Fun Experiments?

[Captain Ahab]

Been thinking about doing some neat science experiments with my kids here and there. What ones have you guys done that you thought were good?

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[Davy Crockett]

That's good quality time and a way to culture young minds. Too many to mention here and thinking back most involved gun powder or other explosives and were probably not safe but we survived. Building simple electric motors was pretty entertaining though.

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Depends what they are interested in but if they like batteries and toys have them take old toys apart that quit working and make gadgets with the components buy them a cheap ohm meter and teach them how to use it.

 

[Auggie]

Grow a garden and put on different levels of fertilizer. Take something like potatoes and plant 3 or 4 10 ft rows. Have one with 0 fertilizer, then 75, 150, and 225 lbs N/ac. Harvest the potatoes and weigh the different rows. Then draw up a yield vs. nitrogen curve on excel to determine future nitrogen applications.

 

[CatDaddy]

For some reason, I'm a fan of the tried and true vinegar and baking soda volcano....It's so immediate and such a good illustration of a base and an acid reacting. Second place (though put on your safety goggles) is Coke and Mentos. Creates a strong spout of Coke out of the bottle that's more than impressive. YouTube them both if you're not familiar!

Otherwise, just teach them the magical way to catch 30"+ walleyes...or how to hold them if they are smaller to look so much bigger ;:;bowdown

 

[JayKay]

I'm not sure where one buys them (I'd suppose online somewhere) but a simple REAL microscope is awesome. Everything is cool when it's viewed really close up.

 

[guywhofishes]

I'm not sure where one buys them (I'd suppose online somewhere) but a simple REAL microscope is awesome. Everything is cool when it's viewed really close up.

THAT - stereoscope (two eyepieces) with the ability to capture images on smartphone. OMG for handy too - even for removing slivers, etc.

Fish scales, every insect on the driveway, you name it - becomes an African safari into the underworld.

 

[KDM]

The egg in salt water vs. fresh water floating thing is pretty easy and cool to do. The opposing magnetic fields is a good one. The baking soda/vinegar blow up thing is fun. The microscope idea is FANTASTIC!! The phototropism one is good. That's where you put light on the side of a plant and it will grow towards the light. The water displacement one is good. Take a lb of clay and leave it as a block and it sinks in water. Make a boat out of it and it floats. You should like that one (grin). The difference in boiling points between salt water and fresh. The rainbow prism is fun. Put some wheat on wet paper towels and you can see how seeds germinate. The oil and water don't mix, but then do if you add detergent one is good. I have a few more, but that should get you going. Have Fun!!!

 

[Auggie]

For some reason, I'm a fan of the tried and true vinegar and baking soda volcano....It's so immediate and such a good illustration of a base and an acid reacting. Second place (though put on your safety goggles) is Coke and Mentos. Creates a strong spout of Coke out of the bottle that's more than impressive. YouTube them both if you're not familiar!

Otherwise, just teach them the magical way to catch 30"+ walleyes...or how to hold them if they are smaller to look so much bigger ;:;bowdown

There are some decent microscopes for $30 that you can plug into a computer. I bought one and use for teaching about soil biology. Now I can't wait for ice fishing to see to miniature walrus.

 

[guywhofishes]

I think you better wait a few years BUT.....

 

[Wallike]

Kids really like these too.


https://www.homesciencetools.com/article/balloon-rocket-car-project/

 

[LBrandt]

Anything you did'nt have as a kid that you think is cool now.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I think you better wait a few years BUT.....

Wow!

 

[guywhofishes]

ha ha ha... makes ME want one

 

[Wags2.0]

I think you better wait a few years BUT.....

Holy shit. I need that

 

[guywhofishes]

somewhere in the future there are flies, wasps, and other irritating flying insects crapping their pants in fear

 

[Lycanthrope]

Make your own tannerite, its not hard...

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Pour molten aluminum down an ant hill and then excavate it...

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inflate a balloon with hydrogen and float it from a string, then light it on fire...

 

[Taylorman55]

Boil some water in a pot this winter. When it's really cold throw said boiling water into the air outside and watch the magic happen. Simple, yet it always makes me smile even as an adult.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Get a prism or crystal, explain how white light actually has all the colors of the rainbow in it. Pretty NEAT!

 

[SDMF]

Singing water glasses. The larger the opening is at the top the better as they can "see" the sound in the ripples. I haven't done it but I bet you could record in slo-mo on a phone or P&S camera, upload to computer and have some pretty cool video.

 

[Trapper62]

When I taught science the kids always loved the osmosis lab, I was into edible science. When your local store gets its meat in it usually comes with dry ice. Get that from them, place it in a cooler, cardboard on top of the ice and seedless grapes on top of the cardboard. Close the cooler and the next day they will all be carbonated, so when the kids ate them they fizzed. Perfect way to show how osmosis works and it is a cheap lab and edible besides.