If you can’t understand the heat, get into the kitchen!
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008Your kitchen is an excellent place to demonstrate many scientific principles including the properties of heat energy and the effects that heat energy has on various substances. Invite your kids into the kitchen while you cook a meal and your prep time doubles as a science class! Here are just a few of the useful [...]
Make Your Own Mini Volcano!
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008This is another great rainy day activity.
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon Laundry Detergent
¾ Cup Water
¼ Cup Vinegar
Food Coloring (red is good to simulate lava)
Directions:
1. Combine baking soda, detergent, water and food coloring in a jar
2. Place jar on a tray or cookie sheet
3. Pour the vinegar into the jar and watch the “eruption”.
What causes [...]
A Science Joke
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008Teacher: What is the formula for water?
Student: H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O
Teacher: That’s not what I taught you.
Student: But you said the formula for water was…H to O!
,
_> [...]
Color me smart: 5 reasons why things are the color that they are
Tuesday, February 12th, 20081. Why is the sky blue?
A. A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colors because the blue light has been scattered out and away from [...]
British Ingenuity, Claymation and Cheese
Monday, February 11th, 2008Do you love crazy inventions, exciting story lines, and maybe a nice bit of Gorgonzola? If so, you must meet Wallace and Gromit!
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series of three animated short films (A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave) and a feature length film (Wallace & [...]
U.S. Scientists go Postal!
Monday, February 11th, 2008The other day I went to the Post Office to buy stamps to put on the invitations to Sean’s big 10th birthday Science Extravaganza. If only his birthday were one month later we could have used these wonderful new 41¢ stamps featuring a quartet of great American scientists. These stamps will be available in March of 2008.
[...]
Slime Recipe
Sunday, February 10th, 2008This is a great rainy day project. You can color the slime any shade you wish. The classic slime color is of course, green.
Ingredients:
2 cups White Glue
1 ½ cups Water
Food Coloring
1 tsp. Borax (Borateem) diluted in ½ cup Water (borax is found in the laundry detergent aisle)
Directions:1. Mix glue and water
2. Add [...]
Where oh where have all the really cool toys gone?
Saturday, February 9th, 2008I think this Atomic Energy Lab kit from the 1950’s may have contained an actual vial of 235U (for educational purposes only).
In reality there ARE still some great science toys to be had although they probably no longer include enriched uranium.
