Fourth-grade students use a variety of science equipment to perform physical science experiments.
Many physical science experiments that fourth graders enjoy are available. Students can experiment with forces and gravity, properties of light and air, see how objects move and observe states of matter. Teachers design classroom activities to give students hands-on experience with the science of the world around them.
Colored Shadows
For this activity, students need a white surface, such as the whiteboard, plus red, green and blue lightbulbs. Students line up the bulbs so that each is facing the white surface. They need to turn the outer two bulbs, so that the light from all three illuminate the same area on the white surface. The best results occur if students put the green bulb in the middle. Turn the room lights off and turn on the colored light bulbs until you obtain the "whitest" light on the white board where the lights are mixing. Now, take an object and place it between the lightbulbs and the white surface. Adjust the distance until three colors are seen on the board. Students will notice the color of the shadows and see that shadows are not always black.
Antacid Tablet Race
Teachers discuss with students that an antacid tablet dissolves in water. Students see which dissolves faster; a whole tablet or one that has been crushed first. Students discuss and make predictions. The teacher writes the class predictions on chart paper on the board. Now, students divide into pairs and each group gets two large antacid tablets, two stopwatches and two glass containers that are half full of water. They place one of the tablets on a piece of paper. Fold the paper in half and crush the tablet into extra small pieces. One partner puts the whole table on a spoon next to one glass of water. The other partner holds the folded paper next to the other glass. At the same time, the partners drop the two tablets into the water and begin their stopwatch. Students observe the tablets and record the dissolving time.
Air Pressure
This experiment demonstrates that air pushes on all surfaces that it touches. The teacher begins with one peeled hard-boiled egg, a match, and a clear glass bottle with an opening at the top that is "just" too small for the egg to fit through. She holds a class discussion reminding students that there is air everywhere, even inside the bottle. Setting the egg on the bottle opening, have students make a prediction. Can the egg be forced into the bottle with just air? The teacher writes the predictions on the board. She removes the egg and carefully drops a lit match into the bottom of the glass jar, quickly replacing the egg back on top of the bottle. The egg seems to be "sucked" into the jar as the air inside becomes hotter than the room air.
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