Learn

Here are 2 different projects to help demonstrate some of the physics of sound:

What you need:

Project 1

• 12 plastic ‘Easter’ eggs
• Small items such as rice, paper clips, marbles, pennies, etc.

Full Article »

The world is full of CD cases, although iPod-like devices that store music on hard and flash drives are slowly making the CD go the way of the LP, and 8 track and cassette. But before they go - here is a nice way to re-use your old CD cases and learn something about light diffraction too.

Full Article »

When Silly Putty was invented in the 1950s, space travel was still a futuristic dream. It would be almost 20 years before man ventured farther than the earth’s orbit. In 1926, Robert H. Goddard had launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. It flew only 2.5 seconds, climbed 41 feet and landed 184 feet away in a cabbage patch, but it laid the foundation for a technology that would eventually take man to the moon.

Full Article »

Why is the sky blue? The answer, my friend, lies in a glass of clean water.

Try this experiment to answer what is one the signature questions of childhood (and how many adults really, truly know the answer?).

The answer involves using a flashlight in a dark room, which brings some drama to the question and a setting sure to invite cosmic speculation on the part of all those participating.

Full Article »

How do glaciers or large bodies of ice melt? This experiment lets you simulate the process and gain a much better understanding of how frozen combinations of ice, stone and sand behave in the real world.

Full Article »

Does money dance?

Can money make people dance?

This experiment tries to answer the first question only.

The answer to the second is probably best discovered by booking tickets to a show or ballet in your city or a nearby town. If either proves difficult, watching a musical is another way of answering the question.

That could be almost as much fun as doing an experiment!

Full Article »

• Tap water
• Rubbing alcohol (do not drink this)
• Clear, narrow-necked plastic bottle (11-ounce water bottles work well)
• Food coloring
• Clear plastic drinking straw
• Modeling clay

1. Pour equal parts of tap water and rubbing alcohol into the bottle, filling about 1/8 to a 1/4 of the bottle.
2. Add a couple of drops of food coloring and mix.
3. Put the straw in the bottle, (DO NOT DRINK MIXTURE) but don’t let the straw touch the bottom.
4. Use the modeling clay to seal the neck of the bottle, so the straw stays in place.
5. Now hold your hands on the bottle and watch what happens to the mixture in the bottle.

Results

You just made a thermometer, congratulations!! Like all thermometers, the mixture expanded when it was warmed (by the body heat from your hands). When the liquid expanded it no longer fit in the bottom of the bottle. As the alcohol expanded the colored mixture moved up through the straw.

Keep an eye on your thermometer to see how it changes throughout the day. Maybe you could place it by a window to see it warmed by the sunlight in the day. What happens when it gets colder at night? Does wind affect the thermometer? If you want to accurately read the temperature, you will need to use a real thermometer that is carefully calibrated for temperature changes. This one is just for fun - just to see how a thermometer works.

When you are finished with your thermometer, don’t forget to clean up thoroughly. Show your parents that you are responsible.

Inside or out, how do we know what the temperature is? We use a thermometer. The word “thermometer” comes from the Greek “therme” for heat and the Latin word “metrum”, meaning to measure. And that’s just what a thermometer does, it measures the heat. Hot or cold, here’s a project you can do to see just how a thermometer works.

Full Article »

If you’ve been inspired by the story of the first telephone call, you might want to make your own telephone and experiment just like Bell and Watson. See how to get started with the instructions below. Then check out the Experiments List!

Full Article »

Wonder why cans take up so much space? As heavy as they are when full, they are light and bulky when done with. What if you could make them really tiny, saving on recycling space? What if you could shrink them to a fraction of their volume? Try this experiment to see how this can happen.

Full Article »

Hey everybody! Guess what? This week we’re gong to learn how to make a bird feeder. Aren’t you psyched? Birds are fun to watch.

The best thing about a bird feeder may be in the variety of brids it attracts, types that you may never have seen before in your garden or area. You might also be surprised at how quickly the presence of birds may attract other creatures - like cats!

Full Article »

Earthquakes happen around the world all the time. Most of them are tiny, and are barely felt although seismologists have ways of tracking and measuring them. Sometimes, big ones strike though. What lies behind - or rather, beneath - earthquakes? Here is a great way to see how an earthquake happens.

Full Article »