More and more melting!

In our talks and explorations in melting different things, some friends were wondering if there was anything that we could melt other than food.  Today, a small group decided to find out. 

One suggestion was to try to melt play-dough. When we went the kitchen, the group decided to attempt to melt the play-dough using the microwave. Most of the group predicted that the heat from the microwave would melt the play-dough. 

While it was in there, we used our senses to observe what was happening.

"It sounds like popcorn only quieter." -Eli 

"I smell something!" -Jayden 

When it came out, we were very surprised at what we found!

"It turned hard!" -Savannah

Not only did the play-dough not melt, but it hardened. 

Next, we moved on to attempt to melt crayons. The group decided we should try this by putting them into the oven.  We first needed to peel the paper off the crayons.

Then, we broke them into small pieces and placed them in a baking dish.

Into the oven they went! This time, the group agreed that the crayons would NOT melt.

When the group peeked in the oven, they were once again surprised by the results.

"Oh! It melted!" -Tommy 

"They're wet. They look like food coloring!" -Eli 

After just a few minutes, they were hardening again.

"It looks like paint!" -Savannah 

Soon, the crayons were completely hard again. The group debated ways to get them out of the pan. The first idea was to try to pour them, but they were not "drippy" anymore. 

"After we took it out, it got cold so it got harder." -Eli 

Eventually, a friend decided that we scrape them out with a pizza cutter. This worked much better! We were very excited to bring our findings back to the classroom to share with our friends. 

"Maybe we can color with these kind of crayons" -Eli 

Great idea!