Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year.  May your family have a joyful and blessed New Year!

AI Answers

 I used Google’s simplified AI to search for novel chemistry experiments.  I’ve been teaching Chemistry for a long time.  It’s hard to come up with new ideas for fun experiments.  I am always hunting for ideas for chemical experiments families can try at home.  Here is the AI answer:

Most of the answers are generic experiments.  One idea was new, Color Experiment with Liquid Ammonia in MEL Chemistry’s Top 10 Chemical Reactions You can Repeat at Home.  You pour liquid ammonia over a copper penny.  I don’t know if you post 1982 pennies will work; they are zinc with a thin copper coating.  Ammonia is pretty strong.  If you try this, do it outside or in the garage with the door opened, rather than a confined space, like your homeschool classroom.  Usually, I dismiss the AI suggestions.  I’m going to at least glance at their ideas in future.

New Year New Camp: First Installment

The kids who come to Science Camp love Chemistry most.   I’m already looking for new (safe) experiments to try and do this summer.  I found a few fresh ideas.

1. Super Charged Science uses ordinary household materials.  However, kids are challenged to make hot or cold products.  What’s nice is that the kids can mix any of these goods without harm.

2. Lava Lamp is one classic I’m keeping.  It’s a favorite.

3. Sugar Snake doesn’t use sulfuric acid.  I think adults should do the demo, though—not kiddos.

4.  Natural Food Dyes has potential.  I’m thinking about dying yogurt kids can sweeten and eat.

5. Color Change has potential.  It uses universal indicator, baking soda, and citric acid.  The kids adjust the amounts of citric acid and baking soda to change colors.  This one is similar and uses lemon juice and laundry detergent.

Go to the zoo!

 Our family loves the zoo!  We travel and visit zoos around the world.  Friday, we went to the zoo in Okinawa.  The signs are hilarious!  I love watching the kiddos enjoy the zoo! Yes, it is odd to see squirrels and deer in enclosures.

Military STEM Resources

 I had a ‘duh’ moment.  I’m visiting the AFB in Kadena, Japan; our son is a priest chaplain for the Air Force.  There is all kinds of education.  Duh!  I bet there are STEM resources. In fact there are!  Many resources are specific to individual bases.   The first one I found online is WPAFB Educational Outreach Office.  Look at Design Thinking (elementary ages).  The Wizards of Wright Lesson uses Pepsi’s Plastic Bottle School Project in the Philippines.  Yes, they include a map of the Philippines and videos for each lesson.  I looked at Straw Rockets, Reaction Chemistry, and Newton’s Third Law.  Not bad!  These lessons use simple materials and include videos.  

USAFA STEM Chemistry from the Air Force Academy has some demos: Can Crush, Whoosh Bottle, and Oscillating Reactions.  If you live near the Air Force Academy in Colorado, look at their Outreach page. The Civil Air Patrol has Aerospace/STEM Resources for Remote Education.  Contact your local Civil Air Patrol to see about ordering the free STEM kit and free books.  

Are you familiar with the National Air Guard or Army National Guard?  See if there is one near your home which sponsors STARBASE.   We live near Quantico, a Marine base.  The Navy and Marine bases often sponsor SeaPerch a competitive, robotics competition.  Some Army bases sponsor Junior Solar Sprint.   If you live near a military base, do a quick search.  For example, Martinsburg WV Air Guard STEM brought up their STARBASE program.    Many bases offer summer camps, too.  These are very popular.  The National Museum of the Marine Corps, near Quantico offers a summer camp. It is tough to get a slot in one of the camps, which are often free.  It’s definitely worth trying.   Hope you find even more resources to use!

Merry Christmas!

Here’s hoping your family has a wonderful Christmas!

 

Exercise Labs for Wiggly Kids Waiting for Christmas

 It may be too cold in your area to take the kids to the track to run off some of the anticipation before Christmas.  Here are a few labs to do inside. The Pulse Experiment shows kids where to take the pulse.  Use the wrist.  If you press too hard on the carotid you can pass out.  This lab has kids sit, jump, run, and throw before measuring their pulse.  (I think star jumps are jumping jacks.). Add push ups and sit ups, too!  Bonus points if you have the kids graph their results.  Make it a contest and repeat the entire exercise.  Another good indoor lab is the Horsepower Lab.  The kids thunder up and down stairs to compute their individual horsepower.  If you have steps outside, by all means, use them instead.  Put some cushioning at the bottom of the basement stairs, if you make this a contest.  One last idea is to have your kids create their own Fitness Circuit routine.  Encourage them to make posters and track their results.  Here are some ideas to consider to improve your child’s fitness level.  Now is a great time to get their wiggles out!

Discrepancy Event: Density Bead Demo

Educational Innovations sells a Poly Density Kit.  The beads settle in the middle of the solution, a mixture of alcohol, water, and salt.  The beads are made of different materials.  A teacher posted about a lab she does using pony beads and UV pony beads.  The UV beads are slightly less dense.  Temu, Amazon, and Educational Innovations sell UV beads.   I took a screen shot with her instructions for individual density bead demos.  I took a screen shot below to give her credit.  Tap on the photo to read the directions.  I use this activity as a discrepancy event.  I show the kids and ask them to figure out why the beads settle in the middle.  Fun, right?

Interesting Listings at Good Will Online

 Good Will has a number of unusual listings: a mastodon tooth, a box of Erlenmeyer flasks, toddler insect specimens, Algebra manipulatives, and a Foldscope Paper Microscope. I have read about Foldscope microscopes, but haven’t tested one. So far I’m resisting the temptation to bid.  I did bid on the box of Erlenmeyer flasks; they’re perfect for lab.  Take a look!

Tech on a Budget: Smart Board

 While I teach for the local homeschool Co-op, I taught at both private and public schools, in another life.  I’ve had some experience with Smart Boards.  The Catholic School at our church has Smart Boards in all of the classrooms.  I use one when I lead a Faith Camp in the summer. I find it handy to have a large screen for presentations.  I use my set-up for quick slide presentations, Classroom instructions, videos, and images.  For example, I can post a DNA graphic as I discuss how DNA transcribes and translates code into proteins.   I set up an old television and connected it to a laptop with an HDMI cable.  I use an adapter to connect the HDMI cable to an iPad.  

You can use Witeboard with a laptop, iPad, or touchscreen tablet.  It is hard to write with a mouse on a laptop or your finger on the iPad.  Use a stylus.

When I taught in a public, high school, I used Mimio Boards. These stick right on to any whiteboard.  However, you have to integrate Mimio with a computer with loads of hard drive space and an LCD projector.  You need to recalibrate them just about every time you use them.  Good Will and eBay both have listings regularly.  

Since I have used both, I like the TV or iPad with an HDMI cable more than a Mimio.  Replacing an LCD bulb is expensive.  I found the least thing could make the Mimio connection stutter or freeze.  Chances are you already have a TV and an HDMI cable.  I bet you didn’t think about using it to teach—even for small groups, like your family.

Science in Your Airplane Seat—Really!

 Yes, I think about science when I travel.  Here is Science from an Airplane Seat.  Here is an activity book.  Change things up when you fly.  Your kids are less likely to arrive cranky from a tech overdose.  Merry Christmas!

Flinn: Toothpick Biochemistry

 Ooof!  We did Penny Enzymes instead.  Flinn’s Toothpick Biochemistry and paper clip activity are better.  Take a look!

DNA Sentences

 The kids just finished making DNA Sentences, Say it with DNA. The idea is to first understand how DNA transcribes the message to mRNA , then to tRNA, and finally to a chain of amino acids, ultimately into a protein. In this activity, each codon is a letter (amino acid) in a word, which makes a sentence.  The point is to understand how DNA codes for proteins or chains of amino acids.

Optical Illusion Gift Kit

 Let’s do a mash-up of toys and hands-on projects.  Kids love optical illusions.  Add the supplies to make CD Spinners (Templates and Benham’s Disk), Flipsticks, Soda Can Mirror, Thaumatrope, and Kaleidoscope.  Add a few optical illusion gadget toys and an optical illusion book, such as Magic Eye. I  took screen shots below.  Trust me, this combination will be so much fun!

Maybe a box of balls for Christmas?

I’m still trying to come up with last minute gift kit ideas which won’t break the bank.  What about a box of balls? You can wrap up a giant box of balls as a present, too.  Be sure to include ping pong, golf, tennis, play ground, and a variety of bouncy balls of different sizes.  Include borax, cornstarch, and glue to make Bouncy Balls to test.  Compare DIY bouncy balls with the tiny, elastic balls.  Compare the way each ball bounces with this  Bouncing Ball Lab.  My favorite ball experiment is Stacked Rubber Balls.  Try a ping pong ball on a tennis ball first.  Later try stacking a bouncy ball on the tennis ball.  Get a helper and stack a tennis ball on to a basketball.  Look at this Stacked Ball Drop.  The author makes a tube to contain the stacked ball.  You could use PVC pipe, a Fluorescent Bulb Tube Guard, or just a sheet of card stock.  

Since you have a new set of balls, teach the kiddos how to play Four Square or Stoop Ball. The nice thing about a box of balls, is that the smaller balls can be used for catapults; a large play ball can be used for kick ball.  The kiddos will have a blast!

 

Make the most of your Christmas trip to the Zoo!

 I teach at a Co-op with kids from large families.  Every trip is a big deal.  Make the most of your trip to the Zoo!  Our plans include a trip to a zoo over the Christmas break.  Plan to create a family album and educational lapbook: Zoo Lapbook,  Zoo Unit Study, and Zoo Animals. Include sketches.  Take loads and loads of pictures.  Let the kiddos complete worksheets: At the Zoo I Saw, My Day at the Zoo, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers, or Zoo Tampa’s packet with loads of activities.  Download a zoo scavenger hunt: Zoo Tampa, National Zoo, and this generic Zoo Scavenger Hunt. The San Diego Zoo’s Curriculum has loads and loads of follow-up ideas: habitats, books to read, animals and their offspring, etc.  Zoos cost a fortune.  Make the most of this fun trip!  If grandparents are hosting your family, ask Nana and Pop-pop to work with the kids on their lapbook project.  Tell your kiddos to show their grandparents how much they learned.

Split Pea DNA Extraction

 The Co-op Biology class was able to finish three trials of the DNA extraction.  We used a blender, mortars and pestles, and even hammers to pound split peas. (It’s a larger class.). The two girls got spectacular results.  I believe they read and followed directions.  Add a bit more meat tenderizer than specified.  Pour the alcohol down the side of the beaker or test tube.  The girls repeated trials using different dish detergents and percents of alcohol.  The rest repeated the experiment until they got some DNA.  The white clumps or strands are DNA.

Maybe a Magnetic Gift Kit?

 Don’t buy a magnet toy kit!  Buy a magnetic wand and fill a box with fun science toys to make.  

Save a few bottles to add to the box to make Magnetic Sensory Bottles.  Add pipe cleaners, colorful paper clips, steel washers, bingo chips, etc.  Older kids may enjoy Iron filings in the water with stronger magnets.  Add a set of Floating Magnet Rings.

Buy two bar magnets are all you need for this lab introducing magnetism.  

Most little kids will enjoy the magnetic wand.  Mainly they run around on a magnetic scavenger hunt.  You’ll need to gauge the recipient’s interest.  Merry Christmas!