Grade 9 Science students had an opportunity to create a Non-Newtonian fluid using cornstarch and water. When an object is placed on top of the mixture it will sink as if it is in a liquid like water. But if it is hit with force it behaves like a solid and does not splash - this is because when it is hit mixture the long starch molecules are forced closer closer together. The impact causes the water between the starch chains to become trapped and form a semisolid substance. When the force is no longer present, the mixture flows again. You can actually run on top of it and not sink!
ECI has gone to escape rooms, but this one came to us! Students in Grade 12 Biology and Grade 10 Science had an opportunity to take part in a portable educational escape room. Escape the Final Countdown from Brandon was looking for schools to test this out and ECI was lucky to get the opportunity. Without giving too much away, the escape focuses on teaching students financial literacy concepts and is called Escaping Debt. Students really enjoyed the experience! Thanks to Michelle Budiwski, owner of Escape the Final Countdown, for traveling to ECI and giving our students this opportunity!
Students in Grade 12 Biology have been doing lots of activities to help them learn various concepts in genetics. Various activities helped demonstrate how variation occurs between siblings, how genes are expressed, and students had an opportunity to extract DNA from various fruits and vegetables.