Updates

Today we wanted to shine the spotlight of one of our tutors at the mission home. Jackie is a former teacher and has been a tutor at the mission home for the last year and a half. When the pandemic began and the Ecuadorian ministry of education mandated virtual learning, she took on the impressive task of leading a class of 3-7 year olds at the mission home.

She is naturally skilled with all things kindergarten related, and has built a beautiful relationship with her students centered on developmentally appropriate learning, creativity, and fun. Her lesson plans include everything from helping her students make predictions about what will come next in a storybook, dancing to learn the parts of the body, finding creative ways to practice counting, and building science experiments with balloons, vinegar, baking soda, and a whole lot of childhood awe.

Feeling inspired or want to implement one of her lessons with little kiddos you know? Here are step by step instructions for one of her recent science lessons:

Walking Water Experiment

Materials:

-3 empty glasses of equal size

-Water

-2 paper napkins each folded into a skinny strip

-Yellow and blue food coloring

Steps:

1. Place 3 empty glasses on the table about 2 inches apart.

2. Fill the first and the third glass halfway with water. Leave the second glass empty.

3. Put several drops of blue food coloring in the first glass. 

4. Put several drops of yellow food coloring in the third glass.

5. Place one folded napkin from first glass into second glass. Make sure the napkin is submerged in the blue colored water. 

6. Place the other folded napkin from third glass into second glass. Make sure the napkin is submerged in the yellow colored water.

7. Wait 1 hour then return to find that the second glass has been filled with green water! 

Explanation:

How does the water get from the first and third glasses into the second? By something called capillary action. The force between the water and the napkin is stronger than the force between the water itself, so the water is pulled up and over the napkin into the second glass. The blue water is pulled from the first glass, and the yellow water is pulled from the third, creating green water in the second glass.