Then we started our activity with straw rockets. If your kids have good small-motor development, this is an appropriate and worthwhile activity. This was posted by kidsciencechallenge.com. Check it out, try it at home, and see what you think!
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Straw Rockets
I wanted to quickly share a fun activity I did recently with some lower elementary students. My students were really interested rocketry and anything space-related. We talked briefly about the recent landing of a probe on a comet during the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. To learn more about it, you can visit their web page and see some really amazing photographs!
Monday, October 27, 2014
Halloween is here again!
Well, it's my favorite time of year again and the perfect time for fun and ghostly science experiments!
One of my favorites that I love to do with the kids is experimentation with dry ice. You can buy dry ice at several local grocery stores. Here in Tucson, it is sold at Fry's and Bashas. Bring a cooler to the store with you to take the ice home if you decide to experiment with it at home. Always wear gloves and use tongs to handle the ice! It is also a good idea to wear a long-sleeve shirt, pants, and socks. It burns if you get even the tiniest piece on you. Remember it is approximately -110 degrees F!
Here is a great video posted by Steve Spangler Science. This is one of the experiments I do with the kids that is lots of fun:
Here is another favorite that blows a giant bubble that the kids love. We also make the carbonated apple juice that he demonstrates in this video:
Enjoy the fun experiments for Halloween!
One of my favorites that I love to do with the kids is experimentation with dry ice. You can buy dry ice at several local grocery stores. Here in Tucson, it is sold at Fry's and Bashas. Bring a cooler to the store with you to take the ice home if you decide to experiment with it at home. Always wear gloves and use tongs to handle the ice! It is also a good idea to wear a long-sleeve shirt, pants, and socks. It burns if you get even the tiniest piece on you. Remember it is approximately -110 degrees F!
Here is a great video posted by Steve Spangler Science. This is one of the experiments I do with the kids that is lots of fun:
Here is another favorite that blows a giant bubble that the kids love. We also make the carbonated apple juice that he demonstrates in this video:
Enjoy the fun experiments for Halloween!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Worms, Worms, Everywhere!
I thought I'd share a really fun experience we had last month, learning about composting!
It is so easy to do and such a wonderful, tactile experience, not just for preschoolers but for all ages. I purchased Red Wiggler worms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. I've had great experience with them and their worms always survive the trip to my mailbox and compost bin.
Materials for making your own compost bin:
1 large Rubbermaid container with lid (approximately 16 gallons)
1 large bag of peat moss (sphagnum peat moss, 3 cubic feet or less to get you started)
Several recycled newspapers
Spray bottle with water (for misting)
Red Wiggler worms (approximately 1000 - 2000 count)
Instructions (Prepare this ahead of time so that it's ready for when your worms arrive):
How to keep your Red Wiggler worms (and compost) healthy:
Here are some things that are GOOD to feed your worms:
To place food in the bin, lift the cardboard sheet and gently place the food on top of the dirt. Then replace the cardboard. This encourages the worms to come up to the top, grab their food, and aerate the soil. The cardboard helps keep everything moist and dark for them.
It is so easy to do and such a wonderful, tactile experience, not just for preschoolers but for all ages. I purchased Red Wiggler worms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. I've had great experience with them and their worms always survive the trip to my mailbox and compost bin.
Materials for making your own compost bin:
1 large Rubbermaid container with lid (approximately 16 gallons)
1 large bag of peat moss (sphagnum peat moss, 3 cubic feet or less to get you started)
Several recycled newspapers
Spray bottle with water (for misting)
Red Wiggler worms (approximately 1000 - 2000 count)
Instructions (Prepare this ahead of time so that it's ready for when your worms arrive):
- Drill a few holes in the lid of the Rubbermaid container so the worms can breath.
- Shred newspaper into small strips and place in container.
- Add some (or all) of your peat moss to the newspaper, to make a composition of 1/2 peat moss and 1/2 newspaper. It's not an exact science-- just "eye" it to see if it looks like the right mixture to you. Remember, you'll want to leave quite a bit of space in the bin to add compost to it over time.
- Use the spray bottle to mist and mix the materials in the bin, until it feels damp like a sponge (but not dripping wet).
- Add your worms to the bin, but don't break up their clusters-- the Red Wigglers like to stay together in their little "community." Cover them up with a bit of newspaper and moss mixture and let them go to work!
How to keep your Red Wiggler worms (and compost) healthy:
Here are some things that are GOOD to feed your worms:
- raw vegetable scraps
- raw fruit scraps
- egg shells (no eggs)
- stale bread (with no butter or other oils on it)
- any meat product
- any dairy product
- oils
- eggs
- citrus
- onions and broccoli (only because they can cause a strong odor in your bin!)
Use a spray bottle to moisten the soil and the cardboard sheet on top, once daily or as needed to keep the soil moist (but not wet). The moisture level should be about the same as a moist, squeezed-out sponge.
You shouldn’t need to “mix” the soil up. The worms should do that for you! But feel free to check on them to make sure they’re healthy. They should look moist and shiny. Red Wigglers are not big and fat worms like earthworms, so they won’t be too plump.
Have Fun!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Pendulum Pandemonium
This Thursday at Catalina we'll be experimenting with pendulums! There are some interesting forces at work that make a pendulum work properly, including Newton's Law of Gravity and his 1st and 2nd Laws of Motion. What happens if you change the mass of the pendulum bob? Will it change the period (one full swing back and forth) of the pendulum? Here is an easy "recipe" for making a pendulum at home:
Materials:
1.5 - 2 feet of yarn or string
pencil
large paperclip
several small washers
tape
Assembly:
1. Tie a small loop at one end of the yarn.
2. Attach the paperclip through the loop, so that it hangs freely from one end of the loop.
3. Make a slip knot at the other end of the yarn. If you don't know how to do this, here are some simple instructions (click here).
4. Loop 1 washer through the paperclip so it hangs freely below the paperclip.
5. Tape a pencil to a table top so that 1 - 2 inches of the pencil hang over the edge.
6. Hang the slip-knot end of the pendulum on the pencil.
Experiment:
1. Try timing how many periods (full swings) the pendulum makes with only 1 washer for 20 seconds.
2. Now try adding washers to the pendulum bob (the paperclip), one at a time, to see if that changes the number of periods during a 20-second interval. Make sure to swing the pendulum bob from the same height as before. Be consistent!
3. Now use the slip knot to change the length of pendulum by shortening it or lengthening it. Swing the pendulum again from the same height. How many periods occur during a 20-second interval this time?
Does the mass of the bob or the length of the pendulum (or both?) change the number of periods?
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Fun with Centrifugal Force!
This week at Catalina we will be exploring Centrifugal Force. I will soon post instructions on how to make an apparatus to explore this false force at home. Meanwhile I'm looking forward to getting wet on Thursday with the preschoolers!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Simple Machines, Part II
This week at Catalina we'll be exploring another Simple Machine! This time we'll test the effectiveness of an inclined plane (one of 6 simple machines) using marbles and tracks. This is an old favorite with my older students, as you may have seen in a previous post about Rube Goldberg machines. For preschoolers, a very simple 5-minute introduction to slope and velocity (i.e. how fast the marble goes) is enough to get them started building their own marble tracks. You'll be surprised at how adept they are at making these.
There is no shortage of materials you can use to build your own marble tracks. Here are some materials you may find at home:
There is no shortage of materials you can use to build your own marble tracks. Here are some materials you may find at home:
- hotwheels tracks (these make excellent tracks for any age and are easy to put together)
- PVC pipe, any diameter or length
- outer casing of fluorescent light bulb tubes (I found someone at Ace Hardware who dug some up for me, as they're not usually sold on the shelf)
- wood cove moulding (found at home improvement stores, about $0.70 per linear foot for standard pine)
- cardboard boxes, building blocks, foam blocks, or cardboard bricks (for propping up the track and creating different slope grades)
If you use wood cove moulding, you can cut these to several different lengths to make it more interesting. Glue two equal-length sides together, side by side, to make a nice concave track for the marble, and that will also sit flat on the bottom. I used regular Elmer's "Glue All" to glue the pieces together and then clamped them together while they dried.
Try these out and have fun!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Simple Machines
This week we are building catapults using a simple machine: a lever. Here are the materials you need to make one at home:
yardstick
1 and 1/2" PVC pipe (approx. 3" section)
rubber band (optional)
dixie cup
ping pong ball
The yardstick serves as the "lever" and the PVC pipe serves as the "fulcrum." Place the PVC pipe under one end of the yardstick. String the rubber band through the middle of the PVC pipe, then wrap each end around the end of the yardstick to attach the PVC pipe to it. Then slide it down toward the middle of the yardstick. (You don't really need the rubber band, but its purpose is to help keep the fulcrum in place as you use the lever. Just slide the rubber band with the fulcrum back and forth down the yardstick to adjust the placement of the fulcrum.)
Use a glue gun or strong tape to attach the dixie cup, open side up, to one end of the yardstick. Now the fulcrum (PVC pipe) should be on the underside of the yardstick and the dixie cup should be on the top. This is for holding the ping pong ball.
Now you're ready to play! When you put the ping pong ball in the dixie cup, that is called the "load." Use your hand or foot to push down quickly on the other side of the yardstick (this is called the "effort") and see how far your ping pong ball flies through the air!
Practice placing the fulcrum at different locations along the yardstick to see how that changes the distance your ping pong ball travels. What is the best placement for the fulcrum?
Monday, January 27, 2014
Rube Goldberg Machines at Camden
This Wednesday in Weird Science we will be exploring Momentum! I am bringing back a very popular activity that I've done in the past with the kids. We will break up into 2 - 3 person groups and build marble tracks using different building materials. The students will be challenged to design a marble track that keeps their marble rolling for the longest period of time. Then, we will spend some time engineering the track materials so that all the components (groups) might work together in one large Rube Goldberg machine! If you don't know what a Rube Goldberg machine is, here is a fine example on youtube that the band OK GO used for one of their music videos. Your kids might enjoy this:
Of course, the ones we design won't be nearly this complex, but fun nonetheless!
Monday, January 20, 2014
Pizza-Box Solar Ovens
Pizza-box solar ovens are perfect projects for elementary school kids and older! Next week I'll be making them ahead of time for the preschool group so that they can melt candles inside them and watch the temperature rise as we put them out in the sun. In the past, my solar ovens have reached temperatures around 200 degrees F. They don't get too hot, but hot enough to melt things! I haven't tried cooking anything in them-- I would want the temperature to be at least 350 degrees F for that. So I need to refine the design a bit to reach that goal.
If you are interested in making a pizza-box solar oven, here is a great youtube video that shows you how to do it step by step. Enjoy!
How to Make a Pizza-Box Solar Oven
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