This is an oldie but a goodie. It's an experiment everyone should do at least once. And if you've already done it you can take it to the next level. Today, you're going to dye flowers. Now I know most flowers are a pretty color already, but if you have boring white flowers around, you will be able to jazz them up with this activity.
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Since I do a long of hiking, I took a wilderness survival course. They taught us how to get fresh water to drink from trees - which is exactly what you'll do in today's activity. If you use a clean bag, the water will be pure and drinkable but it does take a little while to get enough to satisfy your thirst!
We've all seen pinecones - both open ones and closed ones. Ever wonder what makes a pinecone open? I never had until I decided to try a craft online that would lace pinecones with chemicals to make a campfire's flames change colors (you can find a link to that craft here). In doing that experiment, I collected a bunch of open pinecones from under a tree in a nearby park. As I followed the instructions I discovered that my pinecones closed up! I was not expecting this because I had never thought about what makes a pinecone open. You'll find out in today's experiment.
This is one of my favorite engineering challenges. In part because I've seen so many different designs and because you really need to think about how to best use your material. There are many ways you could set this challenge up. My challenge to you is to build the tallest tower you can with 20 cards and no tape. The record in my classroom is about 85 cm. If you've already done that challenge, change it up - allow yourself 12 inches of tape - and then see what you can do. Or make up your own challenge!
Did you know that things will mix in water, even if you do not stir them? Liquids in a system (i.e. a container) want to come into equilibrium (the fancy scientific word for "all the same"). So they will mix even if you don't physically mix them. It just takes longer. The question asked by this activity is - will it take the same amount of time in hot water as cold water? You probably have a hypothesis (the fancy scientific word for "guess") already - now test it out and see if you were right.
This is one of my favorite experiments at the Exploratorium in San Francisco - in large part because of its simplicity. All objects have a center of gravity. For a long, thin, uniform object - we know that the center of gravity will be the center of the object. In this experiment you will demonstrate that that's true - but then you'll go a step further. You'll find the center of gravity if the object is heavier at one end through a simple but effective method.
One of my favorite things to dissect is a flower. Yes! Really! It's spring so hopefully you have a ready supply of "specimens" in your garden. Any flower will do, but the bigger, the better, as the parts are easier to see. Flowers are actually very complex and have multiple parts - in this activity you will try to identify them. Nature has designed flowers to attract pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, etc.) so that the pollen can be transferred from one flower to another. As you dissect your flower, be sure to look for things that might attract pollinators - like bright colors, darker patterns, sweet scents, etc.
Do you pay attention to your shadow? Most people don't. Did you know your shadow changes throughout the day, year, and based on the weather (cloudy/sunny)? In today's activity you'll get to "follow" your shadow over the course of the day to see what happens. You should make a hypothesis (the fancy scientific word for "guess") about what you think will happen before you start this experiment. K/1 students - Since you've already done this, see if your siblings or parents can guess what happens and them show them the results!
Most of us know about static electricity. It's that spark you get when you touch something after getting out of a car or dragging our feet across a carpet - and it often happens on cool, dry days. In today's activity you will create static electricity and use it to move a soda can without touching it. To a friend that doesn't know about static electricity - it will look like magic - but you'll know it's science!
Here's another activity that feels like magic but is actually science. Did you know you can make lightning in your mouth? Ok, so it's not actually lightning because it doesn't go between the sky and the ground in a huge burst of electricity - but it looks like it. You are creating light but you are using friction to do it. I learned about this activity in a tent at Girl Scout Camp but you can do it anywhere you can make it dark - a bathroom with no windows and a mirror is ideal.
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You Can Continue to Earn the Patches over the SUmmer!
welcome!
Every school day I will post a new experiment for you to try at home. Some may be familiar to you - as they are my favorites from class - but most will be experiments I found on the web that have readily available materials. Happy Sciencing! Earn a Patch
Sunol Glen Students - Complete an additional 10 experiments (20 total) from this site and I will send you this patch: Parents - just email me when students have completed a challenge, no proof required. Categories |