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Cool Science Experiments For Kids

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:31:17 +0000

There are dozens of cool science experiments that you can do at home. Many cool science experiments require a day long process and careful observation. If you like weather there are a number of cool science projects you can try at home. Finding out what is in the rain is one of those experiments.

Experiment: Find Out What is in Rain

Category: Meteorology/Environmental

Materials:
Microscope
Container
Funnel
Tape
Pie Dish
Filter Paper

To begin this science experiment you will need to place a clean and completely dry container outside on a day that it is raining. Put the container out in the open away from trees and buildings and leave it there for several hours. Bring the container in after it has collected an adequate amount of rain for examination.

When you get the water inside you will need to filter the rain water. You can filter the rain water using a piece of filter paper in your funnel. Collect the water that runs through the filter and funnel in a separate clean dry container.

Next, you will need to dry your filter paper so that the water is evaporated from it. To do this quickly you can put the filter paper on a clean baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes at 100 degrees Celsius. While you are waiting for your filter paper to dry out take the excess water you collected and pour it into the pie dish.

Once the water has evaporated from the pie dish and the filter paper you can find out what is in rain. Take your filter paper and look at under the microscope. Take a piece of clear tape and stick it to the bottom of the pie dish once the water has evaporated. Look at the tape under the microscope. Try to figure out what particles were in the rain you collected.

By: Dee Schrock

Home Science Experiments Made Fun and Easy

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:04:10 +0000

Home science experiments are great for rainy or dreary days when the kids are restless and looking for something to do. If you take a look around, you will see that you have a lot of things that can be used to experiment with. For example, you could have your kids test different things to drop eggs onto, such as a couch, a bed, a carpet, a stuffed animal to see which will accept the egg without it breaking. Unfortunately this experiment can often result in a mess!

Cleaner home science projects might be to see if you can make an egg fit through the neck of a bottle that is smaller than the egg. For this you will need a hardboiled egg, a glass with a mouth just slightly smaller than the egg, a 3″ x 3″ piece of newspaper and a match. Remove the shell from the egg and set it on the mouth of the bottle to see that it does not fit through. Then, fold the piece of newspaper into a strip that can be dropped into the bottle.

Have an adult light the match and use it to light the newspaper on fire. Remove the egg from the mouth of the bottle, drop the burning paper into the bottle, and put the egg back over the mouth of the bottle before the fire goes out. Within a few seconds the egg will squeeze through the mouth of the bottle. This happens because the air pressure is pulling the egg into the bottle.

By: Dee Schrock

Chemistry Science Projects Sure to Get a Reaction

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:12:32 +0000

Chemistry science projects are all about the study of substances and their transformation; finding out what happens when they are combined together and how they react to one another. Chemical reactions can make exciting projects; just think of the classic working volcano project. The classic working volcano has been done many, many times, but that’s because it is a lot of fun to watch, but if you want to score points for originality you should choose a different project.

One fun (and delicious) chemistry science fair project is to make your own sugar crystals. Also known as rock candy, you have likely seen these in gift shops at pretty much any major attractions; science exhibits, the zoo and so on. They are pretty to look at and tasty to eat. In addition they are also extremely easy to make. All you need is sugar and water, plus a glass jar to grow them in and some string for them to grow up. It only takes a day before they begin to grow.

Another fun chemistry project might be to see if colored candles burn faster or slower than white candles. All you need for this project is a white candle, a few different colored candles, a lighter and adult supervision. Light each candle at the same time and observe the rate they burn at. Be sure to record your results.

One other project you could try is a project to see which type of tape sticks best to different types of surfaces. You can experiment and see which brands work better on which surfaces.

By: Dee Schrock

Elementary Science Experiments Made Fun and Easy

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:03:32 +0000

Elementary science experiments can be a ton of fun. At this age, there isn’t the pressure on the students that there is in the higher grades. Science fair projects are all about fun! Children are naturally curious and full of questions and energy so it shouldn’t be hard to get them to come up with a topic. All you have to do is find something that will get them to think of something that interests them, and then help them get started on their project.

One elementary science experiment the children may enjoy is to see if water always drains in the same direction. They can test this out around the school, in toilets, sinks and drains. All they need to do is grab some paper and a pencil and head off to a washroom to begin. Have them flush the toilet and make note of which way the water drains. You can get them to check a second toilet to be sure they both drain the same way. Then get them to put a plug in a sink drain and fill it with some water. Pull the plug and have them observe which way the water drains in the sink. Next, if there is a floor drain around, if possible pour some water over the drain and have them observe which way it flows down the drain. Did the water always drain in the same direction?

If this elementary science project isn’t for you, you could have the students test different brands of popcorn. In this project, they test to see if different brands of popcorn leave the same amount of in-popped kernels. Have fun!

By: Dee Schrock

Second Grade Science Projects and Ideas

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:31:31 +0000

Second grade science projects are simple and fun to do. You should pick a topic that can hold the interest of the children. At this age they are just learning how to figure things out for themselves, instead of being spoon fed information, and they’re very eager to learn new things. It’s very beneficial to children to start doing experiments at this age; it stimulates their mind and encourages them to think things out.

Some fun experiments for second graders would be to see if a certain type of animal prefers one food over another; such as, do ants prefer sugar over bread? What about white sugar over brown sugar? Other fun 2nd grade science projects is the traditional volcano model, however while this is fun for the kids, it’s not really answering a question. Another idea might be to see if animals behave different when they’re faced with a visual reflection of themselves like a mirror.

If so, what do they do? Try to play with their reflection? Maybe get mad at their reflection? Maybe they even get scared. Does it make a difference if the mirror is up close or a distance away from them? One fun project for young kids might be to see if the shape of a paper airplane affects the distance it will fly. You can test this out by making a long narrow plane and a short stubby plane and seeing which one flies further. There are tons of fun projects for this age group; it’s just a matter of picking one out of many.

By: Dee Schrock

3rd Grade Science Fair Projects and Ideas

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:06:18 +0000

3rd grade science fair projects are a lot of fun because at this age children are eager to explore the world around them and find out how things work. They are constantly wanting to know the answer to the question “What happens if I do this…” and therefore they will likely come up with many different experiments they’d like to try. It may be difficult to decide on just one!

At this age they have a short attention span though, so the projects must be simple, fun and fairly short. There are many, many different project ideas for this age group such as; do all the children in their class have the same size hands and the same size feet as each other? They can research this by tracing the other children’s hands and feet on a piece of paper and comparing them to each other.

They could do a test to see if waterproof mascara is really waterproof. To do this you would need a couple brands of waterproof mascara, a piece of paper and some water. Simply put the mascara onto a sheet of paper and rinse it under some water to see what happens.

Another fun 3rd grade science project would be to see if raw eggs and hard boiled eggs spin the same number of times. Obviously they would need an adult’s help with this one in order to cook the eggs, and then they simply need to spin each egg and record the results. There are lots of great 3rd grade science projects out there; it’s just a matter of finding one that interests them.

By: Dee Schrock

Middle School Science Experiments Made Fun and Easy

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:06:36 +0000

Middle school science experiments should be more complex than the ones you would have done in elementary school. At this level, the science experiments you are doing will be preparing you for the more involved science projects you will be doing in high school, when you will most likely be entering science fairs to compete for prizes. By this grade, you will need to do your project mainly on your own and be able to explain your project in full, write a report and make up a display.

One of the interesting middle school science experiments is to see if the growth of a plant is affected by the amount of light it receives. For this project you will need three identical plants, three cabinets and three light sources, a 25 watt bulb, a 60 watt bulb and a 100 watt bulb. Mount one of the bulbs in each of the cabinets and label them so you know which bulb is in which cabinet. Then water them and check them once a day for about ten days and record your results in a chart.

Another great middle school project is to see how much starch different foods contain. You can accomplish this by getting a starch chart and a few different samples of popular foods. To test the foods, put a few drops of iodine solution (50% iodine/50% water) on each piece of food. If there is starch in the food the iodine will turn dark brown or blue-black. Record your findings on the starch chart.

By: Dee Schrock

5th Grade Science Project – Simple Science Projects That Wow the Crowd

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:09:02 +0000

5th grade science project ideas can be a little more complex than the previous grades as the children are at the age where they can do the majority of the experiment on their own, with guidance from their teacher or parents. It should still be a fairly straight forward project mind you, and one that they’re quite interested in because if they pick a topic they don’t really care for they’re going to get bored and it will show in their work.

An example of a 5th grade science project ideas is to see if people have the same sense of smell, which can be accomplished by having two people stand at separate ends of a room while you stand in the middle, and open a few different thinks such as vinegar and lemon oil, and see which person smells it first. Have them record the times they first smell the fragrance so you can see if they differ.

Another project idea is to see if food that’s cooked in the microwave cools at the same rate as food cooked in the oven, to do this all you need to do is cook the foods to the same temperature, then place a thermometer in each one and see which cools down the fastest. A few more ideas are which brand of batteries last the longest, or does the color of a light affect how well it cuts through the fog? There are many, many ideas of projects for 5th graders, it’s all a matter of finding something the child is interested in.

By: Dee Schrock

Free Science Experiments Made Simple and Fun

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:21:43 +0000

There are countless numbers of free science experiments out there. Just think about the materials you have around your house. There is no need to go out and buy a bunch of pricey items to create a great science experiment. You can do many experiments with water or food with items you already have in your home, such as finding out what the effect of salt is on the boiling temperature of water. For this experiment all you need is a pot, water, salt, measuring spoon and thermometer. Boil some water, test the temperature, and then add one tablespoon of salt to the boiling water, stir, and test the temperature again. You can add a few more tablespoons (one at time) and test the temperature of the boiling water after each additional scoop of salt. Be sure to record your finding so you can compare afterwards.

Or, if you want to do free science projects with food you could test and see which place is best to store fruit in order to keep it freshest the longest. For this all you need to do is get a few pieces of fruit and place them in various places throughout the room; maybe one in the fridge, one on your dining room table and one in a pantry. Then, wait and see which piece of fruit goes bad first and record your results. It doesn’t take much to think of a free science experiment that you can conduct in your own home, or outdoors where you could experiment with bugs and plants.

By: Dee Schrock

Physical Science Fair Projects Made Fun and Easy

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:12:05 +0000

Physical science fair projects are for those who are interested in learning about electricity, energy, gravity, machines, magnets and how materials change and combine. There are many sub-categories that go along with physical science, so you should have no trouble finding a topic that interests you.

One interesting project is to build your own electroscope, which is really quite simple. The experiment involves taking a glass jar and covering it with a piece of cardboard that is a little bigger than the jar’s opening, sticking a nail into the middle of the cardboard, and then attaching two thin pieces of foil to the end of the nail. Another fun project is to create sparks with static electricity and experiment to find out what sort of materials work best for creating sparks by walking around on carpet and dragging your feet. This will work up some static electricity, which will allow you to create sparks when touching various materials. You can also further the experiment by seeing which type of shoes work best for creating static electricity.

Remember, when you are experimenting with sparks to use extra caution as sparks CAN result in fire, and make sure you don’t touch your computer when you are charged with static electricity, as you can damage the sensitive components inside. Also be careful not to touch any electrical appliances, although most are safely grounded. You could also experiment with static cling. See when static cling occurs, which types of materials are more prone to static cling and how you can stop it.

By: Dee Schrock