Chemistry: Alternative Tools

 Home Science Tools has a Learning Center with Chemistry Projects.  When you read the articles, HST suggests using beakers or watch glass, but usually recommends substituting a dish or plate, too.  Look at their Red Cabbage pH Paper activity.  You could use test tubes or small jars with filter paper or coffee filter paper.  Don’t reject a lab because you lack science equipment.  

Consider micro-scale labs, which use small amounts of chemicals with pipettes, reaction plates, and cassette holders, called Bernal pipet holders.  Locating a cassette case can be tricky.  If your church has a thrift store or hosts yards sales, ask volunteers to keep an eye out for cassettes, which is where I found mine.  Many chemical reactions can take place on transparent sheet protectors or paint palettes, with q-tips, toothpicks,  and pipettes.  Here, Reactions Lab, is an example of a micro scale lab.  Note the concentrations are all 0.1 M and volumes are all 5 mL.  Micro-scale labs use small amounts of chemicals and usually weaker concentrations.  Take the Reaction in a Bag.  Divide the quantities by ten or place a few grams of each chemical on to the plastic palette or in a small bag.  Small scale, ‘green’,  or micro-scale labs use toothpicks or q-tips to mix, and require fewer expensive chemicals.  These labs are safer for home labs, too.  In the image below are reaction plates, small dropper bottles, and pipettes used for the lab—all small scale tools.

DIY Science Kits

 Make your own science kits for Christmas presents.  Start with a great science experiment book and build the kit around experiments in the book.  Here is a great example from Mama-Papa-Bubba.  Here is a round-up of diy kits.  Raising da Vinci has Custom DIY kits.  My Chem Kits were designed around labs and activities. Below are a few of the supplies in the chem kits I sent home for my Chemistry class. Start with a basic book with experiments:  Hands-on Science book, Kids Science Book, Everything Kids’ Science Experiments, Awesome Kitchen Science, or Science Experiments at Home.  Skim the book for fun experiments.  Include basic supplies in the gift pack: safety glasses or goggles, craft sticks, q-tips, pipettes, coffee filters, baking soda, peroxide, vinegar, plastic cups, and a thermometer.  Then, pick three experiments which require special equipment, such as iron filings and a magnet paddle, to add to the kit.  By all means, raid your basement and kitchen for simple tools to add to the kit.  Think about your child when you plan the kit.  She might be happy with a giant bin of borax, glue, tempera, and glitter, and shaving cream to make vats of slime.  Here’s hoping your custom kit is a hit!

Free Interactive Science Resources

 I like hands-on labs and activities.  But, not everyone is as comfortable with labs or has an extensive number of science resources.  This post has free resources for science.  For example, National Geographic has HereMaking Sense of Migration.  Here is another set of science resources, including Exploratorium, an especially rich source of ideas, such as this optical illusion, Bird in a Cage.  After you see it, your kids will want to make it.  Getting Nerdy has even more resources for teachers, such as the DNA Learning Center.  Here is an example about Gregor Mendel.  I use materials like these to supplement lessons, not supplant activities.  Web resources are like any technology; it supports rather than replaces lessons.

Lentils and Beans Science

 I first encountered science labs with beans at TOPS Science.  Here is a sample lab.  I use dry beans for labs because they are cheap.  Cheaper is better because my kids can do even more labs or simulations. Here is a lentil germination lab with superb controlled variables to teach experimental design.  Here is the Milky Way and Lentil Beans, as a way to estimate the number of stars.  My kids will do the Beanium Isotope Lab for Chemistry and a Mark-Recapture lab for Lacie in Biology.  Here is a genetics lab with beans.  Here is an idea for lentils in geology.  Have you heard of Dancing Raisins?  Spangler demonstrates lentils will dance, too.  Doesn’t the image below remind you of the layers of the earth?  

Black Friday Science Deals

Update: Keep your eye on the price for Star Wars LEGO Boost. Right now, the price is 149.95.  This set is much easier to build than the LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox, on sale for $127.99.  Kids must disassemble and reassemble Legos to make all five builds in the Creative Toolbox.  The Star Wars LEGO Boost has three droids with all of the Legos necessary for all three.  Kids can move the hubs from one droid to another.  Much easier!  Check on Good Will’s online shop for LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox sets, too.

There are a few excellent Science deals on Amazon such as this molecule set, this nanoscience kit, the introductory MEL Chemistry kit, introductory MEL Kids kit, IR Thermometer, Periodic Table, USB digital microscope, and  microscope slide sets.

Do you have a microscope?  Amazon has a Smartphone lens adapter.  You can position the cell phone to capture images under the microscope, take a screenshot, and save it digitally.  My kids project images to a laptop screen to sketch.  Your teen could snap and sketch the captured screenshot.  

If you have a telescope, Amazon has a similar Cell Phone Adapter Mount for binoculars or telescopes.  Here is a universal smartphone adapter for microscopes, telescopes, spotting scopes, and binoculars.

Oximeter and Vital Signs Labs

Have you bought an oximeter?  We have family and friends with Covid-19 and decided to buy one.  Besides obsessively monitoring oxygen levels, what else can you do with an oximeter?  Lab!  Here is a sample chapter from Pearson about vital signs.  While you learn about taking vital signs, here is a lab with blood pressure measurements.  Combine it with the oximeter lab.  Now you can obsessively monitor temperatures, blood pressures, pulse rates, and oxygen levels.

Family Science: Candy Chemistry!

 The Exploratorium has a site called Science of Cooking, which has brittle.  Here is the classic Chemistry recipe, Partial Thermal Degradation of Mixed Saccharides with Protein Inclusions or peanut brittle.  The teacher’s notes at the bottom of the page convert the terms, sucrose, glucose, esters, etc into the names of ingredients, sugar, Karo syrup, margarine, etc.  Does your family have peanut or tree allergies?  Try Honeycomb instead.  

Family Science: Colorful Lather Prints

Are you facing down a long weekend with hyper kids?  Start with Colorful Lather Prints.  I’ve used food coloring, gel color, and tempera paints—much cheaper than food colors.  You can make several prints from the same pile of shaving cream.  Keep running the toothpicks through the shaving cream to make new designs.  Here is the post from last year’s lab.  Below are pix.  Yes, all of my wooden rulers are tie-dyed from lather prints.

Coding Toy

 This year, Amazon is promoting OSMO Coding toys.  If you aren’t certain your child likes to code, try less expensive options.  We started with Coji, a simple robot, which is fairly intuitive to code—and cute!  Coji is considerably less expensive than many robot toys.  We also used MIT’s Scratch with Code Your Own Games.  Scratch is free; many libraries have copies of Scratch coding books for kids.  Look for inexpensive Kindle e-book Scratch books or used copies of books such as Coding for Beginners Using Scratch on eBay, Thriftbooks, or Abebooks.  If your child does like to code, consider joining Steam, which is another option for coding games.  Right now, Paul, ten, is obsessed with Autonauts on Steam, a $19..99 game.  But there are free games on Steam, too.

Quick Freeze

 My kids are doing labs and demos from the Chem kit I sent home.  One demo is Quick Freeze. This lab is an example of a colligative property, freezing point depression.  My kids are sending me pix as they complete labs, demos, or activities.  Below is the frozen tonic water.  

Science Ornaments

Kids like to make ornaments.  Have you thought about making ornaments a lab?  Try Borax Crystal Icicles, especially if you have Borax on hand to make slime.  20 Mule Team Borax also has instructions for borax crystals.  Try Liquid Bluing Crystal Trees.  The next suggestion for ornaments is Silver Ornaments.  FYI silver nitrate is expensive and sodium hydroxide is caustic.  Instructables has photos explaining the process using a glass jar.  Chemistry classes mirror flasks.  MEL Chemistry has tips and a good explanation of the underlying chemistry.  Cool, but it’s a pricey lab.

Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit

 Do you like Littlebits?  We tried Littlebits—but had trouble attaching the bits to the motherboard.  Good Will has Star Wars Droid Inventor kit listings, which retail for $75.  Don’t forget to check the shipping before you bid!

Good Will Microscope Slides

 Are these microscope slides on Good Will a good deal?  Nope.  They retail for $14.99.  I have this set of slides.  They are great for elementary aged students.  They’re fun for Biology classes, too, especially for comparative morphology.  Instead, $10.88 for a set is the price to beat.

Paper Chromatography Lab

My kids are working on Felt Pen  and Candy Chromatography labs.  One of my students just asked for the accepted values for Rf of dyes.  Flinn has Food Dye Chromatography lab instructions with accepted Rf values for the food dyes in Koolaid and candies, such as Skittles.  Ideally, kids should do three trails for each lab and calculate the percent error for the Rf values.  Here is a tutorial about determining Rf or retention factors.  FYI filter paper works much better than coffee filters for paper chromatography.  BTW I asked my kids for permission to post their lab pix.  Take a look.

Inductive Toys

 Have you seen ads for the Magic Pen Inductive Robot?  Google ‘inductive toy’ for more examples, such as these cars or trucks.  Here is an explanation.  When you test an inductive car, use white paper and a black sharpie to make a thick line.  Make $5 your target price because in my experience the novelty wears off quickly.  

Animal Cams

You’ve probably seen images of Little Miracle, the new giant panda in the National Zoo.  You can  see live footage on the Giant Panda Cam.  Remember it’s live...often that means seeing zip while you watch.  The San Diego Zoo has Live Cams for several animals: hippo, platypus, penguins, baboons, etc.  I clicked on several of the Zoo’s cams and was surprised how many animals were active.  I’ve had less luck with the Smithsonian Live Cams.  Are Naked Mole Rats as charismatic as Baboons?  Here are over a dozen live animal cams across the world, including this one from the National Aquarium.  Try Eagle Cam at NCTC in West Virginia.  Parade Magazine has 25 Best Animal Live Cams.  Want to make this a lesson?  Pick a live cam of the most appealing animal and use this animal observation sheet to make notes.  Here is an observation data sheet specifically for monkeys.  Go ahead and make this a lesson.  Take screenshots from the live cams, make notes, complete the observation data sheets, and draw conclusions for a slideshow.  One more note.  Monkey selfies might make for an interesting discussion about copyrights and the public domain.

Weather Station

Now is a good time to fulfill your dreams with a weather station.  Good Will nearly always has weather stations for sale.  Watch for sales on Walmart, Amazon, or Best Buy for Home Weather Stations.  In another life, I led environmental programs and had sophisticated weather stations.  There was always a particular teacher or staff member  interested in weather data, especially as part of the GLOBE program.  (Read through the supporting protocols.). Want to make your own weather station?  Here are instructions.

Family Science: Popcorn!

 Bless this Mess has instructions to microwave popcorn in a lunch bag.  A classic lab is to Compare Brands of Microwave Popcorn.  Popcorn Math has ideas for making estimates.  My suggestion is to use brown lunch bags and compare brands of kernels under the same conditions.  Which brand pops the greatest percent of kernels?  How many trials of each should we do?  (Three!). Are there other factors to consider, such as kernel size or flavor? Use a new lunch bag form each trial, as a controlled variable. Microwave the same amount of popcorn for the same number of minutes, too.  Once you finish experimenting, you can reuse the lunch bags two or three times according to The Thrifty Couple.  Usually, we reuse the bag twice.  The bag tends to fall apart the third time.  Yes, this is science and the results are delicious!

Things you never knew you needed....a hydrometer

There are interesting Black Friday deals, such as this glass hydrometer—which is useful for brewing.  Hydrometers can measure sugar concentrations.  Here is a lab, Solution Concentrations, with a DIY hydrometer with a pipette.  It comes with a Bible Verse!  Yeah!  Here are instructions to make a hydrometer from a drinking straw and clay or Funtak.  If you have a glass hydrometer, you can compare results between the pipette, straw, and glass hydrometer.  This lab has a nice data sheet to measure the concentration of sugar in soda.  

HHMI Modeling DNA

 HHMI BioInteractive has this DNA series, Modeling the Structure of DNA.  N.B. HHMI, like most biology sites is heavy-handed about evolution, global warming, etc.  This DNA model is outstanding.  Look at the educator, student, and pattern resources.  Yes, making models takes loads of time.  Kids come away with a much better understanding.  The image below is from the website.

Good Will Chemistry Equipment

Good Will online has a listing with glassware and a micro burner which is very tempting.  My Co-op Chemistry class gets with sterno and tea candles.  If you are doing advanced levels of chemistry, the micro burner alone makes this a good deal.

Amazon Black Friday Science Deals

Keep your eye out for science materials among the Black Friday deals: Water Gel Beads $6.79, DIY Bouncy Balls, and Instant Snow.  By all means, double check the deals with prices on Walmart or eBay.  I use toys for science labs often, such as this gel bead lab, which pairs well with this lab, making water gel beads, using a sodium alginate and calcium lactate.  Make bouncy balls to compare with the commercial DIY kit.  Here are ten ideas for Instant Snow from Steve Spangler.  Put the materials together into one giant science kit for a present.

Should you buy a 3D pen?

 Amazon has both 3D printers and 3D pens available on Black Friday Sales.  The first time I saw a 3D pen, I thought it looked like a hot glue gun.  I’m not alone.  Here are Instructable plans to convert a hot glue.  Here are 3D pen projects.  Frankly, I think you could achieve the same results with sticks of colored hot glue.  Much as I’m tempted by gadgets, I’m not in the market for a 3D pen.

Family Science: Bouncing with Momentum

 First up is Bouncing with Momentum, which uses a mini basketball and a ping pong ball.  Try pairing a Basketball and Tennis ball, also called Rocket Balls.  Try different Ball Combinations.  These demonstrate elastic collisions and momentum.  Try to put a small bouncy ball on top of a tennis ball and drop them at the same time.  My favorite is the Astroblaster from Educational Innovations—where I first saw the toy.  Rocket Balls are usually part of The Joy of Toys Science Camp.  It’s best to do Rocket Balls inside in an open place rather than outside where you are apt to lose bitty balls.  The kids lose bitty bouncy balls inside, too.  I buy a gross of bouncy balls for Camp to save wailing and gnashing of teeth over a bitty ball.

 

Things you never knew you needed...

 Good Will has this listing of medical supplies.  Wow!  This set of goods is perfect for Anatomy Academy.  Most of the equipment would serve as props.  However, we usually test reflexes with those tiny, rubber hammers.  This listing has four.  A nurse or doctor friend could check the otoscopes to see if they work—and instruct in their use.  Hey!  Everyone could take home a hemostat from camp—a perfect gift, along with a syringe pen.

Microscope Slides

 My first stop for microscope slides is Good Will online—like this set.  If I didn’t have several sets of microscope slides, I would bid on that Good Will listing because the slides look interesting.  This Amscope Slide Set at $15 is a good basis for comparison.  In fact, I used just this set for a small Biology Co-op  class which met at our church.  I have added slides to my collection; this set was enough for the class to see a range of specimens under the microscope and experiment with focusing and sketching slides.  Amazon has a similar set for $8, the price to beat.  I use a USB digital microscope and a laptop.  The microscope should work with a Chromebook.  The price to beat is $13.39.  This Clip-on Microscope, at $6.99, attaches on to a cell phone.  We use this with an old iPhone.  It’s okay for slides—but not great.  However, it is easy to pull out a clip on microscope and cell phone whenever we want to look at a specimen or slide.  Ease trumps quality because we use it more often.  Take a look.

Thermoplastics

 Have you seen Plasti Taffy?  The pellets are Thermoplastics, plastics which melt at relatively low temperatures.  Educational Innovations has a blog post with ideas for introducing and playing with thermoplastic beads.  Amazon has Poly Plastics Moldable Plastics for $18.95.  Here is a simple thermoplastics experiment.  The Plasti Taffy Charm Swap Studio has mini-molds and colorful beads to use for a lab; this set is perfect to engage younger children, too.  It’s a great way to engage your artistic child with a little science.  I plan to buy some for my Chemistry Co-op, too.  Poly plastics has some tips for using these pellets.  I’m going to combine Bioplastics and Thermoplastics labs when I teach Organic Chemistry.  

Family Science: Tricks!

 Are you spending time together?  Want some fun tricks?  First is the Table Cloth Trick.  Use plastic dish ware when you practice.  Try to balance two forks on toothpicks or balance nails.  I love Vanishing Coin.  The Institute of Physics has a bunch of tricks to try.  Drive a straw through a potato or an apple.  Have you tried Egg Drop Inertia?  Many of these tricks are actually Physics.  One more trick: Floating Rice.  Try it with a screw driver or pencil.  The image below is from Floating Rice.

Defy Gravity!

 I like science tricks!  Have you tried Gravity-Defying Water?  Here is how to calculate the acceleration of gravity.  I have my Physical Science kids drop and time different balls: ping pong, bouncy, tennis, etc.  Try to Levitate Magnets.  Use a hair dryer to make a ping pong ball float.  Below are  videos with centripetal force, a bucket of water, and a The Spinning Penny.  Start practicing your tricks for Grandpa!

Videos for Science

 My Co-op Chemistry class is going to produce videos with discrepant events.  Right now we are compiling free editing apps to use.  I use video in class pretty often.  I started when I was preparing for National Boards in Chemistry.  The application requires video.  I wanted my kids to behave naturally for the camera.  So, I got in the habit of videoing frequently—with formal, written permission.  I quickly realized the kids liked video and behaved well for a video.  Win!  How do I use video?  It’s a great way to assess student understanding.  Ask your teen to explain a problem.  I use it for a lab.  Kids demonstrate a lab and explain it in a video.  Often the lab video is much more polished than the lab report.  Below is YouTube from my husband’s Physics class. 

Water Test Kits

 Have you seen TDS water meters?  Black Friday sales are pretty random.  TDS means Total Dissolved Solids.  High levels of TDS do not necessarily mean poor water quality.  Like  conductivity, TDS measure the ion levels in water.  I use a conductivity sensor or meter for Ionic and Covalent Bonds Conductivity Lab.

Which water tests and test kits are useful for stream assays or tests?  Here is my favorite kit, the LaMotte Water Monitoring Kit.  I used grants to buy these kits.  What do you need?  First, pH paper, white ice cube trays to sort macroinvertebrates, (Potomac Highlands eSchool has lessons to learn how to identify macroinvertebrates in the stream.), and an armored thermometer.  Use a metal-backed thermometer as a substitute.  It’s nice to have a bucket to carry supplies, such as a tennis ball, tape measure, and flags to measure stream flow.  Here are loads of additional resources about stream monitoring.

I love sensors, gadgets, and LaMotte kits.  They are NOT necessary to conduct water quality tests.  Save your money and buy basics, such as pH paper or thermometers instead.  

Crush Cans

 The Chem class is finishing discrepant events and learning types of chemical reactions.  I’ve been getting images from their labs at home to share with you.  Take a look.

STEM Toy Deals

We are fast approaching Black Friday.  I’m hopping for an IR thermometer to replace the one my Co-op kids broke playing with it.  Yes, I treat an IR thermometer as a toy.  I’m not zapping my guests at the door.  One STEM toy to consider is  LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox, listed on Amazon for $127.99, momentarily, or Star Wars LEGO Boost Droid Commander, at $176.70.  (Walmart has both LEGO sets for nearly the same prices.) Check Good Will for used LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox.  The sets sold ranged between $75 and $90 plus shipping.  I can recommend Coji, a robot, for younger kids, as an introduction to coding.  We’ve introduced it to children as young as four.  Walmart and Amazon list Coji for $30.  Good Will does have Coji listings.  Before you bid, read the listing to see if the robot has been tested.  eBay sells Coji, beginning at $15.  Another STEM toy we have tested is Makey Makey, which retails for $50 on Amazon and Walmart.  You can find a used kit for $17 on eBay.  One more great STEM kit is Edible Chemistry—currently $19, the price to beat.   All of these STEM toys make terrific presents.  Happy hunting!

What can you do with an IR Thermometer?

Amazon has a number of deals for infrared thermometers, such as this one, momentarily at $13.13 or this one  for $12.  What can you do with an IR thermometer?  GLOBE sponsors an an annual campaign, Urban Heat Island Campaign-Surface Temperature Campaign.  When you click on the links, you’ll see the the protocols for using an IR thermometer to measure the surfaces of the ground, sidewalk, or asphalt.  Measure Albedo once it snows.  The Royal Meteorology Society has these ideas for experiments.  One is to wet the surface of the sidewalk to compare temperatures of wet and dry concrete at the same ambient temperature.  Compare thermometers.  Have samples of boiling and ice water.  Use glass, metal backed, digital, and IR thermometers to compare measurements.  Here are instructions to calibrate an IR thermometer. The instructions are a bit different from calibrating a glass, metal backed, or digital thermometer.  If you buy an IR thermometer, let your kids go on a temperature hunt in the house.  Fun, right?

Family Science: Crush Cans

 Co-op Chemistry is Crushing Cans.  They have to explain the underlying science.  Do you want a fun activity?  Crush cans.  Save a bunch in different sizes.  Here are a few tips.  First, use about two or three milliliters of water in the can.  Heat the water in the stove or hot plate until steam is pouring out.  Once you see steam, wait until loads of steam arises.  Have a big bowl or bucket ready next to the stove.  Add ice to cold water.  When you invert the soda can into the bucket of ice water, move quickly.  Ask your kids which cans will provide the sharpest report.  This is so much fun!     

Apologia Chemistry: Write a lab report!

 Many of my kids are taking Chemistry as a Co-op class and report to an online school.  Some online schools require a minimum of two formal lab reports each semester.  Now, my kids perform over thirty labs.  However, I use CER, data sheets, videos, etc as assessments.  I assign two formal reports each semester.  The first report is Chromatography.  My kids are doing Paper Chromatography and Candy Chromatography labs.  They are combining these two labs into one lab report.  Below are pix of my scoring rubric or guidelines and an example of a well written lab report.  Hope this helps.

Smithsonian Jelly Fish Aquarium

 A friend has a category she calls ‘things you never knew you needed’.  The Smithsonian Jelly Fish Aquarium might be on the list.  Good Will has a jelly fish aquarium listing.  In fact, Good Will has several Smithsonian science toys: Motor Works, Robo-Spider, and Planetarium Projector.  Keep in mind these are toys.  For most of these toys, the bid price and shipping are close to the retail cost.  Still, I’m tempted by the Jelly Fish Aquarium.

Measure the Speed of Light with Your Microwave

 Huh.  A member in one of the chemistry groups on social media mentioned she is doing this demo for her classes, Measure the Speed of Light Using Your Microwave.  Flinn’s Flame Test Lab has kids measure the energy change involved with absorption and emission of light.  The equation for energy change requires c, the speed of light.  This marshmallow demo allows you to measure the speed of light.  It’s an interesting extension for the Flame Test lab.

DIY Squishy Toy

 DIY Squishy Toy got me thinking.  Red Ted Art has several versions.  How is this science?  When you make different squishy toys, you are experimenting to determine which version most closely resembles commercial squishy toys.  I do the same thing with DIY Slime recipes.  The kids make slime and compare it to commercial slime.  No, the DIY versions are usually not as good.  However, the experimentation and discussion about properties, or ways to make improvements is outstanding.

Candy Science!

I am always tempted to buy colorful science kits as gifts.  Below are a bunch of enticing science-ish kits.  I made a second list of links with similar  DIY versions.  Cost always plays a factor.  Sometimes I want my kids to have an experience and do not want to have lots of extra ingredients or materials to use in the future.  Then I buy a kit.  But, if I decide we may go into production for Christmas gifts or Science Camp, I use DIY versions.

Hot Chocolate Cocoa Bombs kit

Edible Candy: Food Science

Chewing Gum kit

Chocolate Kit

Edible Chemistry Kit

Gummy Candy Lab kit

Ice Cream Making Kit

DIY Gummy Worm Experiment

Homemade Bubble Gum

DIY Chocolate

Best Ice Cream in a Bag

The Best Hot Chocolate Bombs

40 Genius Kitchen Science Lab Projects for Kids