Crystal growing experiment

MATERIALS

2 pieces of 12-inch cotton yarn or string (cotton yarn wicks liquid better than acrylic yarn)

4 jars of the same size

2 saucers

washing soda (sodium carbonate) (substitute Epsom Salts if washing soda is unavailable)

baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

warm water and mixing container

PROCEDURE

Dissolve as much of the washing soda/Epsom Salts as you can in very warm water. Arrange two jars on a windowsill with a saucer in between. Fill them about half way with the supersaturated solution.

Tie a weight (such as a paperclip)to each end of a piece of yarn. Soak the yarn in the solution. Place the yarn so that each end is well inside the water solution in each jar and the middle is over the saucer. Make sure that the loop of the yarn is hanging lower than the water levels inside the jars.

Put just a touch of dry washing soda on the saucer.

Leave the jars for several days.

The solution in the jars will wick along the yarn, then drip off at the low point in the middle onto the saucer. Deposits should build up on the saucer and hang from the yarn and may eventually connect to form a "column."

Set up the second set of jars at the same time. Follow the same procedure except use the baking soda instead of the washing soda. Within 48 hours, you will notice the crystals look very different by comparison. They will look like a delicate cavern flower.

Label the first set of jars A and the second set B, or use a different drop of food coloring in each of the solutions, when mixing. This will make it easier for you to see the differences. Check the experiements daily to see the formation process.

Click HERE to go to a form which you can print out and use to record your findings.

ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE

Elephant Toothpaste

You need:

one small water or pop bottle, one funnel, hydrogen peroxide,
liquid dish soap, food coloring, one packet of yeast

Combine yeast and about 3/4 cup warm water. Set aside for five or more minutes. Add about 1/2 cup peroxide, 1/4 cup dish soap, and food coloring to the bottle. Swish around.  Finally, add yeast mixture and quickly remove funnel.  Then watch the toothpaste flow!

Warning!
If done outside, kids will feel the need to throw leaves and
clumps of grass into the pink foam.

While my children are young, my biggest goal is to make science interesting.
I try to ask my kids questions about what’s happening or see if they have a hypothesis
about what they expect to happen.   And, they usually have some fun questions for me.

“Mom, why do you call it elephant toothpaste?
You shouldn’t because it’s not toothpaste and it’s not an elephant.”

Happy experimenting!

MAGIC MILK

Fill the bottom of a small bowl with milk and let your child add several different types of food coloring to the milk.  If you are thinking that the food coloring will get all over your child’s hands, clothes, and face–you are right!  You may want to do it yourself or take several deep breaths before starting.



Next, give your child a Q-tip and let them roll the tip in some dish soap.   Now have them dip the Q-tip into the center of the food coloring and watch the magic happen!
Before we started mixing, a bug decided to begin swirling the colors in my son’s bowl.
This method was also effective. Dont forget you will need milk(whole milk works best),food coloring,q-tips,liquid dish soap

Science Experiment For Kids: Ice and Kosher Salt Sculptures

Here's a fun and simple science experiment for kids that's artful, cool (literally) and requires only some very basic supplies. And the results are downright gorgeous, or at least intriguing, depending on the colors one uses! Infact, I hesitate to call this a simple science experiment for kids, since anyone of any age who appreciates colors and the beauty of ice crystals will certainly enjoy this one! I was inspired by a post over on The Artful Parent, where an ice block made in a milk carton is used, but I decided to make a smaller castle like shape by filling the bottom half of a recycled plastic bottle with water. Ours melted leaving lovely holes on the inside, and it really looked like a crystal palace of sorts!

You'll Need:

• kosher salt (use can mix in some regular salt too, but I think the large salt crystals are more beautiful)
• food coloring or liquid water colors
• a block of ice, we made ours in the bottom portion of recycled plastic bottles
• a plate or preferable a deep tray to catch all the liquid as it melts
• an eye dropper (optional)

How To:

Cut open plastic bottle to release ice and place on plate with the bottom flower-like side up. Dump salt crystals onto the top of the ice and then with an eye dropper start placing drops of color on top. We didn't have an eye dropper, so we actually used tiny shot glasses to just pour the color over our block of ice which worked too, but it's preferable to do this in smaller quantities to at least prolong the activitity a bit!

As the ice melted we looked closed at how the salt was melting the ice and discussed how in some cold areas of the world, salt is often used on the streets during the winter to melt ice. And that's it! Enjoy. This could be a nice project to do with a group of kids at a summer get together, and come back tomorrow for another great project that you can do at the same time to use up your little pots of food coloring!

                                                                              To learn more go to http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2011/08/science-experiment-for-kids-ice-and-kosher-salt-sculptures.html

Projects

My group project will be based on Lemon Cork Rockets. My individual project is "Is Yeast alive?"