Science Camp: Edible Chemistry Kit

Aside from tie-dye or Ice Cream in a Bag, the most popular activity at Science Camp is the Edible Chemistry Kit , also sold as Fizz Whiz and Jammin’ Jelly kit.  I bought a classroom set and refill the little containers as a convenience for Camp.  The tiny containers are color coded and labeled.  The chemicals are calcium acetate (food grade calcium chloride or  calcium lactate can substitute), sodium alginate, baking soda, citric acid, and red cabbage powder.  The kit comes with loads of simple experiments.  Below are pix of the kits and ingredients.  The next post will have experiments to do apart from the labs in the kit.

Science Camp/ Family Science/ Physics/Physical Science: Launchers

 Launchers, catapults, trebuchets are fun!  They can be adapted for different aged students—even Physics.  We made catapults at VBS one year when we couldn’t rig a decent sling for David and Goliath.  No one complained.  There are loads of models for every budget.  

Launchers:

Here is a projectile launcher for high school and appropriate for Physics.

Teacher Geek sells this kit to make this launcher for different challenges.

Science Queen has this simple Rubber Band Launcher lab.

Frugal Fun has this Plastic Cup Rocket is made with a plastic cup and rubber bands.

Catapults:

Here is a basic, craft stick catapult.

Here is a fancier catapult from Frugal Fun.

This is a standard plastic spoon catapult.

Build this catapult with pencils.

Trebuchets and Mangonels

This site has a Mini Mangonel—type of catapult.

This mangonel model has detailed photos .

Oxford Science has this activity packet with background, lab sheets, and building plans for trebuchet with a throwing arm.

Another siege weapon is an onager.  Here is an onager build.

Here are plans for a backyard trebuchet.

Miscellaneous Launchers for Little People

Balloon Popper

Rocket Flinger

Stomp Rocket Launcher DIY

Fruit Dissection

 The Biology Co-op class dissected fruit today: apples, Chile peppers, and bell peppers.  Again, they edited photos digitally to save for later when we study Botany.  Yes, I donated several worn cutting boards to science.

Flower Dissection

 The Biology Co-op class is dissecting fruit and flowers this morning.  The daffodils I bought two years ago for Biology and replanted are blooming.  This year's Co-op class is unusually diligent.  The kids used the guides described in this post to dissect and label the daffodil and the amaryllis flowers which had finished blooming.  (The bulb was a Christmas present from two students.)  One year in Co-op the live flowers were too expensive for 19 students.  Here is the post where we used fake flowers from Michaels.  

The teens did NOT use a dissection guide.  Instead, they followed instructions, laid out their flower parts, took photos, and labeled images digitally to use later when we do Botany.  

Food Science

I’ve been thinking about the chemistry or science of food.  Food Chemistry or Food Science would make an excellent high school elective.  I did some research.  In order to create a complete curriculum, the instructor would need to make some decisions.  Which units would you like to include, such as food preservation or safety?  Which experiments work with the curriculum?  Should the teens use a textbook or a collection of trade books?  Below are some links to peruse.  A food course would make an awesome family elective.

 Food Science

FoodMaster (Grades 6-8)

Open Textbooks: Chemistry of Cooking

RSC (Royal Society if Chemistry) Kitchen Chemistry

Guest Hollow Chemistry in The Kitchen Curriculum

Home School Scientist Culinary Science aka Kitchen Chemistry

ACS Cooking

ACS An Asynchronous Course Designed with Hands-On Experiments

    1. Experiments

    2. Rubrics

    Chemistry Education Resources on Food (ACS) Canadian Food Science Library.  

     1. Illinois Food Science Curriculum

     2. School Nutrition

Family Science: Make Ice Cream!

 Let’s make ice cream!  Yes, this can be an experiment!  Start with this Chemmatters Article, Ice Cream and Chemistry.  Here are instructions for making ice cream in plastic bags.  Use rock salt and shake it for a lonnnnng time.  Here is a detailed ice cream lab, for teens, incorporating the colligative property, freezing point depression.  Here are instructions for making ice cream in cans.  Wear gloves to avoid frostbite.  Let’s take something fun and explore the underlying science.  Younger kids may not understand freezing point depression.  They will associate fun with science.

Chemmatters!

Have you heard about  Writing Across the Curriculum?  This is one of those trends that comes in vogue in education regularly.  Teachers are often encouraged to get students to write.  I agree!  One technique I have used is to start with an engaging article, such as Tattoos.  No, I’m not promoting tattoos.  However, the topic of tattoos usually generates a lively discussion.  Should you get a tattoo?  Why do people get tattoos?  Are there any risks?  One of my cousins is a tattoo artist.  I talked to him at length at a family reunion about the risks.  Did you know tattoos are addictive?  I didn’t know that before I spoke with Mark.  He also explained many of the reasons people get tattoos.  At the time I spoke to my cousin, I was teaching in a public school.  Many, many, many students there wanted tattoos—often for the reasons mentioned in the article.  This Chemmatters Issue has another article about tattoos and a recipe for ink.

Here’s how I tackled the writing assignment with tattoos.  First we read an article from ACS about tattoos.  Next, we listed the pros and cons of tattoos.  The kids examined the question, Should you get a tattoo?, in an essay.  They wrote volumes!  Lastly, we did several art labs: Playtime Paint, Make Ink (Try to write with the ink.), Stain Glass Glue, and Colorful Lather Printing.

If you want to avoid the controversy surrounding tattoos, pick a top such as Art, instead.  Here is a Chemmatters article, ‘Authentic or Not?’.  

Glow in the Dark Fun!

 Once I get out my UV flashlight for Contagion the kids want to do more glow in the dark activities.  I have a bunch!  First is Glow in the Dark Water, with tonic water.  Next is UV Beads and Sunscreen tests.  Test different sunscreens.  Last summer’s sunscreen is fine; the lotions and sprays are designed to last for a few years.  Try the Cool Blue Light Experiment. (N.B. I have had mixed results with this lab.). Here is Glow in the Dark Jello.  Kitchen Spectroscopy tests which ordinary substances glow in the dark.  Have your kids shine the UV flashlight on their t-shirts to see if they fluoresce.  Laundry detergents may have optical whiteners which remain on clothes; stains often fluoresce.  Add glow powder to slime you make yourself.

Contagion!

 I don’t know about your area of the country; here, just outside Quantico, viruses are raging.  If you teach a group or take part in a Co-op consider doing a lesson on disease transmission.  Here and here is the classic lab: Contagion.  Basically, you need a weak solution (0.1 M-any concentration which is stronger will work, too.)  NaOH (sodium hydroxide) and phenolphthalein (PHTH) for this lab.  Use clear cups and put a few drops of NaOH in one cup and let it dry.  Give each teen in the group cups of water.  Allow them to pass water into one another’s cups.  Finally, test each cup with a few drops of PHTH, which turns a bright pink in the presence of a base, NaOH.  Have the kids try to trace the pattern of transmission.  The original cup will be a dark pink.

Many of you have Co-op groups with elementary-age kids.  Try lessons with Glo Germs.  This lesson, Keep Your Hands to Yourselves, distributes small amounts of germs around the room.  Glo Germs has these handwashing lessons for elementary students.  I usually sprinkle a few germs on the table and demonstrate how the germs glo with a UV flashlight.  Then the kids apply Glo Germ lotion to their hands.  Next they wash their hands.  Finally, I use the UV flashlight to show areas on their hands they missed. (Check the nail beds.). 

Try This At Home: Physics

 My husband, Rob, teaches Physics regularly for our local Co-op.  I’m always looking for new ideas.  His class wants to do something fun.  First is Do Try This at Home and detailed instructions.  The site has instructional videos for each experiment.  Many of these are new to me.  The only one I am familiar with is #13 Bouncing High or Stacked Ball Drop. (Try sticking a ping pong ball on a tennis ball.). 

Here is an article about a ‘take home physics kit’.  I located labs to coincide with the experiments described: Pendulum lab, Archimedes Lab, Cartesian Diver, DVD Spectroscope, , Ohm’s Law lab, Hooke’s Law lab, and the Speed of Sound lab.  The article also shows a homemade scale used to measure density.  

Family Science: Make Crsytals!

 Are you looking for more family science ideas?  Let’s make crystals.  First make a Salt Crystal Garden with Mrs. Stewart’s Liquid Bluing.  These are consistently successful.  Alum crystals make eggshell geodes.  Follow the instructions to the letter.  Let them ‘grow’ for a few days.  

Have you tried Hot Ice?  I have.  My students have.  Paul has.  We have NOT had tremendous luck.  Scroll down for gro-beads.  They work well.

Try Ghost Crystals.  These are polymers which expand with water.  When the crystals dissolve in water, light passes through the crystals in the same manner as water, making them ‘invisible’, or technically having the same index of refractions.  

You may want to try gro-spheres, too.  Here are lesson ideas.  Soil Moist is the cheapest source for these crystals in bulk, useful for Science Camp.

Here are even more crystal experiments from Home Science Tools, HST.  BTW, HST has loads of lessons and ideas!