Hot Snow - Science Play

Hot Snow 

(A.K.A. Elephant's Toothpaste)

My Little Mister was fascinated by the "snow" that bubbled out of the bottle!

He wanted to make snowballs and snow angels!

The experiment was fun, but he was disappointed we could not get in it.

The Science behind the play:

You are actually making foam AND heat.

The foam here is special because each tiny foam bubble is filled with oxygen (O2). The yeast acted as a catalyst - or helper - to remove the oxygen from the Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2). Since this happens very fast, it created LOTS and LOTS of bubbles. 

You might have also noticed the bottle getting warm. This experiment created a reaction called an Exothermic reaction. Simply meaning it released or created heat.

The foam created is just water, soap and oxygen so it is easily cleaned up and any remaining liquid in the bottle can be poured down the sink!

FUN and SAFE!

A Ladybug's Birthday - Simple Saturday

We were exploring in my Mom's backyard the other day and chanced upon some Ladybug pupa attached to a Mimosa Tree. Little Mister noticed them right away.

 We carefully gathered some of the leaf stalks with the attached pupa and brought them home to put in a habitat and await their "arrival".  Surprise, after one day, we had 5 new ladybugs! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 The lighter colored (yellowish) bug has just emerged. Her wings are translucent; It will take as
long as 24 hours for her to develop her characteristic spots. She has her wings out to help them dry and harden.

 

 He wanted to tickle the bug's belly!

Life cycle of a ladybug

Native American Salt Sticks - Science Play

Native Americans collected salt on sticks and carried the salt to areas where it was not readily available. They would place the sticks in a shallow lagoon in an upright position. When the salty ocean water evaporated, the salt crystallized on the sticks. The salted sticks were wrapped into bundles to trade.
They followed trade routes to inland ares and traded for such items as obsidian, which they used to make arrow heads.

What we did:

1. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into a small mixing bowl.
2. Add 1/4 cup of table salt to the water and stir until dissolved.
3. Continue adding small amounts of salt until no more will dissolve.
4. Add bits of clay or wax to the bottom of a shallow bowl. Make sure it is thick enough to hold toothpicks in an upright position.
5. Add your toothpicks in the clay/wax.
6. Pour the saltwater solution over the toothpicks in the bowl.
7. Continue to add water to the bowl until your solution covers the toothpicks by at least a 1/5.
8. Set the bowl in a sunny window and check it each day.

Observe the day to day changes!

Who's in the House - Science Play

A habitat is a special place where a plant or animal lives. Just like you have a home or place to live, so do animals and plants. When we talk about an animal’s or a plant's home it is more like a neighborhood than a "house." An animal needs five things to survive in its habitat: food, water, shelter, air and a place to raise its young.

Animals require different amounts of space. Habitats can be big like a forest or they can be much smaller like a burrow. Some animals defend a huge territory or roam over a large area. Some other animals need only a small amount of space and can put up with neighbors that live close.

Just like you have to go to the store to get food, an animal leaves its "shelter" to get the things they need to live. If the population's needs aren't met, it will move to a better habitat.

Different animals need different habitats. A fish, for example, needs clean water in which to live. A grasshopper, however, needs a big space where it can hop and leaves that it can eat.
  

Here are a few habitats we observed:

Doodle Bugs or Ant Lion pits

Several different species of ants

Carpenter bees bore through soft woods to lay eggs and protect their larvae as they develop. Female carpenter bees will chew a tunnel into a piece of wood to build a nest gallery. The bits of wood she chews and deposits outside the nest are called "frass". The tunnel openings usually look about one or two inches deep, but they can be up to 10 feet long! These tunnels usually have several rooms where the bees hold their eggs and food. 

Wasp Nest

 Spider web

 Wood boring insects in a dead tree

We also saw: birds nests, squirrels nests, rolly-polies and slugs under rocks, spider egg sacks, lizards on trees

Wind Detective - Science Play

Scientists use an instrument called an anemometer to tell how fast the wind is blowing.
The device we built is a model of a wind speed indicator. A real one will be able to accurately measure how fast the wind is blowing.

We used hot glue to attach the cups to the plate

Science Behind the Play:

Measuring Wind Speed - As the wind blows, the cups catch the blowing wind and turn on the stick. Each time the anemometer makes a full rotation, the wind speed is measured by the number of revolutions per minute (RPM). The number of revolutions can be recorded over time and an average is determined.

 
This anemometer can not tell the wind speed in miles per hour, but it can give you an idea of how fast the wind is blowing.

Using your watch, count the number of times the colored rimmed cup spins around in one minute. You are measuring the wind speed in revolutions (turns) per minute. Weather forecasters' anemometers convert the revolutions per minute into miles per hour (or kilometers per hour). Keep a record of the wind speeds you're measuring for the next few days.

Measure the wind speed at different times of the day. Is it the same in the morning; the afternoon; the evening? Move your anemometer to another location. Is it windier in other places? Do trees or buildings block the wind?

Insect Rearing - Science Play

We collected several caterpillars while on a nature walk the other day. Of course we had to bring them home and see what they were going to "grow up to be"!

We constructed them a large double-cup home and made sure to poke several small holes on the top. The cups were taped together so we had no escapees! We also added several stalks of the plant they were found on, all creatures need to eat!

After 2 days, three of our guests had gone into Chrysalis. 

I released the others back outside and then we waited .... 

and waited ....

After 6 days... we have our first butterfly!

A chrysalis is the pupal stage of butterflies. The term is derived from the metallic gold-coloration found in the pupae of many butterflies, referred to by the Greek term χρυσός (chrysós) for gold.
When the caterpillar is fully grown, it makes a button of silk which it uses to fasten its body to a leaf or a twig. Then the caterpillar's skin comes off for the final time. Under this old skin is a hard skin called a chrysalis.

On emerging the butterfly uses a liquid which softens the shell of the chrysalis. Additionally, it uses two sharp claws located on the thick joints at the base of the forewings to help make its way out. Having emerged from the chrysalis, the butterfly will usually sit on the empty shell in order to expand and harden its wings. However, if the chrysalis was near the ground (such as if it fell off from its silk pad), the butterfly would find another vertical surface to rest upon and harden its wings (such as a wall or fence).
Moth pupae are usually dark in color and either formed in underground cells, loose in the soil, or their pupa is contained in a protective silk case called a cocoon.
It is important to differentiate between pupa, chrysalis and cocoon. The pupa is the stage between the larva and adult stages. The chrysalis is a butterfly pupa. A cocoon is a silk case that moths, and sometimes other insects, spin around the pupa.

             

Static Electricity - Science Play

A park slide + cute Little Mister = Bad hair day

The Science behind the play:

Everything we see is made up of tiny little parts called atoms. The atoms are made of even smaller parts. These are called protons, electrons and neutrons. They are very different from each other in many ways. One way they are different is their "charge." Protons have a positive (+) charge. Electrons have a negative (-) charge. Neutrons have no charge. Usually, atoms have the same number of electrons and protons. Then the atom has no charge, it is "neutral." But if you rub things together, electrons can move from one atom to another. Some atoms get extra electrons. They have a negative charge. Other atoms lose electrons. They have a positive charge. When charges are separated like this, it is called static electricity.
If two things have different charges, they attract, or pull towards each other. If two things have the same charge, they repel, or push away from each other.




So, sliding on the slide caused a positive charge to be built up on each hair. Since each hair has the same charge, they all try to push away from each other and end up standing up straight.

Science with a Side of Chinese Food

For some reason we have lots of spontaneous science moments while at our favorite Chinese Restaurant.  Surely it's not because we are there so often!?! The workers/owners there love my little Mister (who wouldn't?) and it's a good thing.

On this particular occasion, he had just taken a sip of drink and his hands were wet. So he picked up a piece of napkin to dry them and it stuck to the tip of his fingers. He held it up to show me and it flickered in the breeze. He was enthralled! Who would have thought a near by far would turn into a science play lesson (at a Chinese Restaurant)?

If you don't like Chinese food, don't fret. You can still play. 

Tie colorful strings or strips of bright plastic to the grill of a fan. Turn it on and watch the fun.

Science behind the play:
When you hold the napkin in your hand it just hangs down. It is at rest. If you dropped the napkin it would fall to the floor; that is called Gravity or gravitational pull. 
But if the hanging napkin is disturbed by a breeze from a fan, it will flutter and no longer be at rest. A force caused it to move . . . Newton's 1st Law of Motion.

Chicken Sounds in a Cup

I've unintentionally started a Science Play series. 

It was hard not to. 

As an undergrad I studied Chemistry.

In grad school, I started in Environmental Toxicology then went on to Forrest Entomology. 

See, I have a special place in my heart for science. 

Yes, I am currently a stay at home mommy, but still a scientist at heart!

Today we played with vibrations.

The science behind the play:

Sound comes from vibrations. The vibrations from the string would be almost silent without the cup, by adding the cup, it spreads the vibrations and amplifies the sound (makes them louder.) 

How to make your Chicken in a Cup:

1.Cut a piece of yarn about 20 inches long. 

2. Use a nail to carefully punch a hold in the center of the bottom of the cup.

3. Tie one end of the yarn to the middle of the paper clip. 

4. Push the other end of the yarn through the hole in the cup and pull it through.

5. Get a piece of paper towel about the size of a dollar bill, then fold it once and get it slightly damp.

6. Now it's time to make some noise! Hold the cup firmly in one hand, and wrap the damp paper towel around the string near the cup. While you squeeze the string, pull down in short jerks so that the paper towel tightly slides along the string. If all goes well - you hear a chicken! 

The Day of the Turtle

Does this ever happen to you;

Driving down the road and come up on a turtle trying to cross, you swerve to miss him and watch in the rear view mirror to make sure the car behind you does the same as you let a strange sound escape your mouth. Yeah? Me too. The other day, we actually turned around and was going to assist the turtle across the street. I realized that Little Mister has never seen a turtle up close. So, we brought the mobile-home guy home for the day. Don't worry, when the day was coming to a close, we let him go (far from busy streets)!

Confused about what to name your turtle? Luke or Lucy?

 Finding this creature lead to many learning activities:
Sensory play : cold vs. hot (warm actually) with frozen turtle eggs
Language: the letter T
Math: counting turtle parts, 1 head, 2 eyes, 4 legs...
Literature: Look Out for Turtles by: Melvin Berger and Yurtle the Turtle by: Dr. Seuss
Science: where do they live, what do they eat, etc...
Good Stewardship: we are all part of this beautiful planet! Let's take of all things that live here!

**Featured at The Good Long Road, Kids Co-Op
in honor of World Animal Day

Physics Exam

A Fun Physics Experiment

Pay attention, there will be an exam later... 

Do you remember this?

I believe this is everyone's first exposure to the science of aerodynamics.

 Intro to Aerodynamics 101

The science behind the play:

Aerodynamics = study of forces (wind, blowing into a straw) and the resulting motion of objects through the air.
Play: the air you blow into the straw causes the paper to fly off. The harder you blow the further the paper will go. Blow lightly into the straw then blow hard. Compare the distance the paper flew. What happened?

Trajectory = the path of a object moving through space under the influence of some force (thrust, wind, gravity, etc.)
Play: blow into the straw while holding it level with your mouth and see how far the paper goes. Now tilt the straw up and blow. Compare the distances. What happened?

 

Absorb Knowledge from God

Lord, I want to continue to grow in You and Your Word. I want to be wise and absorb the lessons you try to teach me! Help me to learn from my mistakes so I won't have to repeat them. I want to listen for your voice of guidance in all that I do!

Much like the celery uses what it has been given for continued growth, help me to make the most out of my situation (good or not so good) and TRUST you!

Cut the bottom of the stalk and place in a cup of food coloring. Wait for a day or two and watch how the dye is drawn up by the celery. If you slice the celery in half, you can actually see the tubes which carried the dye up the stalk. Science is so cool!

Consume the Word, eat a Bible Cookie! (HeeHee) We made these for Sunday School snacks.

Fuzzy Science

What do you get when you mix, 

drops of brightly colored paint + a blob of baking soda + a squirt of vinegar  + a dash of inquisitive Little Mister?

Answer: A Really Cool Fuzzy Science Experiment!

We enjoyed it so much, we tried the "In-A-Bag" version!

Simple Explanation:

When baking soda and vinegar mix, it creates a chemical reaction. Gas is released which we see as bubbles.

What's really happening:

It is deceptively simple: what appears to be one reaction is actually two, happening in quick succession. This reaction is an example of a multistep reaction.

What actually happens is this: the acetic acid (that's what makes vinegar sour) reacts with sodium bicarbonate (a compound that's in baking soda) to form carbonic acid. It's really a double-replacement reaction. Carbonic acid is unstable, and it immediately falls apart into carbon dioxide and water (it's a decomposition reaction). The bubbles you see from the reaction come from the carbon dioxide escaping the solution that is left. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, so, it flows almost like water when it overflows the container. It is a gas that you exhale (though in small amounts), because it is a product of the reactions that keep your body going. What's left is a dilute solution of sodium acetate in water.