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| Simple Experiments |
c.2005 - 2008 |
| All Charged up!
Materials: A comb , A water faucet Directions: Comb your hair on a dry day. Hold the comb near a thin trickle of water from the faucet. The water should bend toward the comb. Running a comb through your hair creates friction that moves electrons from your hair to the comb, charging the comb with static electricity. The comb now has a negative charge. When you move the comb near the water, its negative charge pushes away some of the negative charge in the water, leaving the water with a positive charge. Positive and negative charges attract, so the water bends toward the comb. Rainbows Materials: Shallow Dish, Milk, Food Coloring, Liquid Dish Soap Place milk in a shallow dish and add drops of several different food colors around the dish. Add a drop of liquid dish soap and watch watch what happens! Interesting chemical reaction! Rainbows2 Supplies: Jar of Cold Water Food Coloring Place a clear jar of cold water on the table so it can be undisturbed but observed. Add drops of food coloring and watch the "rainbows" appear. Try varying the water temp, consistency (add oils, etc), stirring and so on. Shows color mixing, properties of matter, etc. Rainbows3 Supplies: Small Mirror Small Dish of Water Place a small mirror in a small dish of water. Place in direct sunlight and watch the rainbow form on an adjacent wall. Try moving the mirror in and out of the water and see the differences. Shows light diffraction, etc. Sink and Float Experiments Supplies: Large Bowl (or whatever) filled with Water Various Objects Have the children predict (teacher can graph) whether they think an object will sink or float. Soda Fizz Supplies: tsp. of Bakins Soda Empty Soda Bottle tsp. of Vinigar Balloon Demonstrate the following activity : place a teaspoon of baking soda into an empty soda bottle and add a teaspoon of vinegar. The two substances create a gas when they are mixed. This can be demonstrated by placing a balloon over the top of the soda bottle. It will expand from the gas. More of each substance will expand the balloon even more. Allow each child to mix the two substances. Provide a paper plate, small cup of vinegar and a small cup of baking soda. Each child can use a spoon to put the baking soda on the plate and an eyedropper to add the vinegar. The mixture will fizz. Colour Magic ½ litre milk red, blue and yellow food colouring dish soap Pour the milk into a flat, preferably clear, baking dish (9x13 works well). Drop a few drops of each colour of food colouring into the milk in different places. Slowly drip the dish soap into the milk and watch what happens!! Film canister rockets Baking soda vinegar Paper towels film canisters Cut small squares (1 inch by 1 inch) of the paper towel. Spoon some baking soda into the middle of the paper towel. Gather the corners and twist together to make a small bundle. Pour some vinegar into the film canister (1/4 of the canister full). Drop the baking soda bundle into the film canister, QUICKLY snap on the lid and place the canister lid down on the ground and stand back. (this is a fun activity to do outside less mess too!) The Zapper Styrofoam dinner plate Stryofoam cup A piece of wool cloth An aluminum pie plate Scotch tape Rub the Styrofoam plate with the wool cloth for one full minute. Place this charged plate upside down on a table or on the floor. Tape the Styrofoam cup to the middle of the aluminum pie plate. Using the cup as a handle, place the pie plate on top of the charged Styrofoam plate. Bring your finger near the pie plate and you will feel a little shock and hear a snap. If the room is dark, you should also see a little spark. Dancing Raisins Raisins Clear carbonated pop Pour the pop into a clear jar. Place a couple of raisins in the jar and watch what happens!! Rubber Egg Submerse a raw egg in a cup full of white vinegar for 48 hours. The vinegar will dissolve the egg shell and leave the membrane of the egg intact. You can lift the rubber egg out of the vinegar and see how it can bounce. Be careful if it breaks, its messy! Static Electiricity Materials: Balloons, String, Felt-tip markers (permanent), Adhesive tape, Wool cloth Procedure: Although this activity is an excellent teacher demonstration, students will gain more from the opportunity to make and experiment with their own balloon "admirers." Inflate a balloon and draw a face on it with a permanent marker. (Caution: some types of permanent marker may weaken the balloon and cause it to pop.) Tie off the balloon and suspend it from a doorway or ceiling using tape and string. The balloon should hang at the level of your head when you stand on the floor. Rub the face of the balloon with a wool cloth. The balloon will now face you and move toward you whenever you approach it. You now have an admirer! Invisible Ink Using a cotton swap or paint brush, let children write messages or paint designs on white typing paper with lemon juice. Let dry. The adult is to hold the paper close to a light bulb until the writing becomes visible by turning brown. Volcano Materials: Food colouring 1 tbsp baking soda 1 c water few drops of dishwashing 1 c distilled vinegar 12 ounce plastic bottle newspaper to cover area Stir 1 tbsp baking soda into 1/4c water and food colouring. And pour into plastic bottle. Procedure: Add a few drops of dish soap. Put the bottle on the ground with newspapers underneath. Add 1/4c vinegar. Watch because it comes up quickly ** Other Ideas for baking soda & vinegar ** 1. Save bones from a chicken dinner one evening (I usually use the wishbone). When you soak it in vinegar, the bone seems to turn to rubber. 2. Soak an egg in vinegar for at least 24 hours (may need to soak longer). The vinegar eats away the shell of the egg. This is a great lesson on what plaque/bacteria do to teeth when we don't brush/floss/take care of our teeth. Bubble Box Painting Materials: Large cardboard box, 4 bubble blowing solutions, bubble wand, clothespins, easel paper, food colouring Procedure: Make a ground easel form the card board box by cutting the top off. Attach easel paper with clothespins along the outer portion of the box. Pour a different colour of food colouring into each container of bubble solution. Have the children blow the bubbles onto the paper. Bouncing Jell-O Clear soft drink Drinking glass Salt Jello mix 1. Pour the soft drink into the glass. 2. Add some salt and then some powdered Jell-O mix into the glass. 3. Watch the Jell-O bounce up and down inside the cup as the Jello clings to the air bubbles Film Canister Flashlight Stuff You'll Need: 2 - 3/4" screws 1 mini xmas light 2 film containers - 1 clear (top), 1 black (bottom) 9 volt battery Cut bottom off clear container so that it is a tube. Hold the 2 lids together, tops facing each other. Working from inside of bottom lid press both screws through both lids. The heads of the screws will line up with the top of the battery in the bottom film container to create power. Strip plastic off light wires part way up and wrap each wire individually onto screw threads. Place clear tube over light. Snap bottom on. Turning the container to disconnect the connection will turn the flashlight off and on Friction What You'll Need A bowl of water Smooth rubber ball Tennis ball 1. Try spinning the rubber ball in the water. 2. Now try spinning the tennis ball in the water. 3. Which one is easier to spin? Why? It is easier to spin the smoother ball, because the smooth surface causes less friction with the water. Dinosaur Bone Hunt Boil and clean chicken bones. Be sure there are no sharp edges. Bury them in a sand box for the children to find. Which Will Burn out First? What You'll Need 3 candles 3 saucers 1 small jar 1 large jar This experiment requires adult supervision. Place each of the three candles firmly on a saucer. 2. Light all three candles. 3. Leave the first candle out in open air. 4. Place the small jar over the second candle 5. Place the large jar over the third candle. 6. Which burns out first? Which burns our second? Which lasts the longest? Why? The candle in the small jar burns out first because it has the least oxygen to burn. The candle in the large jar burns out next, because although it had more oxygen to burn than the candle in the small jar, it still runs out of oxygen. The candle in open air continues to burn the longest, because it does not have a limited amount of oxygen to burn. Note: Be careful when removing the jars, they could be hot |
| Prop Box Resources Include the following collections of objects and materials for children to create, discover, and use for imaginary play. Store collections in boxes or baskets to be accessible at any time (indoors or outdoors) for children to enhance their play. Reactions cornstartch and water oil and water baking soda and water salt and ice rubbing alcohol and water make Jell-Obaking sink and float experimentation soap and water |
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| I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting.
- Mark Twain |