Yours FREE:
e-Science Activities & Experiments!

Welcome!

Today, you'll have a chance to try out a collection of super-fun science activities and projects (yes, your kids will have a total blast doing them even though it's summer). I've tried to make it super simple 🙂

Just follow the steps below and your kids will be having a great time AND learning real science in less than 5 minutes.

Okay, so before you dive into these experiments, you'll want to be sure you're registered for next week's free online video tele-class. This is a mini-version of part of the live private science workshop I'm doing in a couple of weeks. And, I'll be giving away hundreds of dollars' worth of science kits for free.

So go ahead and get started with "Step 1" below right now (it will open in a new window).

Step 1. Select an Activity

Experiment #1: Gummy Bears & Lasers

Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? If you've ever heard these questions and have been stumped for an answer, then this lab is for you.

Gummy bears are a great way to learn about one of the most common misconceptions about light. The misconception is this: most students think that color is a property of matter instead of the light itself.

For example if I place shiny red apple of a sheet of paper in the sun, you’ll see a red glow on the paper around the apple. Where did the red light come from? Did the apple add color to the otherwise clear sunlight? Nope!

Let's do an experiment to find out what is really going on.

Materials:

• flashlight
• laser
• red and green gummy bear

When the light hits something, it gets absorbed and either converted to heat, reflected back like on a mirror, or transmitted through like through a window.

Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow mixed together. Prisms un-mix white light from the sun into its different colors. So why is it that different objects appear different colors?

It’s really hard for kids to understand that when you see a red apple, what’s really happening is that most of the wavelengths that make up white light are absorbed by the apple, and only the red one is reflected. That’s why the apple is red.

When you shine your flashlight light through the red gummy bear, the red gummy is acting like a filter and only allowing red light to pass through, and it absorbs all the other colors. The light coming from out the back end of the gummy bear is monochromatic, but it’s not coherent, not all lined up or in synch with each other. What happens if you shine your flashlight through a green gummy bear? Which color is being absorbed or not absorbed now?

Now remember, the gummy bear does NOT color the light, since white light is made up of all visible colors, red and green light were already in there. The red gummy bear only let red through and absorbed the rest. The green gummy bear let green through and absorbed the rest.

Now…take out your laser. There’s only one color in your laser, right? Shine your laser at your gummy bears. Which gummy bear blocks the light, and which lets it pass through? Why is that? I’ll give you one minute to experiment with your gummy bears and your lasers.

In the image above, the two on the left are green gummy bears, and the two on the right are red gummy bears. The black thing is a laser. The dot on the black laser tells you what color the laser light is, so the laser on the far left is a red laser shining on a green gummy bear. Do you see how the light is really visible out the back end of the gummy bear in only two of the pictures? What does that tell you about light and how it gets transmitted through an object?

Experiment #2: Laundry Soap Crystals

Can we really make crystals out of soap? You bet! These crystals grow really fast, provided your solution is properly saturated. In only 12 hours, you should have sizable crystals sprouting up.

You can do this experiment with either skewers, string, or pipe cleaners. The advantage of using pipe cleaners is that you can twist the pipe cleaners together into interesting shapes, such as a snowflake or other design. (Make sure the shape fits inside your jar.)

Materials: 

• pipe cleaners (or string or skewer)
• cleaned out pickle, jam, or mayo jar
• water
• borax (AKA sodium tetraborate)
• adult help, stove, pan, and stirring spoon

Here's what you do: 

1. Cut a length of string and tie it to your pipe cleaner shape; tie the other end around a pencil or wooden skewer. You want the shape suspended in the jar, not touching the bottom or sides.

2. Bring enough water to fill the jar (at least 2 cups) to a boil on the stove (food coloring is fun, but entirely optional).

3. Add 1 cup of borax (aka sodium tetraborate or sodium borate) to the solution, stirring to dissolve. If there are no bits settling to the bottom, add another spoonful and stir until you cannot dissolve any more borax into the solution. When you see bits of borax at the bottom, you’re ready. (You’ll be adding in a lot of borax, which is why we asked you to get a full box). You have made a supersaturated solution. Make sure your solution is saturated, or your crystals will not grow.

4. Wait until your solution has cooled to about 130 deg F (hot to the touch, but not so hot that you yank your hand away). Pour this solution (just the liquid, not the solid bits) into the jar with the shape. Put the jar in a place where the crystals can grow undisturbed overnight, or even for a few days. Warmer locations (such as upstairs or on top shelves) is best.

DO NOT EAT!!! Keep these crystals out of reach of small kids, as they look a lot like the Rock Candy Crystals.

Experiment #3: Bat Kite

Want to build a kite in less than 5 minutes? This kite is basically a paper airplane on a string. It’s fast and easy to make. The best thing about this kite is that it needs next to no wind to get airborne, so you can simply run with it to get it up in the sky.

You’ll need to get: 11”x17” sheet of paper (you can also tape two 8.5″ x 11″ sheets together to make this size), 10 feet of string, two donut stickers (also known as page reinforcement stickers), a stapler, and a straw.

Take an 11×17-inch sheet of paper and fold it in half so it now becomes 8 ½ x 11 inches. Curl one corner tip to the center fold, 2 inches from the same end. Do the same with the other side, and secure the fold with a staple. Two inches below the staple, punch a hole near the center fold and attach donut stickers (to keep string from tearing through the paper). Attach a good length of string and run! This kite works with little-to-no wind. Just run!

Note: To make a string handle, cut a straw in half and thread one of the pieces onto the end of the string, looping the free end back onto the main line. Wind the excess string around the straw.

Teaching Tip: When we teach kids how to make this kite, we punch holes both on both sides of the staple and ask the kids which hole works best.

Troubleshooting: The bat kite needs very little wind to fly – in fact, most kids get their kites airborne just by running. Depending on where the staple is located, you can place your string forward or aft of (behind) the staple. Encourage kids to test and find their own answer, but our recommendation is to shoot for the aft hole 3.5 inches from the nose and the staple 1.5 inches from the nose. This kite is very forgiving about measurements.

Why does this kite fly? This kite soars because you’re holding the kite at the correct angle to the wind. The wind flows both over and under the kite, and with this shape, the air flying over the kite is traveling a bit faster than the wind under the kite. Recall that higher speeds mean lower pressure. The underside of the kite now has a relatively higher pressure, thus pushing the kite upwards into the sky.

Can I add string to any paper airplane and make it into a kite? Anytime someone asks us a question like this, we respond with a very enthusiastic: “I don’t know. Try it!” Then we offer enough tools for the job with a smile. We want kids experimenting with new ideas (even if we’re not entirely sure if they will work). So go ahead, roll up your sleeves, test out your ideas, and prepared to learn.