Primrose Elementary has a new batch of kindergarten meteorologists. Students are learning about the sun and its effects on ice cubes. 

Students first went on a “solar walk” to learn how the sun heats various surfaces by using their hands as thermometers. From there, they extended their research to discover if white or black solar mittens and paper would absorb the sun’s heat or melt ice cubes at different speeds. “We put some ice cubes in the sun, and it was a fair test,” said Kimberly Zambrano.

Finally, they put their teamwork and engineering skills to the test. “We’re making a structure to save the ice cubes from the sun,” said Juliette Mora.

Students were provided six pipe cleaners, five popsicle sticks, a small square of netting, a piece of aluminum foil, and some modeling clay. “We’re going to put the foil over the ice cube. We’re making a shade,” Joseph Bertorelli said when describing his structure.

Working in small groups, they built different styles of sun protection for their ice cubes and then put them to the test outside. Results varied, but students were excited to try out their designs to see what worked best.