Introduction to Second Grade Physical Science -Comets
-Next Generation Science Standard* 2-PS1-4
Today we made a comet to cover one of the second grade physical science NGSS* standards. It was an awesome project! We had Jack’s friends, William and Charlotte, over to help us out. About a year ago, I went to an event with the kids put on by ASTRA, the Astronomical Society of the Toms River Area. At this event, one of the members did a demo where he made a comet and it was so cool, I knew I wanted to do this with the kids one day. I found a really great resource to remind me how the comet was made at NOAO. We needed dry ice for our Mars Rover project, so we decided to do the comet as well because it also requires dry ice.
This lesson meets the Next Generation Science Standard for second grade Physical Science which states that students should “
Jack, Lila and their friends, William and Charlotte, range from ages 1 1/2-5. The dry ice and ammonia are substances used in this lesson that should not be handled by anyone except supervising adults. For our project, we were careful to watch that the children did not touch the ice or come in contact with the ammonia.
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Materials List for Second Grade Physical Science -Comets
–Second Grade Physical Science -Comets Lesson
-dry ice (check out this directory to find locations dry ice is sold)
–dark corn syrup
–large plastic bowl
–large kitchen trash bag
–ammonia
–meat tenderizer
–work or garden gloves
–mixing spoon
–safety goggles
–paper towels
-2 spoonfuls of soil
-2 cups of water
For this project, 2 cups of dry ice is needed. I found it difficult to find dry ice but finally we located some at a ShopRite a few towns away. The dry ice should be stored in the bottom of a cooler. It is important that the cooler is not air tight so that the CO2 produced inside of it does not cause it to expand and explode.
Here is a video I made discussing how to properly handle and store dry ice.
We did this on our porch to avoid any mess inside. The children did NOT handle the dry ice. The ENTIRE project was under adult supervision. Here are some videos showing how we completed the project.
Step 1: Download the Second Grade Physical Science -Comets Lesson and complete the worksheets
Here is a sample page from our worksheets:
Step 2: Mix water and soil in bowl lined with trash bag
Here we are mixing the water and soil in a mixing bowl, which is lined with a plastic trash bag.
Step 3: Break up the dry ice in a separate container and add a dash of syrup and a dash of ammonia and mix
Our comet came out really cool, but instead of a large dirty snowball, we got comet fragments. I think this was because we used too much dry ice. Honestly, with Lila around, I was just trying to keep everyone as safe as possible so I may have added to much ice (I didn’t measure out 2 cups).
Step 4: Add the dry ice and shape the dry ice, ammonia and other materials inside the plastic bag, it should look like a large dirty snowball
Here is what happened when we were cleaning up our comet fragments!
It is hard to see the gurgling bubbles through the smoke, but they were there – so much fun!!!
It reminds me of the hot springs in Yellowstone! Bubble, bubble, gurgle,gurgle…
Step 5: Complete the assessment from our Second Grade Physical Science -Comets Lesson
Here is a sample thumbnail of our assessment:
Source:
NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
*”Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.”
