Differentiation between properties of objects (e.g. size, shape, and weight) and
properties of materials (e.g. color, texture, hardness):
Density
Cauldron Bubbles
Making a Lava Lamp
Making a Flinker
Polishing Pennies
Floating Eggs
Compare and contrast solids, liquids, and gases based on the basic properties
of these states of matter:
Friction
Sliding vs. Rolling Friction
Give examples of how energy can be transferred from one form to another:
Burning Money
Rubber Band Car
Identify and classify objects and materials that conduct electricity and objects
and materials that are insulators of electricity:
Laws of “Attraction”
Electrified Dice
Bending Water
Fun with Static Electricity
Charge for Cheerios
Recognize that magnets have poles that repel and attract each other:
Magical Magnetism
Make an Electromagnet
Floating Paper Clip
Recognize that light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object or travels
from one medium to another, and that light can be reflected, refracted, and
absorbed:
Sky in a Jar
Making a Rainbow
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Materials
Procedure
Pour 1/8 cup of corn syrup into the clear plastic cup.
Pour 1/8 cup of water into the same cup.
Pour 1/8 cup of vegetable oil into the cup.
What do you see? Record observations.
Stir the mixture until it appears to be completely mixed.
What happens? Record observations.
The Scientific Explanation
The vegetable oil, water and corn syrup do not mix because the liquids have
different densities. Liquids with different densities do not combine because
one liquid is heavier than another; in this case all three liquids have different
densities. When these liquids are stirred or shaken they separate over a period
of time, with corn syrup on the bottom, water above the corn syrup, and
vegetable oil on the top. The bottom liquid is the heaviest, and the liquid
directly above it is the second heaviest and so on. This means corn syrup is the
heaviest liquid, water is the second heaviest liquid, and vegetable oil is the
third heaviest liquid.
Cauldron Bubbles
Materials:
¾ cup water
¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
Salt (NaCl)
1 tall, clear glass or plastic bowl
Teaspoon
Procedure
Materials
Procedure
Take a tall drinking glass and fill it about 2/3 with water.
Pour vegetable oil into the cup until the oil is 1 cm thick.
Fill a table spoon with salt.
Sprinkle the salt into the cup.
What do you see?
Scientific explanation
The oil and water didn‟t mix because they have different
polarities. Water has a charge (like a magnet) that attracts other
substances. Oil on the other hand does not have a charge. That
is why when going through water oil looks like little bubbles but
doesn‟t mix with the water.
Making a Flinker
Materials
styrofoam peanuts
paperclips of various sizes
a container of water
Procedure
Work in pairs
Obtain a few Styrofoam peanuts and paper clips
Fill a container with water
Now drop one paper clip and one Styrofoam peanut into the
container
Which object floats and which object sinks?
(Hint*) you can combine the paper clips with a foam peanut by
unraveling the paper clips and puncturing the peanut.
Materials:
Dishwashing detergent
Distilled white vinegar
Lemon juice
Cola
Distilled water
5 rusted copper pennies
5 small plastic cups or containers
1 disposable plastic spoon
A measuring spoon that measures teaspoons
A measuring cup (measures cups)
A large glass
Procedure
Pour 1 cup of water into the measuring cup and pour it into the
tall glass.
Measure ¼ teaspoon of detergent with the measuring spoon and
pour the liquid into the tall glass, too.
Stir the water and detergent in the glass with the plastic spoon.
Place a penny in each of five small plastic cups.
Pour enough lemon juice, vinegar, detergent solution, water, and
cola to completely submerge a penny into separate cups. Each cup
should have a penny and a different liquid in it.
Let the pennies sit in the liquids for five minutes. What changes in
the cups do you notice?
After the five minutes, remove each penny from the cups with the
plastic spoon, placing each coin on the work surface. Clean the
spoon after each removal.
Dry the pennies with a paper towel and note any removable
substances.
Pour the vinegar, lemon juice, water, cola, and detergent down a
sink drain.
Scientific Explanation
The pennies are made from copper, which reacts with the air to form a
thin oxide coating. This is because copper atoms are positive, and the oxygen
atoms in the air possess negative properties. Like magnets, the positive and
negative charges attract each other to form new compounds. The acids in the
cola, lemon juice, and vinegar remove the oxides, but the detergent and water
do not react with the penny surfaces. This explains the occurrence of the
substance that was removed from the penny in the vinegar with the paper
towel.
Floating Eggs
Materials
1 raw egg
1 beaker
1 teaspoon
Bag of salt
Balance (triple beam or electronic)
Procedure
The egg floats on salt water but not on cold water because of
density. Density is the measure of the compactness of a substance
― how closely the atoms of the substance are packed together.
Density is calculated with the formula mass/volume. This experiment
also demonstrates the concept of buoyancy. Buoyancy is the
concept that something with a smaller density will float on a liquid
with a higher density. This experiment demonstrates that salt water
is denser than fresh water because the egg will float in the salt
water but not in the fresh water. This experiment also shows that
items with a smaller density float on items with a higher density.
Balloon Bottle Blow-up
Materials
1 Balloon
About 40 mL of water
1 20 oz. soda bottle
Drinking straw
Vinegar
About 1 teaspoon of baking soda
Procedure
The balloon will inflate. Adding vinegar to the baking soda and
water creates a chemical reaction. The baking soda is a base, and
the vinegar is and acid. When the acid and base come into contact,
they make carbon dioxide. It rises up through the bottle and into
the balloon, filling it with the carbon dioxide. It fills up faster when
you shake the bottle because the vinegar and baking soda are mixed
together more to make more carbon dioxide. You can also use lemon
juice instead of vinegar as an acid.
Can You Blow Up A Balloon
With A Lemon?
Materials
Procedure
Materials
Procedure
When vinegar and baking soda are mixed in a container, they react
violently. The acetic acid in vinegar and the sodium bicarbonate in
baking soda combine and form carbonic acid. However, carbonic
acid is very unstable and can't hold itself together. Thus the acid
falls apart into two compounds: carbon dioxide (the gas you breathe
out) and water. The carbon dioxide produced is heavier than the air
inside the jar so it pushes the air out of the way. Since air is a gas
and is being forced out by carbon dioxide, it advances upward. The
air then pushes up on the glove and viola, the glove rises! After all
gasses break free, the resulting liquid in the jar is a mixture between
water and leftover sodium acetate. The overall reaction is as
follows:
NaHCO3 (aq) + CH3COOH (aq) → CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + CH3COONa (aq)
The Great Pepper Dispersion
Materials:
1 shallow bowl
About 3 cups of room temperature water
Pepper
1 teaspoon of hand soap
Procedure:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon powdered Tempera
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
A medium size mixing bowl
A measuring cup
A tablespoon
Optional: Food Coloring
Procedure
Materials
A 9 volt battery
Two regular number 2 pencils
(remove eraser and metal part
on the ends)
Salt (1 teaspoon)
Thin cardboard
Electrical wire
Small glass (about 1 cup size)
Water (about ¾ cup)
Tape
Procedure
The electricity from the battery is passed through the wire into the
graphite of the pencil, which then transmits the electricity into the
salt water. The electricity then splits each water molecule into its
basic components: two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.
There are twice as many bubbles on the pencil attached to the
negative side of the battery because the hydrogen atoms gather
there. Oxygen atoms accumulate on the pencil attached to the
positive side of the battery.
Pouring Water Sideways
Materials
Procedure
Materials
1 penny
1 eyedropper / pipette
1 foam cup
Concentrated dish soap
spoon
paper towels
tap water
Procedure
Materials
Plastic Cup
Water
Table salt (NaCl)
A piece of string (about one ft. long)
Procedure
Materials
Plastic cup
Olive Oil
Cold water
Procedure
Pour the olive oil into the plastic cup so that the cup is
nearly half filled.
Pour the cold water on top of the olive oil until it almost
reaches the top of the cup.
Swirl the cup in a circular way and let it sit for ten minutes.
Empty the plastic cup into the drain of a sink and throw
out the cup.
What do you observe? Do the two liquids mix? What
happens as the two liquids are left to sit?
The Scientific Explanation
There are two reasons why olive oil and water do not mix. First, oil is
lighter than water, so when the heavier water is poured in it pushes
the oil up. This is because water has a higher density. Second, water
molecules tend to attract each other because they are charged.
Olive oil molecules are not charged at all, so the water will try to
stick together as much as possible.
Sink-a-Dime
Materials:
Procedure:
Scientific Explanation
The water in the top glass didn‟t spill out all over the table because
water has a certain property called surface tension. Surface
Tension is the name given to the cohesion between molecules of a
liquid at its surface. Cohesion is the attraction of molecules of a
liquid to other molecules of the same liquid. The molecules in a
volume of water pull on the other molecules of water closest to
them, keeping them grouped together. The molecules on the
surface pull on each other, creating something like a sac that keeps
all of the molecules together. The bond angle, angle at which atoms
are bonded together in a molecule, of water is special and creates
strong cohesion between water molecules. It also creates strong
surface tension. It is strong enough to hold all the water in the glass
cup without it spilling out.
Materials
paper towels
1 medium sized clear plastic bowl/container
1 tissue
1 clear glass
1 ping pong ball
Procedure
Air, just like any other form of matter, takes up space. We can see how
air maintains space when we observe how the insides of containers
behave when submerged in water; for example, when an upside down
glass that has air in it is pushed under water, the inside of the glass
doesn‟t fill up with liquid. This is because the air that is already in the
container when it is turned over stays inside of the container and pushes
against the water that is trying to get in. This is called air pressure, and it
comes from air molecules taking up space.
Gravity-free Water
Materials
1 glass cup
1 sink
1 index card (4” x6” )
1 shallow, clear glass or plastic bowl (not metal)
Procedure
1. Place the index card on top of the cup and flip it upside down.
2. What happens to the index card when it is flipped?
3. Filled the cup with water so that the water is at the brim. This
should be done at a sink because the water can spill while it is
being filled.
4. Place the index card over the top of the cup.
5. Press down on the card so it is touching the water in every part
of the index card.
6. Flip the cup upside down again.
7. What happened to the water? Why did the water not come out
of the cup and spill on the floor?
The water is held in the cup the second time because of air
pressure. The force of air pressure is shared through every part of
the air and pushes out in every direction. It pushes back against any
force, but we normally can‟t feel this. The weight of the water is
low enough so that the water is held up by the air
Under Pressure?
Materials
Procedure
Materials
Procedure
The water transfers between the two cups because of pores in the
paper towels. Theses air holes are called capillaries. When the pores
fill with water, the fluid progresses through the wick until gravity
can overcome the intermolecular forces of the water molecules.
The hot water travels faster than the cold water because heat
causes the kinetic energy of the water molecules to increase,
speeding them up. If left for an extended period of time, the water
in both cups will transfer into the empty ones until equilibrium is
reached (the level will be the same in all four cups).
Air Currents: Heat Rises
Materials
votive candle
matches
tall plastic cylinder (one open end)
Procedure
We know that fire needs oxygen in order to stay lit. With that,
you might think that the small hole in the top of the tube provides
an inlet of oxygen to feed the flame and sustain it; however, this
assumption neglects one key factor which is the point of this
experiment. Heat rises. Why? The difference between hot air and
cooler air is the amount of energy the atoms have. Hot air
molecules have more energy (making them hot) and the more energy
the atoms have, the faster they move around thus taking up more
space even though there‟s the same amount of atoms. This makes it
less dense and lower densities “float” on top of higher densities.
Now that we know why heat rises, we can understand that the
rising heat from the candle in the cylinder of this experiment flows
through the hole in the top. This air current prevents enough air
from entering into the tube through the hole. This means that the
flame will only stay lit until the oxygen in the tube runs out and then
it will go out. Lifting the tube allowed air to flow up into the tube,
rather than fighting through the small hole and it fed the flame to
make it grow again.
Air Pressure
Materials
1 potato
2 straws
Procedure
Take the straw and make sure that the top hole that will not
be injected into the potato is not covered.
Insert the other end of the straw into the potato. Can it be
inserted into the potato?
Remove the first straw from the potato and take the second
straw. Take the second straw and this time make sure that
the top is covered.
Inject this straw into the potato. Can this straw go through
the surface of the potato?
Remove this straw from the potato.
The Scientific Explanation
Air pressure is the main factor that affects this experiment. When
trying to insert the first straw into the potato (when the hole is not
covered), it will not go into the potato. This is because the air
molecules freely pass through the straw and do not put pressure on
the potato. The straw alone is unable to break through the surface
of the potato. When the hole is covered on the straw, the air
molecules inside are compressed, increasing the pressure. This
increase in pressure puts more pressure on the potato when trying
to insert it into the potato. The pressure keeps building up until
eventually the straw has to go through the surface of the potato
due to an overload in pressure.
Candles and Air Pressure
Materials
Pan
Water
3 birthday candles
Aluminum foil
Clear glass cup
Matches
Procedure
Materials
1 hard-boiled egg
small piece of scrap paper
matches
glass milk bottle
Procedure
Air molecules move farther apart when they are heated and
this causes air to expand. While the fire is burning in the bottle
without the egg on top, air is allowed to expand and escape. When
the egg is placed on top, it traps the expanded air. Air condenses
when it cools. As the air condenses, space needs to be filled inside
the bottle and so a vacuum is created. The egg is pulled into the
vacuum and falls into the bottle.
Oobleck
Materials
1 sheet of newspaper
1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag
1/4 cup water
1 plastic spoon
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 magnifying glass (optional)
Procedure
Materials
1 ½ cups cornstarch
1 cup warm water
Shallow Plastic container
Procedure
As you saw from the experiment, oobleck acts like a solid when you
work with it quickly, and acts like a liquid when you work slowly.
The reason for this is because of the molecules that make up
cornstarch. Molecules are the building blocks of most substances
and are too tiny to see with your eyes or even a magnifying glass.
The molecules in the cornstarch are starches called amylose. The
amylose is made of long chains of atoms, which are even smaller
than molecules. When you mix the cornstarch with the water, the
amylose molecules get all mixed up in the water. When you put
pressure on the water quickly, the molecules get all tangled up and
don‟t let your hand through. When you put pressure on the oobleck
slowly, the amylose molecules are able to move away and let your
hand through. This makes the oobleck feel more like a solid.
Cornstarch, Water, and
Oobleck
materials
Materials:
Procedure:
Pour the 3 tbsp of baking soda into the bottom of the bowl.
Shake the bowl in a clockwise motion to evenly distribute the
baking soda across the bottom.
Place the two candles, wick side up into the bowl as close to
the center as possible.
Light the two candles and wait for about 10 seconds.
Pour the vinegar into the bowl (not onto the candles, just the
baking soda)
Observe what happens to the flames.
Materials
Procedure
If you have ever seen party balloons left out overnight, you may
notice that the balloons are smaller in the morning. You may even
notice the balloons becoming larger during the day. When
substances are warmed, the particles in those substances expand,
and take up more space. As the objects cool the particles take up
less space. This experiment shows a similar situation using a water
bottle. When you release the steam from the bottle, there is less air
inside the bottle, and the particles are just moving around quickly
enough to keep the bottle full. As the water cools, the air inside
the bottle takes up less space, and the plastic contracts. If you
were to reheat the bottle, it would regain its original shape.
Friction !
Materials
Procedure
Work in pairs.
Put the Yellowbooks next to each other.
Layer the pages of one Yellowbook into the second
Yellowbook one page apart.
Continue layering as many pages as possible (200 pages would
be enough to overcome the pulling power of 2 children).
Lift the Yellowbooks and try to pull them apart.
Did the Yellowbooks give in?
Procedure
Materials
Procedure
The alcohol has a high vapor pressure relative to water and thus
moves towards the top of the solution, effectively coating the
water, which is in turn coating the bill. When the alcohol combusts,
the heat energy it releases is not enough to evaporate the water.
The bill is insulated from the heat by the water and does not reach
a high enough temperature to combust. When all of the alcohol has
combusted, the waterlogged bill is unharmed.
In simple terms, the water coats the bill and insulates it from the
alcohol. Since water does not burn, the money will not either even
though the alcohol around it will. The flames you see are the
alcohol burning, not the money.
Rubber Band Car
Materials
Corrugated cardboard
4 CDs
4 ¼ inch washers
2 wooden skewers
Poster putty
Rubber band
Scissors
Ruler
Procedure
Materials
Procedure
First, go to a sink and turn the cold knob until a slow and
steady stream of water is pouring out.
Then, take the plastic ruler and run it through your hair
twenty to thirty times
Now, making sure not to touch the ruler to anything, slowly
move the edge of the ruler, which is farthest from your hand,
towards the running water that is near the bottom of the sink.
Watch as the water starts to bend toward the ruler! Why do
you think that works?
The Scientific Explanation
Well, everything that you see around you is made of lots and lots of
tiny little things called atoms. Each of these atoms has protons,
which are positively charged, and electrons, which are negatively
charged. When the atoms of an object have more electrons, then
the object also has a negative charge. When the atoms have more
protons, then the object is positively charged. Things that have
opposite charges are attracted to each other. When you run the
ruler through your hair, it makes some of the electrons in your hair
“jump” to the ruler. That causes the ruler have more electrons,
which means it has a negative charge. Water is made of groups of
two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom which have combined to
make molecules. Each water molecule has a positively charged side
near the hydrogen and a negatively charged side near the oxygen.
The positive sides of the water molecules are attracted to
negatively charged things, like the ruler. Because of this attraction,
the water bends when the ruler moves closer to it.
Electrified Dice
Materials
Procedure
When you rub the wool on the glass, you are generating what is
called static electricity. This causes a charge to build up on the
glass. The foam dice don‟t have a charge, but they are still
attracted to the charged glass. This attraction causes the dice to
have an excited state, which makes them move around. Even after
you stop rubbing the wool over the glass, the charge stays for some
time.
Bending Water
Materials
Latex balloon
Faucet with running tap water
Stop watch or a clock with the seconds hand
A volunteer with long hair
Procedure
Materials
1 tissue
1 Piece of printer paper
a pair of scissors
a ruler
any one of the following materials: cotton cloth, wool cloth,
nylon cloth, animal fur, human hair
a clock/watch/timer
Procedure
Cut 3 squares out of the tissue. One .5 by .5 inch, one 1 by 1
inch, and one 2 by 2 inch.
Now, cut 3 square of the same size out of the piece of printer
paper.
Place the squares onto a dry surface. Make sure that they are
at least one inch apart.
Rub the comb against the cloth/fur/hair for 10 seconds.
Immediately touch the comb to the .5 by .5 inch tissue square
and lift the comb into the air. Record how many seconds that
the tissue remains in the air.
Rub the comb against the cloth/fur/hair for another 10
seconds.
Now, touch the comb to the 1 by 1 inch tissue and lift the
comb. Record how many seconds that the tissue remains in the
air.
Repeat this process with the 2 by 2 inch tissue square and the
various sized printer paper squares.
What effects did the size and type of paper have on the time
that the paper squares remained in the air?
All objects are made up of tiny particles called atoms. In each atom,
there are even smaller particles called protons and electron. Atoms
of different objects can exchange electrons, which causes a change
in the balance of protons and electrons. An object that has more
protons than electrons has a positive charge, and an object that has
more electrons than neutrons has a negative charge, and n object
that has an equal number of protons and electrons it has a no
charge and is called neutral. Objects with like charges repel each
other, objects with opposite charges repel each other, and an
object with any charge will attract an object with no charge
(neutral). In this experiment, the comb was given a charge when it
was rubbed with another material (whether it was positive or
negative depends on the material that the comb was rubbed
against). When the comb was charged, it is said to have static (not
moving) electricity because the comb had electricity from the
charging, but the electricity was not allowed to flow because the
comb is an insulator (an object that does not allow the flow of
electricity). Because the comb was charged and the paper was
neutral, the comb was able to pick up the paper through electrical
attraction.
Charge for Cheerios!
Materials
scissors
thread
10-20 Cheerios or other doughnut-shaped cereal
balloon
sweater
tape
Procedure
Materials
60-70 paperclips
1 bar magnet
1 horseshoe magnet
1 circular magnet
1 inch piece of magnetic tape
Procedure
Magnets have two poles, north and south. North poles repel north
poles and attract towards south poles. South poles repel south
poles and attract north poles. Magnets produce a magnetic field
that extends out from the north pole and curves back towards the
south pole. Within its magnetic field, a magnet can affect other
materials. For example it can hold paper clips when they are within
the magnetic field.
Materials
Procedure
Strip the insulation from the end of the wire, and tape it to
the head end of the nail, keeping some length of wire between
the end of the wire and the nail.
Begin coiling the wire down the nail. Try to wrap the coils
together as tightly as possible.
When you get close to the tip of the nail, start coiling the wire
back up the nail (it‟s okay to make coils on top of each other).
Finish coiling when you make 2 or 3 layers of coils.
Tape the final coil down and cut the wire from the spool.
Make sure you have enough wire to connect both ends to the
battery. Strip the insulation from this end as well.
Tape the ends of the wire to the ends of the battery. If the
battery starts to get very hot, remove one end from the
battery for a while.
Move the tip of the nail near the paper clips. They should be
magnetically attracted to the nail.
Experiment:
a. What happens when you use more layers of coils (4, 5, 6,
or more)?
b. What happens when you use fewer layers of coils (1 or 2)?
c. What happens when you switch which ends are attached
to which ends of the battery?
Materials
String
Magnet
Scissors
Paper clip
Scotch tape
Clean glass jar with lid
Procedure:
Take the scissors and string. Cut a piece of string about the
length of the jar.
Next, tie the string to the paper clip with a simple knot. The
string and paper clip should now be a little less than the length
of the jar. (It may be necessary to cut off some of the extra
string).
Take a piece of tape and wrap it around the end of the string.
Take a second piece and make it double-sided (so both sides
are sticky). Place one side on the bottom of the jar.
Place the string and paper clip onto the other sticky side of
the tape on the bottom of the jar.
Take the magnet and tape it to the lid of the jar.
Now, secure the lid and turn the jar upside down. The string
hangs down near the magnet. Now turn it right side up again
and notice what happens to the string. It will be suspended in
mid-air.
Materials:
a small mirror
a piece of white paper or cardboard
water (H2O
a container: a large shallow bowl or pan
a flashlight
Procedure:
Fill up the pan or bowl with water until the water is about an
inch from the container‟s rim.
Place the container on a flat surface like a table or the floor.
Turn off the lights in the room and close the blinds if possible.
One person should hold the mirror in the water at about a 45o
angle.
A second person should hold the white paper in front of and
above the container. Another person should turn on the
flashlight and shine it on the mirror in such a way that the
reflection of the light shines onto the piece of paper. Notice
the rainbow that appears on the piece of paper.
The Scientific Explanation
Many people have seen a prism. A prism splits light into the colors
of the rainbow. In this experiment, light is passing from the water to
air, which causes its speed and direction to change. This is called
refraction. It causes the colors of the rainbow to become apparent.
Sky in a Jar
Materials
Procedure
Materials
Procedure
Place a container near a white wall (if you are using paper tape
white paper on to the wall.)
Take the container and you use and fill it with water until it is
three quarters of the way full.
Take a small mirror and place it in the bowl so some of the mirror
is in water and some of it is not. Make sure the mirror is facing
away from the wall.
Now shine the flashlight so the light is shining on the part of the
mirror that is out of the water, and the part of the mirror that
is out of the water.
Now turn off the lights to the room and close the shades
Observe a rainbow on the wall
Once you are finished take the mirror out of the bowl and pour
the water out of the bowl into a sink. Also turn the flashlight
off.
The Scientific Explanation
Materials
Procedure
Place the lid of your container upside down on the table, turn
on your flashlight, and place your flashlight on top of the lid so
that it is aiming straight upward.
Enclose the flashlight within the container by lowering the main
body of the container over it and attaching it to the lid
underneath.
Drill a small (3/16 inch) hole in the piece of aluminum centered
about a ½ inch from the end of the piece.
Bend the aluminum into a right angle 1½ inches from the end the
hole was drilled near.
Tape one end of the piece of aluminum to the container so that
the hole on the other end is centered about 1 inch over the top
of the container.
Place a drop of water in the hole in the aluminum. The drop will
stay there suspended.
Notes
The aluminum may have to be moved up and down or bent up and down to focus the
microscope.
Make sure that the light is not too bright or it might make the object being viewed
look very blurry.
Materials
Procedure
Definitions