Summer Science Fun!

While visiting family, we did a few, fun, science projects.  Since we're in the dog days of summer, here are a few fun projects for elementary aged children.  (Teens can help and look up the underlying science principles.  See if they can explain the ideas to the little ones.). First up is Flubber; wikihow has three recipes.  Use tempera paint instead of food coloring; it's cheaper.  What happens when you substitute clear glue for white glue?  Can you get the mixture into a bouncy ball?  Next are water beads.  These expand in water.  What happens if you put them in tap water, or salt water, or distilled water?  How about soda or vinegar?  Ghost crystals are a type of discrepant event using water beads.  (If you scroll down the page of this link, Educational Innovations has a lesson for ghost crystals.). Make sidewalk chalk or sidewalk paint. Make the chalk or chalk paint 3D.  (The 3D effect is a result of color theory.  Warm colors approach and cool colors recede.  Try layering warm and cool colors or putting them side by side.). One last idea: Cartesian divers. This one is with a pen cap.  Steve Spangler has one with a medicine dropper.  Try making a diver using a packet of ketchup.  When I'm making Cartesian divers at a camp or with a large group, I use pipets and nuts for ballast, like these materials from Educational Innovations.  Here are a few tips for divers.  Use a one liter soda bottle or stiff water bottle filled to the brim with cold tap water.  Set up a bucket of cold water to test your diver before putting it into your bottle.  A good diver will immediately dive down to the bottom and reimerge to the surface with a bobble.  Seal the cap tightly and squeeze the sides of the bottle with both hands.  A good diver is easy to squeeze to make it dive.  Won't the kids have fun?