Virtual Reality Encyclopedia Britannica

Update: I tried to download the Google Cardboard app to an old iPhone we have.  The VR Cardboard app requires the iPhone to have an 8.01 update; the iPhone will not update beyond 7.01.  Apple is notorious for not supporting its older devices with updates.  I had hoped to have Paul use the old iPhone with the VR set.  Right now he is using a $600:iPhone with a $5 cardboard VR set.  Nothing can go wrong with that situation, right?

 I bought a set of the Virtual Reality Encyclopedia Britannica from Good Will online some months ago.  (Good Will has listing for these VR sets frequently.  Don’t pay more than $20 for a set.). The VR set works with a smartphone and is similar to Cardboard 3D VR set from Google.  Paul, ten, downloaded both the Google Cardboard app and the PI VR app for Space. There are six books in the Britannica set.  Each book has a different app.  The content is excellent.  Chances are your child will be more interested in the VR set than in the books.

Paul downloaded the app, put the iPhone in the cardboard VR headset, and was off....for about ten minutes.  He preferred the Cardboard app from Google.  There are loads of VR apps for Cardboard.  Google has a list Expeditions for VR, too, through Google Education.  If you want to dip your toes into VR, buy a Cardboard set and download the Cardboard app.  Below are photos of the Britannica set and images for the apps.

Teach Engineering!

Let’s teach some engineering!  Most science classes are discrete: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, and Anatomy.  Engineering is more of a process.  Try fun projects as a family, such as building catapults.  Here is a round-up of elementary engineering sites: Teach Engineering, Try Engineering, NASA, Science Kids, Generational Genius, and LEGO Engineering.  Have a blast!

Hot Wheels Rocket Cars

 Good Will online has two Hot Wheels Rocket Cars listed.  I bought one for Paul, ten, last year.  We couldn’t get the car to work.  I gave the car to friends to trouble-shoot.  My friends got the car to work!  There’s a yellow button on the bottom of the car you must switch.  My friends have promised to come by with the car and demonstrate the car.   When they do, I’ll video the car in action.  

Chemistry of Easter Eggs

Does your family dye Easter eggs?  There is science in the dyes!   Here is a video sponsored by Scientific American about the chemistry between vinegar (dilute acetic acid), food dyes, and the egg’s shell (calcium carbonate).  Here are McCormick’s instructions for dying Easter eggs with food dyes.  Better Homes and Gardens has 45 Creative Ways to Dye Easter Eggs.  Have fun!

Chemistry of Stain Removal

One popular chemistry topic is stains and stain removal.  Here and here are overviews about stain removal.  Here is a Chemmatters article, ‘Building a Better Bleach’.  Steve Spangler has this post about Oxiclean, which contains sodium per carbonate, the product of the chemical reaction between H2O2, hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate, Washing Soda.  ACS celebrates National Chemistry Week annually, with Chemistry Keeps Us Clean.  

Marbling Easter Eggs....or Rocks!

 Last year, my Chemistry Co-op class Marbled rocks with nail polish.  You can marble Easter eggs with nail polish, too.  Below are pix.  Most of the marbled rocks reside under my deck.

Sample Stoichiometry Lab Report

 My Chemistry Co-op class writes several lab reports.  The kids are enrolled in different online programs which require formal lab reports.  Here is my scoring rubric for the Stoichiometry lab.  Below is a sample lab report written by one of the students.  There are still a few minor errors.  This lab report is representative of student reports.  Take a look.

Sample Stoichiometry Test

My kids are doing the Stoichiometry test.  I gave them equations to write and balance.  They used ten grams  of the first product to determine the number of grams required for each reactant.  Below are pix of the test and a sample student test.

Electron Configuration Battleship

The kids in my Chemistry Co-op are learning about quantum mechanics and electron configurations.  In addition to Hog Hilton, they are going to partner to play  Electron Configuration Battleship.  In order to play, the teens need to be able to write electron configurations and read them from the periodic table.  The kids can team up remotely to play by taking a screenshot of the Battleship board and inserting the image into a Google Jamboard to mark it.  Below is a periodic table marked with the configurations and a screenshot of the Jamboard sample marked.  Hope the kids like this game!

Magnet Levitation Kit

 Paul and my husband, Rob, built the maglev train in the Magnetic Levitation Kit I bought at Good Will last month.  Rob teaches Physics and will use the magnets and the maglev train for his class.  Both he and I have had students make maglev models.  Below are pix from the build.  Initially, we used Elmer’s glue.  Gorilla glue works much better to hold the magnetic strips in place on the wood.  It works!  Then it didn’t work.  Sigh.  Rob went back and glued all of the pieces with crazy glue.  The model will now withstand an earthquake and repel all efforts to levitate the maglev train.

Hog Hilton

My Chemistry Co-op class has started to learn about electron configurations.  I use an analogy with metro cars.  Each metro car is an orbital.  Generally each seat hold two riders.  People try to sit as close to the door as possible.  People stay as far apart as possible, only sitting next to strangers after each bench has one rider.  Another analogy is Hog Hilton.  It’s another way to help kids understand the rules underlying electron configurations.  Here is another Hog Hilton worksheet.  Usually kids understand the concept with practice.  Here is the slideshow I’m using with the kids.  Note the periodic tables showing the s,p,d, and f blocks.

Can You Make 2 Grams?

 The kids are working on the Stoichiometry test and Can You Make 2 Grams lab.  The lab photos are coming in.  See below.  Note that if the mass of the precipitate is greater than two grams the powder is still wet.  Kids also forget to subtract the mass of the filter paper.  This is an important concept and lab; however, it takes forever to work through the calculations, complete the lab, and write or revise the lab report.

Which Science Kits?

 Which science kits are worth the cost?  Many science kits, such as the Discovery Ultimate Science Kit, have limited chemicals and equipment.  However, eBay and Good Will online have science kits which can be a good value.  Colleges which offer online lab science courses create custom lab packs for students, which retail for $150-$200.  Students may read through the lab and decide to forego the lab itself.  These kits are frequently unused with most of the original materials intact.  The best deals are EScience kits, QSL MicroChem, and Labpaq.  The best deals have low shipping costs and are packed with supplies.  My target price range is $25-$35.  Usually the Chem and Physics kits have the most supplies.  Happy hunting!

Sound Tubes

I bought the wrong tubing the other day from Walmart.  I cut off a piece to see if it sings.  Yes, it does!  Here is an example of the sound tube toy, which are available on Amazon, too.  Different diameters of corrugated tubing produce different pitches or notes.  Here is the blog post about sound from Educational Innovations.  You need to swing the tube in a circle to get a good tone.  Fun, right?

EScience kit

 Goodwill has an EScience kit with glassware.  It looks like a Biology lab kit and may have dissection specimens.

Flame Tests

 Update: Here is the virtual lab the kids are using in addition to Benign and Flinn below.

Update: Here is the blog post with photos from the flame test lab the Co-op kids did last year.  Note the kids used butane lighters for the flame tests—which I had forgotten.  The kids used wooden coffee stir sticks as splints, too.  Hope this helps!

My kids are finally starting Quantum and Electron Configurations this week.  Let me share my resources: Beyond Benign Flame Tests, Household Flame Tests, Flinn Flame Test Lab, and Electron Configurations ppt.  The kids will use Color Flame candles; I put candle sets in the Chem kits.   I want them to do the math and complete the table in the Flinn Flame test lab using the instructions from the Beyond Benign Flame test lab.  When we do the lab in class, we use sterno.  You can use a camp stove or use three tea candles as a heat source.  

QSL MicroChem Kit

Update: HST has the MicroChem Manual on sale for $19.80.  I just ordered a copy for the QSL kit.  Once it arrives, I’ll do a thorough evaluation of the QSL labs in the kit.

 I a QSL kit from Good Will three months ago.  I finally had time to inventory the contents and make an evaluation.  Here are the contents in a new kit.  (Mine was missing the manual and digital scale.).  I wanted a kit to see if the labs were worthwhile.  Your teen would have a full year of chemistry labs with this kit; there are 30.  I’m exacting about labs.  My kids do forty or more labs.   The QSL kit has organic, chromatography, and ionic compound labs.  The kit has organic and VSEPR molecules.  Is it worth $200? No.  If you can buy a kit for less than $35, especially with the manual, the kit has a year’s worth of chemistry labs.  Take a look.

MEL Chemistry Kits

 BTW Good Will online has two listings for MEL Chemistry kits.  Watch the shipping costs when you bid.  Often you can buy a MEL kit on eBay for $20.

Chemistry Hacks

 I just ran across household chemistry hacks here and here.  The chili in bird feed is really a biology hack. Fin, right?

March Madness

 Flinn Scientific has Flinn Freebies and posts annual March Madness Chemistry games with brackets: Sweet 16 Chemistry Ion Tournament, It’s Elementary, and Sweet Sixteen Chemistry Compound.  As soon as my Chemistry Co-op finishes with Stoichiometry we are on to fun activities like these.

Snap Circuits

 My husband, Rob, teaches Physics.  He uses Snap Circuits we bought from Good Will online. (There are usually several listings for Snap Circuits.)  Here is a round-up of lessons ideas for electricity with Snap Circuits.  First is Snap Circuit Bingo in the curriculum guide from the Ripken Foundation STEM Center.  Next is the  Snap Circuit manual with the symbols and project ideas.  Rob has the kids make different circuits to demonstrate in class.  This slideshow has good diagrams to measure specific Snap Circuit projects.  (See screenshot below.)  Let your kids use the manual to assemble three projects from the kit.  Ask them to identify whether the circuit is series or parallel.  Finally, ask the kids to identify the parts in the circuit.  Bonus points for drawing a circuit diagram with the symbols.