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It is an interdisciplinary approach to education. It focuses on these four subjects in an integrated manner, rather than teaching them in isolation.

The beauty of ‘STEM’ education is that it encourages hands-on and real-world problem-solving experiences, that generate a sense of curiosity among kids from an early age. So, what does STEM mean in a kindergarten program? Well, it’s things your child has been doing since birth, observing, exploring, tasting, feeling, and realizing connections between things.

So enjoy this time with your child by conducting some very simple and safe science experiments to help them relate to their world. You will be amazed at what a simple experiment can teach us all!

The Color Changing Flowers Experiment

This experiment takes place over a couple of days but it’s super fun and kids can learn about capillary action and how flowers “drink” water. This simple yet classic experiment is visually engaging and teaches basic biology​.

You will need:

• White flowers (carnations, daisies, roses or you can use celery sticks)
• Clear glasses or vase and water
• Food coloring in various colors

Directions

1. Fill the glass or vase with water to about halfway.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring to each container. Try using different colors or you can mix colors to show your child, by mixing two colors, (e.g. blue and yellow to make green).
3. Put one flower or piece of celery into each glass container.

Observe

Over the next 24 to 48 hours, observe the flowers as the colored water moves up through the stem to the petals, changing the color of the flowers.

What will your child learn?

This is a fantastic experiment for your kindergarten kid. It gives visual proof of how water travels through the plant’s capillaries and the effect it can have. It also demonstrates how plants absorb nutrients. A simple experiment for kindergarten kids with a learning outcome that is easy to understand.

Sink the Boat Experiment

This educational science game is a hands-on activity that teaches the principles of buoyancy and density through a simple and fun method. It allows kids to explore how much weight a boat (or an object acting as a boat) can hold before it sinks. It’s a great experiment for introducing basic physics concepts to young learners. Here’s how you can conduct this experiment:

You will need:

• A small plastic tub or a large bowl filled with water
• Aluminum foil
• Some small objects to use as cargo (like marbles, pennies, small stones, or anything similar that is not too big)

Directions:

1. Cut your foil into 2 large pieces (about 10” square).

2. Make a boat by shaping one piece of foil into a boat making sure the sides are high enough to hold their ‘cargo’.

3. Float your boat by placing it gently onto the surface of the water in your bowl.

4. Load your cargo (e.g. place your marbles or coins) one at a time to the boat. Do it slowly and evenly distribute the weight of your cargo to stop it from tipping over. When your boat is floating nicely and not in danger of sinking, count how many marbles or cents are in your boat.

5. Now take your second piece of foil andplace the same number of marbles or coins as you did for the boat onto the top of the foil. Then scrunch up the foil making sure to wrap all the pieces.

6. Place the scrunched-up foil containing your cargo and place in the water and watch what happens. It sinks!

Observe

Now keep adding your cargo to your boat and watch how the boat behaves as more weight is added. Keep adding cargo until the boat sinks. Record how many items the boat held before sinking. Before repeating this experiment, chat about why the boat sank and what may happen if you changed the boat design or used different cargo.

Discuss

Before repeating the experiment, discuss why the boat sank and predict what might happen if you change the design of the boat or use different materials for cargo.

What will your child learn?

• Buoyancy: This experiment helps children understand why some objects float while others sink and what factors influence this (shape, material, weight distribution).
• Density: Kids learn that the density of the boat plus its cargo becomes greater than the water, causing the boat to sink.
• Engineering and Design: By adjusting the boat’s design or the distribution of weight, kids get a basic introduction to engineering concepts and the design process.

This experiment is not only educational but also great fun, engaging kids in a practical exploration of physics concepts. It encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity as they try to improve their boat designs to hold more cargo without sinking.

The Lava Lamp Experiment

You will need:

• A smooth-sided plastic bottle (make sure it is clean)
• Water
• Some vegetable oil or Baby Oil
• Some of your favorite food colorings
• Fizzy tablets (like Alka Seltzer)
• Flashlight

Directions

1. Pour water into your plastic bottle until it is ¼ full.
2. Using a funnel, add vegetable oil until the bottle is another one-third full.
3. Wait for a few minutes and see how the water and oil separate.
4. You can now add a few drops of your chosen food coloring and watch how the color sinks through the oil.
5. Take your fizzy tablet and break it in half. Then drop half of it into your bottle and watch out for the blobs of color.
6. Then go somewhere dark, switch on your flashlight, and drop the other half of your fizzy tablet into the bottle. Now watch the blobs bubbling as you shine your light through your homemade lava lamp.

Observe

1. When you added your coloring drops, did the drops mix with the water immediately or did they float between the water and oil for a minute or two?
2. What happens if you drop the fizzy tablet into the bottle and put the cap on?
3. What happens if you drop the whole tablet in at once?
4. If you let your lava lamp stop bubbling what happens if you sprinkle some salt into your lamp?

What will you learn?

1. The oil will float on top of water because oil is lighter than water.

2. Food coloring turns out to be as heavy as water, so the drops sink through the oil and then mixes into the water, coloring it.

3. When you add the fizzy tablet, it sinks straight to the bottom. As it starts to dissolve it makes carbon dioxide gas. Air and gas are much lighter than water and the gas floats up to the top.

4. Air bubbles, colored by the water then bubble up to the top.

5. Once the air has dissipated from the colored blob of water, the water is once again heavy, and down it sinks. This will carry on and on until the fizzy tablet is fully dissolved.

These are just a few of the exciting experiments you can enjoy with your kindergarten-aged child.

At JLP Inspiring Minds Private School your child can benefit from all the wonderful STEM activities necessary to instill curiosity and inquiring minds.

Call us to find out more at 954-746-5437 to learn more about our Tamarac K-5 private school.