Science and Spanish: Six Week Edition

Have you ever wanted to start speaking Spanish? Do you love Science? Now you can learn both at the same time! 

During the class, students will practice speaking the Spanish words and phrases as they also learn about the world through hands-on Science lab demonstrations. We use simple materials that are easy to find. 

Our course sequence is: 

Week 1 - Baking Soda Boat: use baking soda to propel a bottle boat through the water. We will also learn basic greetings and to complete the phrase “I observed…” in Spanish. 

Week 2 - Balloon Rocket: conduct an experiment with several trials for propelling a balloon attached to a straw through water. We will also learn to use Spanish to describe the chemical reaction. 

Week 3 - Popsicle Stick Jump Chain Reaction: use craft sticks to connect them and then cause a kinetic energy chain reaction. Students will describe in Spanish using the word for energy and other cognates that are common in Spanish science. 

Week 4 - Water Penny Challenge (There is also a one-class session available on this): use a penny and a water dropper to learn about water surface tension. Students will use the Spanish words for molecule, water, coin, the numbers 1-100 and “I put the … on the …” Students will then learn what water surface tension is, and it’s importance in daily life. 

Week 5 - Lava Lamp Chemical Reaction (There is also a one-class session available on this): use household items to create a lava lamp-like reaction. Students will use the words for molecule, water, oil, food coloring, tablet, and “I observed…” to describe the reaction. Students will them learn why the reaction happened. Students will them learn about density, polarity, and how this reactions occurs. 

Week 6 - Elephant Toothpaste Chemical Reaction (There is also a one-class session available on this): use household items to create an exothermic reaction. Students will share whet they observed in Spanish using the words for bubbles, some colors, bottle, letter H, O, the number 2, and “…came out of…” Students will then learn why this reaction occurs and see a balanced chemical equation. 

Class will be taught with me providing words and phrases on-screen. We will begin with Spanish greetings to each other. Then I will share key words/phrases and we will practice. I will speak the pronunciations of the words and allow students to share out loud, one at a time. I will give each student feedback on their pronunciations. We will then proceed with the demonstration of the week. Students will then get to practice in Spanish what they mixed. We end the class with the students sharing what they liked and what else would they love to learn. This will help me design future science lessons in Spanish.