Can We Break Ice by Hand?

Grade:

PreK

Teacher:

Yoko Kaneda

The children in our mixed age preschool class were inspired by the fun experience of breaking ice that was formed naturally in the playground by hand and created a research question. What is the thickest piece of ice we can break by hand? They tested the inquiry through the hands on experiment. They learned to measure the thickness of the ice by using a metric measurement tape, make predictions, make ice in the freezer, and record the results. The children encountered challenges in making the ice that had an even thickness and made adjustments to the investigative procedure. The results show that the young scientists were able to break ice that was less than 5 mm thick by hand. If there is a crack in the ice, a preschooler could break ice that was 6 mm thick at the crack.

Project presentation