UVA Physics Lab Collection

 I don’t teach Physics.  Period.  I can manage Physical Science; Physics is a bridge too far.  My husband, Rob, teaches Physics.  My job is to find labs.  This is not small challenge because the Co-op classroom is in our basement.  However, a few years ago I ran into some UVA experiments: Book 1 Light and Optics, Book 2 Electricity and Magnetism, and Book 4 Energy.  I have no idea what or where Book 3 is.  

Book 1 Light and Optics has home labs. There are loads of pix to help you set up any number of optics labs.  This collection is the best of the bunch.  

Book 2 has both easy labs and experiments which require more specialized equipment.

Book 4 looks a lot like Book 2 with a few additions.

See an ad—find the lab! Walk on Balloons

Yes, another ad! This time, the balloons are taped on to a table and inverted.  Can you stand on the table and NOT burst any balloons?  This is  Balloon Boarding.  You walk on balloons.  (Don’t ask how long I searched to find the ad again.)

  (It’s an ad from Teacher Priscilla Martins.  I just know some of you are going to buy her experiments.  I’m struggling not to judge.). Basically, walking on a board with balloons under is much like Walking on Eggs.  I think my kiddos will like walking on balloons next summer at Camp.

Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics: Slime

 Lesson 4 in Apologia’s Chemistry and Physics textbook mentions polymers.  The project to grow crystals. But these are younger kiddos!  We’re making slime, one polymer kiddos can understand.  I happen to like making slime and have a few recipes: Stretchy Hair Gel Slime, Hair Conditioner Slime, and  these slime recipes from HST.  

Do you want a little background?  ACS The Joy in Toys has a bit of background about polymers.  Playing with Polymers and teacher’s notes comprise a lesson,   Please note that the links in the teacher’s guide are broken.  However, the notes can guide you if you want details about how to present the polymers materials.

National Chemistry Week is around the corner. Are you ready?

 National Chemistry Week  (NCW) coincides with Mole Day!  NCW’s 2026 theme is construction.  My Co-op Chemistry class focuses on Mole Day; however, there are always interesting labs in among the NCW resources. 

1. Celebrating Chemistry is designed for kiddos, ages 9-12. Scroll down the page to see previous themes and magazine issues, such as The Healing Power of Chemistry or Fast or Slow.  Each issue has articles, activities, and a puzzle—another instant lesson.  

2.  NISE offers a Let’s Do Chemistry Kit! NISE has more activities, such as the Atoms to Atoms Card Game.  The NISE resources are organized into kits for presenters doing outreach events in conjunction with National Chemistry Week.  Electroplating might fit into a Construction theme.

3. Want more?  LabXchange has a host of resources, including videos, simulations, and guides, such as Turning Milk into Plastic.

4. Let’s look at Construction resources, too.  Here is a poster..  Do you feel very ambitious?  Look over Material Science Classroom Kit: Shape Memory, Candy Fiber Pull, Bobby Pins, Concrete, and Chocolate, part of  Free Lessons, many cited in the slide deck. 

5.  Kiddos can make  Composites, float cement, Engineered Concrete, 5 Summer Concrete Projects,  or Concrete Composites.  Here are cement facts. These are the resources I associate with the Construction theme.  These resources can inspire a new direction to science at your house!

Mole Day is October 23rd! Are you ready?

 National Mole Day is less than a month away.  Of course there’s a website!  They finally announced their theme: Molar Cup.  Head here to the Homeschool Scientist’s Mole Day page for ideas: puzzles, demos, and jokes—all typical fare to celebrate Mole Day.  Here are more ideas if you want a complete Histiry of Mole Day and more ideas to go OTT. 

We fabricate moles. The best one wins Tootsie-Mole pops. You need the classic Mole Day pattern.  Below is a video.  The boys are always stumped.  If you use felt, just hot-glue the mole together.  Dollar Tree sells felt and trim.  I save fabric just for moles. Sometimes the kiddos set up scenes.  You could plan an entire Mole Day Celebration, including cookies or cake.  I like to contain my celebration to moles, cookies, and cake.  I’m trying to teach!  Try your own celebration!  Make Chem more fun!

Microscale Chemistry

Are you teaching Apologia’s Chemistry course?  Did you look at the optional  MicroChem Experiment Lab Kit?  New kits are very expensive.  Even used kits are expensive.  You don’t need a kit to do microscale!  (Take a look at this Blog Post for even more information.)

I’m on a quest to locate microchem, microscale, and small scale labs and lab equipment.  Why?  Microchem is safer and can be cheaper.  Start here and here with these microscale introductions.  Here is Bob Worley’s YouTube page.  

There are loads and loads of  microscale experiments.  Microscale uses tiny amounts of chemicals.  Think droppers not beakers full of chemicals.  This coming year, I’ll post labs, links, and tips.  Below the image are a few links.

(The lab above is Making Ionic Compounds.  I use 0.1 M concentrations for the chemicals.  Forming and Naming Ionic Compounds has more chemicals and uses 0.2M concentrations.)

Here is an article about introduction microscale chem using plastic straws and the blister pack from chewing gum.  More examples include Solubility Rules, Pleasing Precipitates, Petri Dish Electrolysis, and Microscale Titration of Vinegar, Tea Time Chemistry is more small-scale than microscale.  Small scale means small amounts, not drops.  Tea Time also uses household chemicals.  This year, more than ever, I want to enable you to do labs with your teens.  I’ll do my best to provide ideas, resources, and support!

See an ad—find the lab! Specific Heat

 Below is another screenshot from an ad for chemistry experiments.

What do we have here?  The title is Coffee Cup Challenge. It looks like a variation of the The Specific Heat of Metals lab.  Scroll here to see an image of a standard coffee cup calorimeter.  

The Coffee Cup Challenge looks as though it tests different coffee cups, such as paper cups.  Notice the aluminum foil wrapper or double cup? ( I like a styrofoam cup in a glass beaker, with a lid.) The challenge is to test several versions.  Which maintains a temperature of 100 degrees Celcius the longest? Try it with ice water, too.  Which maintains zero degrees Celcius the longest?  While you are at it, calibrate your thermometer.  Proceed and do the specific heat lab.

There was a second ad—testing paper towels.

Here is a similar lab.  Test different brands.  The steel washers and marbles are acting as weights.  I like new ideas.  I understand new teachers might pay for labs.  However, I am allergic to paying for a lab—especially one which has been around for a long, long time or has a simple explanation.

Children’s Books and Science Lessons

 When I’ve done science stations with Littles, I like to include books: Lyle Crocodile books and a grow alligator, Mouse Paint and color mixing, Germs Make Me Sick with Glo Germs.

NSTA has a series of Picture Perfect Science Lessons, which use children’s books with science lessons.  Here are book lists for two of the books in the series.  Scroll down in this book sample to see Chemical Change Café  paired with Eric Carole’s Pancakes, Pancakes!  The science lessons are all about chemical change. Children make pancakes.  

Here are more ideas for Storybook Science: Jack and the Beanstalk (plant seeds) or The Three Little Pigs (build).  Read a Tree is from Start with a Book!  Their website is just loaded with book and science lessons, such as Be an Inventor!  Be inspired!  What could be better than combining reading and science?

Material Science for Kids

 Concrete and cement got me thinking about Material Science.  It would make an interesting unit study.  Yes, I have an article, The Case of the Flaking Floor .  Teach Engineering has a great Material Science Unit.  Between the slide deck, demo, terms, and video, there’s an entire mini-unit.  Let’s flesh this out with more fun!

Science Buddies has Elementary School Material Science Experiments.  Many like milk plastic or testing sunscreen are familiar. 3D Printing with Icing and 3D Printing with Sand and Glue are both original ideas for kiddos.  Use the activities with this ESL lesson, 3D Printed Houses. How Much Does It Cost?  (Warning!  It is easy to fall into this rabbit hole and forget entirely about other aspects of material science.)

The teacher’s resource site is  here, at Ceramic and Glass.  Here are the free lessons from their kit.  These labs are intended for experienced, science teachers.  Use them for inspiration or try How Strong is Your Chocolate?  Similar labs are Mechanics with Candy and Spaghetti Beams.

What can your youngest do while the rest of the family is doing advanced investigations?  Science Sparks has Materials and Their Properties: Viscosity, Loom Bands, and Stretchy Material—all interesting investigations for Littles.  

Hoopla has audiobooks—including Apologia’s Science books!

 Does your library offer Hoopla?  Hoopla has audiobooks for all of the most recent editions of Apologia’s science books.  Yeah!  Download the app, link it to the library account, and listen in the car.

What about older editions?  Have you tried Rilda Reads for Biology 2e?  There are audiobooks for Apologia’s 2e Chemistry textbooks, too for around $16.

UK Science for Kiddos

 I just returned from the UK.  Rob and I were visiting family; my son is stationed at an RAF in England.  My brother lives in Wales.  We are boring.  Yes, we visited three museums.  It occurred to be earlier to check the museum resources.  But, are the science resources different, too?  Yes!  No, I don’t mean the spelling.  Yes, the UK sites often have a different take.

1.   What is the UK’s National Science Curriculum?  How do they compare to the NGSS?  Look at these NGSS sample lessons.  Personally, I think the NGSS lard their lessons with jargon and politics.  Look at the UK K-1 Sound Lesson.  It has lessons and videos, materials teachers actually use, rather than jargon rational people ignore.

2.  Look at British Science Week’s Activity packs.  The  Early Years has Which pegs are best for keeping washing on the line?  Most UK homes have a small washer; families hang out their wash owing to the cost of electricity.  The Primary Pack has How can you tell how old a shark is?  It is different from aging fish.  The Secondary packet has What’s the best way to protect important objects?  I hadn’t thought about curation and the necessary science.  The UK is teaming with antiquities.  

3. Are you considering a field trip to a museum?  Look at this Science Museum Group post.  I like the idea of the Great Object Hunt for younger kiddos.  The post has many ideas to help make the museum visit more engaging.  In the U.S. many museums have scavenger hunts.  Print or ask for a copy.

4.  Oxford and Cambridge publish science booklets. While hunting I came across Science Experiments for Primary Schools. While old (1992), the experiments are cheap and easy to replicate at home.  There are nearly 600 pages of experiments.  Look at 6.1 Metals Expand When Heated or 7.7 How A Drinking Straw Works.