Science Experiments

**QuilterMom** · 03-13-2002, 10:07 PM

Here are some fun experiments I've been collecting for a while...

Lunar Lookout Fun

You need:
A small plate or bowl
Crayons
1 sheet of black felt
Scissors
Masking tape
3 sheets of white felt

Use the plate or bowl and a white crayon to trace a circle onto the black felt. Cut the circle out and tape it to a window with a view of the moon. Use the same plate or bowl and a colored crayon to trace and cut out 3 circles from the white felt. Cut one of the white circles in half. On another white circle, outline the shape of a crescent moon along 1 edge and then cut it out.

Once a week your child can observe the moon and match its shape on the felt model. The black felt alone represents the new moon. Stick on the crescent shape when the moon begins to grow or wax. When the moon is half full, your child can add the white half-circle. Within about a week the moon should be full - cover the black circle with the white circle. A week or so later, the moon will begin to shrink or wane. Now your child can show the process in reverse.

Experiment - All That Glitters Isn't Salt

You need:
2 transparent glasses or cups
Water
Salt
Flour
Spoons

Fill the glasses with equal amounts of water. In equal amounts, add salt to one glass and flour to the other. Keep stirring the salt and flour until you see a noticeable difference.

What do you see? What does it mean? Not everything dissolves in water like salt does. Salt and water mix to form a new substance (just as they mix to make sea water). But flour doesn't dissolve in water. What else can you drop in water that won't dissolve?

Make a Volcano!

You need:
A plate or tray
An empty can
Clay
Vinegar
Baking Soda
Red food coloring

Place the empty can on the plate or tray. Use the clay to build a volcano mound around the can. Pour vinegar into the can until it's about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Add a few drops of red food coloring until you reach a color of *lava* that you like. Add a spoonful of baking soda and watch out! The soda with react with the vinegar to form bubbles of the gas carbon dioxide and an eruption will occur!

Rock Solid Under Pressure Experiment

You need:
A wire
Two equal size pieces of clay
An ice cube
A glass bottle (like an Arizone ice tea or Coca Cola glass bottle or any bottle with a neck smaller than the ice cube - use an ice cube from an ice cube tray for a rectangular shape)

Heat can melt solids - can pressure do the same thing? Wrap equal pieces of clay on each end of the wire. Measure enough wire so that when you hang your wire across the top of the bottle, the clay won't reach to bottom of the bottle. The clay's purpose is to add pressure to the ice. Place the ice cube on top of the bottle. Then hang the wire over the ice cube. As the pressure of the clay melts the ice, you'll see the wire come right through the ice. Pressure did that - just as pressure underground adds to the earth's magma-making ability.

Magnet Experiments

#1 You need:
Paper
A paper clip
An 8 to 10-inch piece of thread
A magnet (a strong one works best)
Tape
Scissors
Pencil

Draw and cut out a small butterfly shape out of the paper. Attach the paper clip to the middle of the butterfly. Tie one end of the thread to the paper clip, and tape the other end of the thread to a flat surface such as a tabletop. See if you can make the butterfly fly without letting your magnet touch the paper clip. Your butterfly will probably float around in midair. See what other kinds of stunts you can make the butterfly do!

#2 You need:
A magnet
A paper clip
Paper
Pencil
Scissors
Glue

Draw a maze on one side of the paper. Draw anything you like (a map of your neighborhood, etc.). Now draw and cut out a picture of a little person, animal, or car and glue it to the paper clip. When the glue is dry, place the cutout at a starting point on the maze with the paper-clip side against the paper. Now place the magnet underneath the paper. Use the force of the magnet to help the cutout make its way through the maze!

Pushy Water Experiment

You need:
A sink
Water
A glass

Fill the sink with water. Take the glass and push the open end down into the water. Do you feel the force pushing back on your hand? That's the force of the displaced water. Now tilt the glass slightly so the air can escape from inside the glass - what happens to the force pushing back on your hand? Instead of being displaced by the air inside the glass, the water is allowed to fill the empty space.

**QuilterMom** · 03-13-2002, 10:08 PM

Buoyancy Experiment

You need:
Aluminum foil
Two slices of bread
A sink
Water

Get two pieces of aluminum foil that are the same size. Fill the sink with water. Roll one of the pieces of foil into a ball. Now toss it into the water - what happens? It sinks!

Mold the other piece of foil into a *boat* (just bring the sides up) and toss it into the water. It floats! (Because you have created more surface area for the force of the water to push against).

Now try the same thing with the two pieces of bread. Roll one into a ball and toss into the water. It will sink because in the shape of a ball it does not have as much surface area for the force of the water to push against. The force of gravity wins out.

Place the other slice of bread on the water and watch it float.

Getting Carried Away Experiment

You need:
3 cups of sand, gravel, and small rocks
A clean, empty 16 oz. jar
A large mixing bowl
Water
A spoon

Fill the jar with 2 1/2 cups of the sand, gravel, and small rocks and place it in the center of the mixing bowl. By doing this, you can anchor the jar in the center of the bowl and create your own little stream circling around it. Pour the remainder of the sand, gravel, and rocks into the bowl and add water until it's about halfway up to the top of the jar.

Stir the water slowly at first then gradually increase the speed. You will create a moving current in the bowl. Notice how the movement of the water picks the small pieces of sand and gradually picks up heavier pieces as the current gets stronger. Now take out the jar and pour the contents of the bowl down a slanted sidewalk or driveway. Notice how the water carries the smaller pieces of gravel further than the larger pieces. That's erosion!

Curvy Foam Experiment

You need:
Several baseball sized Styromfoam balls

Practice throwing a curve ball using a Styrofoam ball. It will be easier to throw and the curve will show more than with a regular baseball. Wedge the ball between your thumb and forefinger, letting the side of your middle finger barely rest on the ball. Cock your wrist to the left (if you're right-handed). As you throw, snap your wrist downward.

Magnifying Magnus Experiment

You need:
A frisbee
Play dough or modeling clay

Throw the frisbee as straight as you can (you'll get best results if the wind isn't blowing too hard). Take note as to whether it curves or not. Now stick a glob of play dough or modeling clay on one side of the frisbee. Throw the frisbee and take note of how much the added weight makes the frisbee curve. (This is what the seams on a baseball do).

Crystal Clear Experiment

You'll need:
A few grains of salt
A dark piece of paper or cloth
A magnifying glass or microscope

Put the salt on the dark paper or cloth. Hold the magnifying glass as far away as you can see the salt so that you get the biggest view possible (or use a microscope if you have one). What do you see?

When we see salt it appears to be white, but most salt only *looks* white. It's actually clear. Can you see the clear salt through the magnifying glass? You can also see that salt usually forms near perfect cubes. Pretty cool, huh?

Light Bending Experiment

You need:
A glass of water
A pencil
Paper
A marker

To see how light bends, stick the pencil inside the glass of water and look at it from all angles. The pencil appears to be curved or bent because the water in the glass bends the light that is being reflected off the pencil.

Now write a word (any word) on a piece of paper. Place the glass of water on top of the paper over the word and look at it from the top. The word appears larger because of the water bending the light.

Water isn't the only thing that can bend light. Did you ever wonder how eyeglasses work? The curve of the lens causes the light to bend as it passes through and makes things appear either larger or smaller, depending on the curve.

Penny Wash Out

You need:
A plastic or glass plate
2 cups of sand
15 pennies
A rainy day (or a watering can and newspapers)

Place the pennies in three stacks(five coins per stack) on the plate about an inch apart near the center. Gently pour the sand over the center of the plate covering each stack of coins. Place the plate outside in the rain and see what happens. If you don't have a rainy day, place the plate on a table that has been covered with newspapers.. Use the watering can to gently pour water over the sand. Observe. The water will wash away the sand and leave the stack of pennies standing. Just as the water washed away the sand over time in this experiment, it erodes rocks as well. Erosion happens quicker with soft rocks (like shale) than with harder rocks (like granite).

Rainbow Maker

You need:
A glass of water
An index card
Tape
White paper
A sunny day

Cut a slit in the index card that is about 1/2-inch wide and almost as long as the index card. Take the glass of water and tape the card onto the side of the glass (the split should be running the depth of the glass). Place the paper close to a window that is filled with sunlight and place the glass on the paper. Make sure the slit is facing the sun. As the sunlight passes through the slit, the water retracts it and a rainbow will be created on the paper.

Hair-Raising Experiment

You need:
A balloon
Your hair

Blow up the balloon and tie the end in a knot. To generate an electrical charge, rub the balloon against your hair. Stand in front of a mirror and slowly pull the balloon away from your hair. As you pull the balloon away, you will see your hair stick up and follow the balloon.

When you rub the balloon against your hair, you generate friction that causes electrons to jump onto the balloon. When the balloon is pulled away from your hair, the charge in your hair is attracted to the charge on the balloon.

Jumping Confetti Experiment

You need:
A plastic hair comb
Paper confetti

Sprinkle the confetti on a table. Run the comb through your hair vigorously a few times and hold the comb over the confetti. The confetti will jump up toward the comb. This is an example of an indeucted electrical charge.

When the comb runs through your hair, it gathers electrons. When the comb is held close to the confetti, the paper is attracted to the electrical charge.

**QuilterMom** · 03-13-2002, 10:10 PM

Lava Lamp experiment

You'll need:

A plastic bottle with a cap (small soda bottle works well)
Water
Red, green, or blue food coloring
Cooking oil
Liquid soap

Clean the bottle thoroughly and remove any labels. Fill the bottle halfway with water and add a few drops of food coloring. Fill the rest of the bottle with cooking oil. Put the cap on the bottle and gently shake. Notice how the oil seems to break up, but does not dissolve. If you let it sit for a while after you have shaken it, it will completely separate into two layers. Have some more fun playing with you lava lamp then open the cap and add a few drops of liquid soap. Shake the bottle and see what happens. The oil and water can now combine with the help of the soap molecules.

Disappearing Act experiment

You'll need:

A bowl
Water
Cooking oil
Liquid dish detergent
A spoon

Fill the bowl with water and put a few drops of cooking oil in the water. Since the water is polar and the oil is non-polar, the oil will float on top of the water. You can observe that the two molecules just don't mix. Take the spoon and stir the water and oil together. The oil will seem like it's dissolved in the water, but wait a little while and you will see the oil separate and float to the top again. Add a few drops of the dish detergent to the water and watch what happens. You will see the drops of oil start to disappear into the water. If you stir the water with the spoon, the oil will not reappear.

Friction Factor Experiment

You'll need:
Different types of clothing and materials (jeans, blanket, rug, sheet, shower curtain, etc.)
Your child(ren) as volunteers

Have your child sit on each of the different types of clothing and material and pull him/her across the floor. Try doing this on different surfaces (carpet, smooth flooring, etc.). Observe the friction that is created between the different surface areas and the different types of clothing/materials.

Slip Sliding Experiment

You'll need:
A square block of wood (approx. 4-inches)
Six different types of material (felt, sandpaper, leather, plastic, burlap, aluminum - pie plates work well, etc.)
A wooden board (approx. 2 feet long)
A ruler
Scissors
Glue

Cut a square piece of each material to fit the block. Glue each piece onto a different side of the block (allow the glue to dry thoroughly). Take the wooden board and place it on a flat surface (table or kitchen counter works well). Use the ruler to measure and raise one end of the board two inches so that it's at an angle. Now put the block on the raised end. Observe the rate at which it slides down the board or if it does at all. Keep the board at the same angle and try each one of the surfaces on the block and observe what happens. After you have tried all the surfaces on the block, raise the board another two inches and start all over again. The different surfaces create different amounts of friction - that's the reason they slide fast, slow, or not at all.

A variety of science experiments...

http://www.dragonbbs.com/school/sci-...xperiments.htm

Grow your own snow crystals experiment...

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/s...ct/project.htm