There are some science projects which benefit a wide range of ages. Good Will and eBay are fabulous sources for basic equipment: chicken egg incubator (Hatching Chicken Eggs), tabletop hydroponics, or Five Senses kits, some assembly required. (I recommend Ellen McHenry’s skin, eye, and ear paper models, too.) Be sure to compare prices before you bid. Don’t forget to check the shipping costs!
Have you heard of the Exploding Pumpkin Chemistry lab? It’s the Elephant’s Toothpaste Lab inside a pumpkin. Yes, that’s it! Kiddos love this lab. Just use orange food coloring for gel. Extra points for using an existing pumpkin tomorrow on Halloween! Have a blast!
Update: These pix are part of my on-going habit of accountability to you, my reader. Do we actually do the types of activities I write about. We do!
We completed Module 5 and started making muscles with Feets of Clay Muscles. The teens are spending today and Thursday building muscles.
I bought clay and cheap skeletons for class based on inspiration from Anatomy in Clay. We’ll use some of their free resources later in the year. But right now, we’re starting to learn about muscles. Feets of Clay Muscles have major muscles labeled on an inexpensive skeleton. Our class has more work to do with the muscle histology; however, we are going to take the time to build individual muscles. Below are the skeletons and clay we use. Play doh won’t work well. Too many cheap plasticine clays crumble. I use Sculpey. Feets of Clay uses the Tiny Tim skeletal model, which retails for about $30. Our cheap skeletons aren’t as accurate; the clavicle and pelvic area have fused bones. However, I want the kids to learn how the muscles connect to major bones and these will work well for our purposes.
I posted my Advanced Biology ( Anatomy) slide decks. Yes, I do keep updating them. I wanted to add that each slide deck covers many of the activities, videos, POGIL activities, and assignments for the module. We’re doing Module 5, Muscle Histology and Physiology. I refined the original slide deck when I added sliding filament models and extra videos. As I’m teaching I keep thinking about relationships. The kids made clay, muscle models, ATP, and sliding filament models. I need to help them connect the sacromere to the sliding filament model to the bigger picture, the muscle. What signals the production of the calcium ions? Where do they originate? How does ATP power the contraction? I end up doing a bit of modification after every lesson—especially difficult ones!
Happy Mole Day! Here is the 2025 theme from the National Mole Day Foundation. Really. Flinn has a Mole Day Contest. ACS has several Mole Day activities. National Chemistry Week coincides with National Mole Day. Really. This year’s theme is The Hidden Life of Spices. Celebrating Chemistry has 12 pages of articles and activities for younger kiddos. Scroll down this page to see the archive of previous years’ issues of Celebrating Chemistry. Science Buddies has a line-up of simple labs for the Spice theme, such as using turmeric as invisible ink. In another life, we celebrated Mole Day in my chemistry classes with hand sewn moles, Mole Jokes, and a retro Whack-a-Mole game. Yes, really. We had treats, too! It’s a fun take on a tough topic.
First, Flinn has a free Halloween poster and Halloween Zoom background. Sublime Science has several fun experiments, including a static electricity bat and balloon. Look here for loads of Halloween science experiments from the American Chemical Society. Save some candy for Candy Labs! This blog post has loads of ideas. Happy Halloween!
I teach several science classes. Over the years I invested in several molecule sets: Molecules of Life, Molecular Model Sets, and DNA Modeling. I’ve tried other sets and didn’t like them. Look for Old Nobby, MolyMod, or Prentice Hall brands, if you want the larger atoms. The LabAid kits are great for large groups. The Molymod have fewer atoms, which means they’re more useful for smaller compounds, such as ammonia or methane, rather than biomolecules, such as long chains of carbohydrates.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has Bonding Models, using clay models. (Membership is free.) Have you heard of CPK Colors? Scientists assigned colors to different atoms. Carbon is black, hydrogen white, oxygen red, nitrogen purple, etc. Make clay atoms and join them with toothpicks. Here is Making Models of Molecules and Creating Clay Molecules to use to get started. These Station Cards or Slide deck have a number of compounds—with the CPK colors.
Molecular models have become a kind of quest for me. I’ve looked at LEGO Chemical Reactions, LEGO Atoms, Chemistry Magnets, Bottle Caps, and Ionic Compound Dice. Really, it’s an on-going obsession.
We’re starting a unit in Anatomy (Advanced Biology) with detailed histology. How am I handling it? We’re making loads of models. Yesterday, we built ATP: adenosine, ribose, and phosphate. (I have several sets of molecular models. Here is one example of a Model of ATP Molecule.) The bonds contain the energy. Slip off one phosphate to differentiate between adenosine diphosphate ( ADP) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Tomorrow we’re making muscle models. Afterwards we’re creating sliding filament models.
I don’t usually buy materials from TPT. Yes I caved, broke down, and spent $4 on a model for sliding filaments. Here and here are models we’ll use, too. But, I didn’t find anything I really like. The $4 purchase includes instructions, a slide deck, and a video link. We’ll use the Amoeba Sisters’ video, too. They have a worksheet to go along with their free video for $2. What are we doing? We’re building a model of ATP; our models use the Labaid kits. I also bought an ATP/ ADP Energy Cycle, too. We’re making clay, skeletal muscles, too. Here’s hoping the models make a difference!
We keep a bucket with Pump Rockets and foam rockets in the basement for play emergencies. You can make Foam Rocket toys. ( Here is a si...
