Contents

Colourful Gobstoppers

Milk on the Moove

Thirsty Flowers

Does Increasing Speed Increase Distance Travelled?

Melting Ice

Build a Weather Vane

Starch Slime

Blobs in a Bottle

Make a Paperclip Float

Bend a Bone

Make a Balloon Rocket

Shining Coins

Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano

Make a Tornado in a Bottle

Make Music with Water

Colourful Gobstoppers

Question: What will happen if I sit Gobstopper lollies in water?

Hypothesis: What is your prediction? These are some ideas from Room 10 students: The lollies will shrink; they will fizz; the water will evaporate; the gobstoppers will change colour; the colour might go into the water. Method:

Equipment 4 gobstopper lollies of different colours A waterproof container - white or clear Water at room temperature A white paper towel Steps

1. Place the container onto the paper towel. 2. Drop the gobstoppers into the container, evenly spaced. 3. Pour water into the container just covering the gobstoppers. If the

gobstoppers have moved, push them back to where they were. 4. Watch closely over 6 minutes to observe any changes.

Conclusion : What happened? Was your prediction correct? Why do you think this happened?

Fair test: What would you change if you did the experiment a second time?

Remember for it to be a fair test to compare to the first experiment you can change only one thing. Some options are: the shape of the container; the size of the container; the amount of liquid, the temperature of the liquid; the type of liquid; the type of lollies; the size of the lollies.

Milk on the Moove

Question: What happens when I drop some dishwashing liquid into milk?

Hypothesis: What is your prediction? These are some ideas from Room 10 students: The milk might turn green; some fat might go to the top of the milk; the milk will move away from the dishwashing liquid; the milk might turn into water; it might evaporate; the milk might bubble.

Method:

Equipment: Milk Saucer Dishwashing liquid Drops of food colouring Dropper Steps

1. Pour milk into the saucer. 2. Add 3 drops of different coloured food colouring – evenly spread. 3. Drop 1 drop of dishwashing liquid into the centre of the saucer. 4. Observe what happens.

Conclusion: What happened? Was your prediction correct? Why do you think this happened?

Fair test: What would you change if you did the experiment a second time?

Remember for it to be a fair test to compare to the first experiment you can change only one thing. Some options are: the shape of the container; the size of the container; the amount of milk, the temperature of the milk; the type of dishwashing liquid; use different colours.

Thirsty Flowers

Question: I wonder what will happen if I add food colouring to a vase of flowers?

Hypothesis: What is your prediction? These are some ideas from Room 10 students: The flowers will die, the water will change colour, the flowers might get some stripes, the flowers will change colour. Method:

Equipment White flowers A vase or glass Warm water Food colouring Steps

1. Pour the water into the vase 2. Place the flowers into the vase. 3. Add some food colouring – about 20 drops. 4. You can set up several colours in different vases. 5. Observe over the next 24 hours

Conclusion : What happened? Was your prediction correct? Why do you think this happened?

Fair test: What would you change if you did the experiment a second time?

Remember for it to be a fair test to compare to the first experiment you can change only one thing. Some options are: the shape of the vase; the colour of the flower; the amount of food colouring, the temperature of the water; the type of flower; use different food colouring.

What do you expect to find out?

1. Make a ramp using a piece of card and some books. 2. Put the car at the top of the ramp and let it run

down. How many straw lengths does it roll away from the bottom of the ramp?

3. Make the ramp steeper. Let the car run down. How many straw lengths does it roll now?

4. Make the ramp even steeper. How many straw lengths does it roll?

5. What happens to the distance the car travels as the ramp gets steeper?

6. Why? What conclusions can you draw?

1. What do you think will happen? 2. Place 1 ice block on a white dish and 1 ice block on a

black dish. 3. Place both side by side in the sun and observe the

changes. 4. After 1 hour what changes have occurred on each

dish? Describe these. 5. Repeat with 2 ice blocks on each dish. What changes

have occurred after one hour? Describe these. 6. What happens if you repeat these experiments with

the white dish and a different coloured one – not black?

What have you discovered? Is it what you had expected?

You will need: a sunny day, ice cubes, coloured dishes, a clock or timer.

You will need: blue tac, plastic pot and lid, 2 straws and sticks that will fit inside, coloured card, a pin, cellotape, scissors, heavy cardboard, a compass.

1. Stick a lump of blue tac to the lid of a plastic pot. Pierce a hole in the bottom of the pot and place pot on top of the lid.

2. Push a stick into one of the straws and push both through the hole in the pot and into the blue tac.

3. Mark N,S,E,W at each corner of a square of cardboard. Make a hole in the middle of the card, push onto the straw.

4. Cut 2 triangles from the card and glue one to each end of the other straw.

5. Push the pin through the straw and into the blue tac at the top of the first pin.

6. Check that the arrow spins freely when you blow on it.

7. Glue the weather vane to heavy cardboard. Use the compass to find north.

Experiments

Research

MAKE SOME STARCH SLIME TODAY!

* 1/4 cup of water

* 1/4 cup of white craft glue

* 1/4 cup of liquid starch (used for clothes)

* Food colouring (optional)

* Mixing bowl

* Mixing spoon

1. Pour all of the glue into the mixing bowl.

2. Pour all of the water to the mixing bowl with the glue.

3. Stir the glue and water together.

4. Add your food colour now - about 6 drops should do it.

5. Now add the liquid starch and stir it in.

6. It should be nice and blobby by now. As you play with your slimy concoction, it will become more stretchy

and easier to hold.

7. Explore your slimy creation and store it in a zip bag when you are not using it.

1. Does changing the amount of water or glue change the feel of the slime?

2. Do different glues make better slime?

3. How does changing the amount of each ingredient change how the slime turns out?

4. What happens to slime if it is stored out of a bag compared to in a bag?

A clean 1 litre clear soda bottle

3/4 cup of water

Vegetable Oil

Fizzing tablets (such as Alka Seltzer)

Food colouring

1. Pour the water into the bottle.

2. Use a measuring cup or funnel to slowly pour the vegetable oil into the

bottle until it's almost full. You may have to wait a few minutes for the oil

and water separate.

3. Add 10 drops of food colouring to the bottle (we like red, but any

colour will look great.) The drops will pass through the oil and then mix

with the water below.

4. Break a seltzer tablet in half and drop the half tablet into the bottle.

Watch it sink to the bottom and let the blobby greatness begin!

5. To keep the effect going, just add another tablet piece. For a true lava

lamp effect, shine a flashlight through the bottom of the bottle.

1. Does the temperature of the water affect the reaction?

2. Does the size of the bottle affect how many blobs are produced?

3. Does the effect still work if the cap is put on the bottle?

4. Does the size of the tablet pieces affect the number of blobs created?

clean dry paper clips

tissue paper

a bowl of water

pencil with eraser

1. Fill the bowl with water

2. Try to make the paper clip float...not much luck, huh?

3. Tear a piece of tissue paper about half the size of a dollar bill

4. GENTLY drop the tissue flat onto the surface of the water

5. GENTLY place a dry paper clip flat onto the tissue (try not to touch the water or the tissue)

6. Use the eraser end of the pencil to carefully poke the tissue (not the paper clip) until the tissue sinks.

With some luck, the tissue will sink and leave the paper clip floating!

How is this possible? With a little thing we scientists call SURFACE TENSION. Basically it means that there is a

sort of skin on the surface of water where the water molecules hold on tight together. If the conditions are right,

they can hold tight enough to support your paper clip. The paperclip is not truly floating, it is being held up by the

surface tension. Many insects, such as water striders, use this "skin" to walk across the surface of a stream.

A jar large enough to fit a chicken bone

A chicken bone - a leg or "drumstick" bone works best

Vinegar

1. Have a nice chicken dinner and save a bone. Leg bones work best.

2. Rinse off the bone in running water to remove any meat from the bone.

3. Notice how hard the bone is - gently try bending it. Like our bones, chicken bones have a mineral called calcium

in them to make them hard.

4.Put the bone into the jar and cover the bone with vinegar. It might be a good idea to put the lid on the jar or

cover it - let it sit for 3 days

5. After 3 days remove the bone. It should feel different. Now can rinse it off and try bending it again. Is it really a

rubber bone?

So what happened? What is so special about vinegar that it can make a hard bone squishy? Vinegar is considered a

mild acid, but it is strong enough to dissolve away the calcium in the bone. Once the calcium is dissolved, there is

nothing to keep the bone hard - all that is left is the soft bone tissue. Now you know why your mom is always trying

to get you to drink milk - the calcium in milk goes to our bones to make our bones stronger. With some effort and

you can really get the bone to bend.

1 balloon (round ones will work, but the longer "airship" balloons work best)

1 long piece of kite string (about 10-15 feet long)

1 plastic straw

tape

1. Tie one end of the string to a chair, door knob, or other support.

2. Put the other end of the string through the straw.

3. Pull the string tight and tie it to another support in the room.

4. Blow up the balloon (but don't tie it.) Pinch the end of the balloon and tape the balloon to the straw as

shown above. You're ready for launch.

5. Let go and watch the rocket fly!

So how does it work? It's all about the air...and thrust. As the air rushes out of the balloon, it creates a forward

motion called THRUST. Thrust is a pushing force created by energy. In the balloon experiment, our thrust comes

from the energy of the balloon forcing the air out. Different sizes and shapes of balloon will create more or less

thrust. In a real rocket, thrust is created by the force of burning rocket fuel as it blasts from the rockets engine -

as the engines blast down, the rocket goes up!

©2013 sciencebob.com

* A few old (not shiny) coins * 1/4 cup white vinegar * 1 teaspoon salt * Non-metal bowl * Paper towels

1. Pour the vinegar into the bowl and add the salt - stir it up. 2. Put about 5 coins into the bowl and count to 10 slowly. 3. Take out the pennies and rinse them out in some water. Admire their

shininess!

1. Will other acids (like lemon juice or orange juice) work as well?

2. Does this cleaning chemistry work on other coins?

3. Do other amounts of salt make a difference in the chemistry of the experiment.

Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano

Use baking soda and vinegar to create an awesome chemical reaction! Watch as it rapidly fizzes over the container and make sure you've got some towels ready to clean up.

What you'll need:

Baking Soda (make sure it's not baking powder) Vinegar A container to hold everything and avoid a big mess! Paper towels or a cloth (just in case)

Instructions:

1. Place some of the baking soda into your container. 2. Pour in some of the vinegar 3. Watch as the reaction takes place!

Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano

What's happening?

The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base while the vinegar (acetic acid) is an acid. When they react together they form carbonic acid which is very unstable, it instantly breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide, which creates all the fizzing as it escapes the solution.

For extra effect you can make a realistic looking volcano. It takes some craft skills but it will make your vinegar and baking soda eruptions will look even more impressive.

Make a Tornado in a Bottle

Learn how to make a tornado in a bottle with this fun science experiment for kids. Using easy to find items such as dish washing liquid, water, glitter and a bottle you can make your own mini tornado that’s a lot safer than one you might see on the weather channel. Follow the instructions and enjoy the cool water vortex you create

What you'll need:

Water A clear plastic bottle with a cap (that won't leak) Glitter Dish washing liquid

Instructions:

1. Fill the plastic bottle with water until it reaches around three quarters full.

2. Add a few drops of dish washing liquid. 3. Sprinkle in a few pinches of glitter (this will make your tornado easier

to see). 4. Put the cap on tightly.

5. Turn the bottle upside down and hold it by the neck. Quickly spin the bottle in a circular motion for a few seconds, stop and look inside to see if you can see a mini tornado forming in the water. You might need to try it a few times before you get it working properly.

Make a Tornado in a Bottle

What's happening?

Spinning the bottle in a circular motion creates a water vortex that looks like a mini tornado. The water is rapidly spinning around the centre of the vortex due to centripetal force (an inward force directing an object or fluid such as water towards the centre of its circular path). Vortexes found in nature include tornadoes, hurricanes and waterspouts (a tornado that forms over water).

Making Music with Water

Have you ever tried making music with glasses or bottles filled with water? I bet you favourite band hasn't. Experiment with your own special sounds by turning glasses of water into instruments, make some cool music and find out how it works.

What you'll need:

5 or more drinking glasses or glass bottles Water Wooden stick such as a pencil

Instructions:

1. Line the glasses up next to each other and fill them with different amounts of water. The first should have just a little water while the last should almost full, the ones in between should have slightly more than the last.

2. Hit the glass with the least amount of water and observe the sound, then hit the glass with the most water, which makes the higher sound?

3. Hit the other glasses and see what noise they make, see if you can get a tune going by hitting the glasses in a certain order.

Making Music with Water

What's happening?

Each of the glasses will have a different tone when hit with the pencil, the glass with the most water will have the lowest tone while the glass with the least water will have the highest. Small vibrations are made when you hit the glass, this creates sound waves which travel through the water. More water means slower vibrations and a deeper tone.