Experiment 3: Hot Air Balloon

24/09/2008 (Wednesday)

a) Home items.
* WY was excited to show his Ben Ten round wheel which has little films. He shared with the class saying that one needs the watch to operate. So everyone took turns looking at it.
* YZ and YW brought some aeroplane toys. So the kids guessed the different functions and names. This was just a brief introduction. The teachers would go into more details about it. They were very excited to touch and play with them.

b) We continued with the second version.
First version
Well, I'm a little airplane nyow,
I'm a little airplane nyow nyow,
I'm a little airplane nyow,
I'm a little airplane nyow nyow,
And wangity-wang wangity-wang.

Second version
I'm a little airplane now,
I fly in the dark, over baseball park,
Well, I fly late at night,
I got my little red light,
And wangity-wang wangity-wang .

c) Video Clips
(1) Song: I’m a Little Airplane
They laughed at the ticklish music tune (it sounded like Beatles……haaaa!). The second round, they laughed at the kids’ movement on video clip. The third and fourth round, we sang together wit the clip……..Parents, get your kid to sing for you .

(2) Video clip: Making a hot air balloon
We talked about our unsuccessful Hot Air Balloon. The kids summarized that the plastic bag was too big. Yun Zhe said we need a long time to do this experiment. So, I thought this video clip would help everyone……which it did!!
The kids saw the steps and related to our yesterday’s experiment.

d) Experiment 3: Hot Air Balloon
We arranged for the things needed. Garbage plastic bag,candles, 2 bamboo sticks,matches cellophane.
We took turns to construct it. YZ said we had to hurry as it takes along time for the plastic bag to inflate.
We lit the candles. Surprisingly, it bloated up and could stand by itself. It was almost ready when one candle went off. Then,it became slower. However, we still hopedfor a miracle. However, it was accidentally touched by someone and the plastic bag got melted. The hole would not keep the air hot. At the same time,the plastic bag looked too thin to be used. We had to think of alternatives. Some kids were very curious!