Make your own Slime

Things required

Elmer's glue (most kinds of white craft glue will work)

2 disposable cups

Food coloring (you pick the color)

Water

Borax Powder (available at most large grocery stores near the laundry detergent)

A plastic spoon (for stirring)

A tablespoon (for measuring)

 

Procedure:

Fill one small cup with water and add a spoonful of the Borax powder and stir it up. Then set it aside.

Fill the other small cup with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the glue.

Add three tablespoons (20 ml) of water to the glue and stir.

Add a few drops of the food coloring and stir it up until mixed.

Now the fun part...Add one tablespoons of the Borax solution you made earlier and stir well. Watch the slime form!

After the slime forms let it sit for about 30 seconds and then pull it off the spoon and play with it!

Tip: Keep your slime in a tightly closed plastic bag when you are not playing with it, and keep it away from carpet and your little sister's hair.

 

How does it work

Now for the SCIENCE part.... This POLYMER is unique because it has qualities of both a solid and a liquid. It can take the shape of its containers like a liquid does, yet you can hold it in your hand and pick it up like a solid. As you might know, solid molecules are tight together, liquid molecules spread out and break apart (drops) POLYMER molecules CHAIN themselves together (they can stretch and bend like chains) and that makes them special. Jell-O, rubber bands, plastic soda bottles, sneaker soles, even gum are all forms of polymers. The polymer you made should be kept in a sealed plastic bag when you aren't playing with it. Also, be sure to keep it away from young kids or pets who might think it's food. Have fun!

 

Answer these questions:

1. How can you make the polymer stretch the farthest?

2. Does the amount of Borax added change the slime?

3. What method of storage will make the polymer last the longest?

4. What brand of glue makes the stretchiest polymer?

5. Does the amount of water added to the glue affect the gooeyness of the slime? 

Make a simple duck call

Things required

One plastic straw from your kitchen or local fast food restaurant

Scissors

Lungs (don't worry you already have them)

 

Procedure:

1. Use your fingers to press on one end of the straw to flatten it - the flatter the better.

2. Cut the flattened end of the straw into a point (see below).

3. Flatten it out again real good.

4. Now take a deep breath, put the pointed end of the straw in your mouth and blow hard into the straw. If all goes well you should hear a somewhat silly sound coming from the straw. The smaller you are, the harder it may be to get a good sound - sometimes adults can get more of a sound thanks to their bigger lungs. If you still have trouble, try flattening it out some more or cutting the straw in half.

5. Don't stop there - try cutting the straw different sizes to see how the sound changes, or make another identical straw and add the pointed end of the new straw to the uncut end of the first straw (to make the first straw longer) The sound will be very different, (more like a moose call!) and you will have to blow even harder, but give it a try.

 

How does it work

This is science? It sure is. You see all sounds come from vibrations. That little triangle that you cut in the straw forced the two pieces of the point to VIBRATE very fast against each other when you blew through the straw. Those vibrations from your breath going through the straw created that strange duck-like sound that you heard. Now you will never be bored again when you go to a fast food restaurant! Have fun!

 

Answer these questions:

1. Which size straw call sound the most like a duck?

2. Which length of straw is the easiest to get a sound? Which is the hardest?

3. Does the diameter of the straw affect the sound it produces?

 

The exploding lunch bag

Things required

One small (sandwich size) zip-lock bag - freezer bags work best.

Baking soda

Warm water

Vinegar

Measuring cup

A tissue

 

Things required

1. Go outside - or at least do this in the kitchen sink.

2. Put 1/4 cup of pretty warm water into the bag.

3. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water in the bag.

4. Put 3 teaspoons of baking soda into the middle of the tissue

5. Wrap the the baking soda up in the tissue by folding the tissue around it.

6. You will have to work fast now - partially zip the bag closed but leave enough space to add the baking soda packet. Put the tissue with the baking soda into the bag and quickly zip the bag completely closed.

7. Put the bag in the sink or down on the ground (outside) and step back. The bag will start to expand, and expand, and if all goes well...POP! 

 

How does it work

Cool huh? Nothing like a little chemistry to to add fun to a boring afternoon. What happens inside the bag is actually pretty interesting - the baking soda and the vinegar eventually mix (the tissue buys you some time to zip the bag shut) When they do mix, you create an ACID-BASE reaction and the two chemicals work together to create a gas, (carbon dioxide - the stuff we breathe out) well it turns out gasses need a lot of room and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bag, and keeps filling the bag until the bag can no longer hold it any more and, POP! Be sure to clean up well and recycle those plastic bags...have fun!

 

Answer these questions:

1. Will different temperature water affect how fast the bag inflates?

2. What amount of baking soda creates the best reaction?

3. Which size bag creates the fastest pop?

Make a Cartesian Driver

Things required

A clear ONE liter plastic soda bottle and cap (not the big 2 liter bottle)

A ball point pen cap that does not have holes in it

Some modeling clay ("sculpey" works too)

 

Procedure:

1. Remove any labels from your bottle so that you can watch the action.

2. Fill the bottle to the very top with water.

3. Place a small pea-size piece of modeling clay at the end of the point on the pen cap. (see drawing)

4. Slowly place the pen cap into the bottle, modeling clay end first. (some water will spill out - that's okay) It should just barely float. If it sinks take some clay away. If it floats too much add more clay.

5. Now screw on the bottle cap nice and tight.

6. Now for the fun part. You can make the pen cap rise and fall at your command. Squeeze the bottle hard - the pen cap sinks...stop squeezing and the pen cap rises. With a little practice, you can even get it to stop right in the middle.

 

How does it work

Impressive, but how does it work? This eaxperiment is all about DENSITY. When you squeeze the bottle, the air bubble in the pen cap compresses (gets smaller) and that makes it more dense than the water around it. When this happens, the pen sinks. When you stop squeezing, the bubble gets bigger again, the water is forced out of the cap, and the pen cap rises.

If it doesn't work: play around with the amount of clay and be sure the bottle is filled to the very top before putting on the cap.

Soy Sauce Diver: That's right, next time you go to your local Chinese Food restaurant, ask for a packet of soy sauce (the kind they use for take out orders) Don't open it - just put it in the bottle the same way instead of the pen cap. When you squeeze the bottle the air bubble inside the packet compresses and become more dense. The bubble in the packet makes it rise and fall just like the pen cap. This sometimes works with ketchup and mustard packs too. Have fun!

 

Answer these questions:

1. Does the size of the bottle affect how hard you have to squeeze the make the diver sink?

2. Does it matter if the bottle is not filled all the way with water?

3. Does the temperature of the water affect the density of the the diver?

Build your own volcano

Things required

A volcano - Talk to an art teacher about making a volcano out of paper mache or plaster. You can also use clay or if you're in a hurry to make your volcano, use a mound of dirt outside.

A container that 35mm film comes in or similar size container.

Red and yellow food coloring (optional)

Vinegar

Liquid dish washing soap

 

Procedure:

Go outside or prepare for some clean-up inside

Put the container into the volcano at the top

Add two spoonfuls of baking soda

Add about a spoonful of dish soap

Add about 5 drops each of the red and yellow food coloring

Now for the eruption!:

Add about an ounce of the vinegar into the container and watch what your volcano come alive.

 

How does it work

A VOLCANO is produced over thousands of years as heat a pressure build up. That aspect of a volcano is very difficult to recreate in a home experiment. However this volcano will give you an idea of what it might look like when a volcano erupts flowing lava. This is a classic experiment in which a CHEMICAL reaction can create the appearance of a PHYSICAL volcano eruption. You should look at pictures of volcanoes to be familiar with the different types. (A SHIELD volcano, for example is the most common kind of volcano, and yet few people know about them) The reaction will bubble up and flow down the side like a real volcano (only much faster!) Look for videos of volcanoes erupting and be sure that you understand how heat and pressure work to really make volcanoes erupt.

 

Answer these questions:

1. Does vinegar temperature affect how fast the volcano erupts?

2. Does the shape of the volcano affect the direction the eruption travels?

3. What can be added to the "lava" to slow it down and make it more like real lava?

4. What combination of vinegar and baking soda creates the biggest eruption?

 

Bend water with Static Electricity

Things required

A dry plastic comb

An indoor faucet

A head full of clean dry hair.

 

Procedure:

1. Turn on the faucet and slowly turn down the water until you have a VERY thin stream of water flowing.

2. Take the plastic comb and brush it through your hair ten times.

3. Now slowly bring the comb close the the flowing water, (without actually touching the water) If all goes well, the stream of water should bend towards the comb! Magic you ask? Not really.

 

How does it work

When you brushed that comb through your hair, tiny parts of the atoms in your hair, called ELECTRONS, collected on the comb. These electrons have a NEGATIVE charge. Remember that, its important. Now that the comb has a negative charge, it is attracted to things that have a POSITIVE charge. It is similar to the way some magnets are attracted to certain metals.

When you bring the negatively charged comb near the faucet it is attracted to the POSITIVE force of the water. The attraction is strong enough to actually pull the water towards the comb as it is flowing! If you want to try another experiment with your comb, tear up pieces of tissue until they are as a small as you can get them...I mean really small! Then charge your comb again by brushing it through your hair, and bring it close to the tiny pieces of tissue. If the pieces are small enough they will jump off the table to the comb the same way that the water was pulled to the comb.It is all thanks to the wonders of static electricity.

 

Answer these questions:

1. Does water temperature affect how much the water bends?

2. Does the size of the comb affect the static power?

3. Does the amount of moisture in that air affect the static power? Try it after someone has taken a shower in the room.

4. Does the material that the comb is made of affect the static power?

Colour Symphony

Things required

A flat tray (like a cookie baking tray)

Food coloring (at least 3 different colors)

Whole milk - low fat milk will not work for this experiment

Liquid soap used for washing dishes

 

Procedure:

Carefully pour the milk into the tray so that it just covers the bottom

Add about 6-8 drops of different colored food coloring onto the milk in different spots

Add about 5 drops of the liquid soap onto the drops of food coloring and watch the show!

To clean up, simply pour the colored milk down the drain. (don't drink it!)

 

How does it work

So you know where the color comes from, but why milk and liquid soap? The main job of dish soap it to go after fat and break it down. Usually the fat is on dishes from the food we eat, but fat is also in whole milk. When you drop the liquid soap onto the tray, it tried to break down the fat in the milk. While it was doing that, it caused the colors to scatter and mix creating a very colorful display. Have fun!

 

Answer these questions:

1. What liquid dish soap works the best?

2. Does the shape of the tray affect the reaction?