Foam Marble Tracks

One of my very favorite activities for kids of all ages (adults included) are marble tracks. Recently I discovered a new and less costly material that is perfect for this activity: insulated foam for pipes! You can purchase this in the plumbing section of any home-improvement store. It comes in all sizes but I typically use the 1/2" to 3/4" diameter tubing. (Hint: Bring a marble along with you to make sure it is the right size). While you're there, make sure you grab a roll of Gorilla Tape, as well (usually in the paint section). This tape is great for attaching the track to concrete or other foundation materials.

Materials:

Insulated foam for pipes (as many as you wish to use)

1 roll of Gorilla Tape

Razor blade (with adult supervision)


Procedure:

You'll notice that one side of the foam tubing has a pre-cut slit in it. Go ahead and open up that slit along the full length of the insulation. Use a razor blade to cut open the other side directly opposite of the slit. Now you should have two length-wise, matching pieces.

Lay them end to end and tape them together using the Gorilla Tape. Repeat this with all sections of pipe until you have a nice, long length for your marble track. You can add in a loop or two, ramps, and all kinds of fun tricks. How steep and how long should the slope be to make the marble loop the loop?

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!

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!

http://www.kidsciencechallenge.com/pdfs/2009activities/KSC_Soda_Straw_Rocket-Mars_2009a.pdf

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!

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):

1. Drill a few holes in the lid of the Rubbermaid container so the worms can breath.
2. Shred newspaper into small strips and place in container.
3. 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.
4. Use the spray bottle to mist and mix the materials in the bin, until it feels damp like a sponge (but not dripping wet).
5. 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)

Here are some things that are BAD to feed your worms:

• any meat product
• any dairy product
• oils
• eggs
• citrus
• onions and broccoli (only because they can cause a strong odor in your bin!)

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.

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!

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?

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!

Simple Machines, Part III