Today, at Maker Camp, we made launchers and painted the balance boards. We start with our favorite camp songs. The biggest hit was the Pool Noodle Flinger; the kiddos made them with both plumber’s insulation and pool noodles. They marched down to the cul-de-sac for testing. It’s 12:18 and everyone is in their cars headed home! Take a look!
Kiddos like to identify rocks and minerals. (See What is the difference between a rock and Mineral?) Make your own identification kit. Start by looking at a commercial kit. Look at HST’s All About Rocks and Minerals and their Lesson Plan for ideas about how to structure your lesson. Be sure to borrow a rock and mineral guide book from the library.
I strongly recommend buying a set with the rocks and minerals identified. My classes run all manner of mineral tests on known specimens. Why? I’m not a geologist. I have zero background identifying unknown rocks and minerals. (Okay, I could probably identify quartz and mica.)
There are several identification tests: color, streak, cleavage, etc. Scroll this page for a mineral identification flow chart. I like to use density as a test, too. Here is how to measure rock density, which requires a graduated cylinder and scale. Another test is hardness; Rock Detectives use a penny, steel washer, and unglazed tile. Here are mineral tests: hardness, color, and streak. Another test is fluorescence with a UV flashlight.
Spend money on the rock and mineral sets rather than the tools.
Usually, we use our microscopes for slides. Our first lesson is with money. The kiddos look at U.S. and foreign currency under the microscope. But I hadn’t thought about studying rocks and minerals under the microscope. My advice is to use less expensive microscopes, such as a clip-on lens or microscope, digital microscope, or kids version. Kiddos have a propensity for grinding the lens against the object.
Here is a simulated, microscope activity with images. Put salt on glass slides to observe. Try sand or gravel. Mineral Matters has a defined lesson studying mineral samples under the microscope. I’m filing this idea away for fall.
Rob and I are prepping for Maker Camp. He insists we try all of the projects and make samples. I’m more cavalier—which doesn’t always work well. We went to Walmart and Lowe’s for materials, two of my favorite science stores. I looked for more examples of hardware science.
1. We tested Steve Spangler’s Balancing Hex Nut Challenge. I bought ordinary hex nuts; they weren’t magnetic. Boooo! Instead, the lab calls for these. (Ordinary hex nuts work for cartesian divers.)
2. We bought foam pipe wrap to make a Foam Rocket. We have pool noodles to use, too, for comparison.
3. Impossible Balancer uses metal washers. I kept trying to get it to balance on its end. Look at the photo! The craft stick lies flat on the pad of the finger. Use the metal washers for Wacky Washers or Coin in a Cup. You can substitute washers for pennies to make this balancing bird.
4. Balancing Nails is another hardware science activity with a focus on center of mass. Be careful to select long nails. We’re also trying several activities from Center of Mass.
5. Classify Matter helps kiddos understand elements, mixtures, and compounds. Save this for fall.
6. Substitute a paint stick for a ruler and try atmospheric pressure. It’s also called ‘heavy paper’.
7. Finally, invest in a second toilet plunger and do the demo below.
Okay, this is a reach. Some equipment, such as balls, ramps, rules, and cars, aren’t harmful. (BTW we use a one-meter board cut at Lowe’s as a ramp. There was some difficulty explaining why we needed exactly one meter.). There are several small-scale or micro-scale labs in Physics.
Circuitry: Petri Dish Electrolysis explores electric current. By all means watch the Flinn video! (This reddit post might help, if you understand redox. I use LEO the Lion says GER, not OIL RIG. CAT goes GER helps to reinforce cathode.)
More Circuitry: Another small-scale circuit lab is the Exploratorium’s Squishy Circuits. (Here is the commercial Squishy Circuits product. Here are instructions for using play dough with Makey Makey.). The Exploratorium’s instructions use a button battery—creating a small scale experiment.
Gas Laws: Sizing up Temperature, Charles’ Law, is both a Chemistry and Physics lab.
Optics: Laser Jello requires laser pointers. Rob uses unflavored gelatin and Jello in Petri dishes.
Newton’s Laws: Start with the STEMonstration video before reading Air-Powered Mass, part of the Mass vs.Weight Series. NASA’s STEMonstrations, such as Momentum, tend to be small scale, rather than micro-scale, and use simple materials, such as marbles. (Yes, wading through NASA’s resources is frustrating.)
Heat, Temperature, and Conduction uses water and metal washers—my type of lab! It’s simple, explains a concept, and doesn’t cost much. Use the cup and metal washers with this Inertia demo or this easy lever activity.
I have had exactly one student interested in Ferrofluids. The kit and materials are expensive. Here is a bit of background. I did find DIY Nano!, written for kiddos. Whenever I’m exploring a new topic, I start with elementary or middle school materials. Really. Nanoscale is more of a science than Physics topic; however, I think high school, upper-level students are better prepared to understand nano scale ideas.
Do you look at a kit and wonder how the materials are used? I love to cannibalize kits! I also like to track down labs germane to the materials in a kit. Let’s do that! My husband, Rob, teaches Math and Physics for the local Co-op. He has a background in math and finance and a strong interest in physics. While he had experience as an adjunct at the University of Delaware, he didn’t have any experience planning Physics’ labs. Guess what? I have loads of experience with Physical Science and labs; I just ramped up the lab content. It’s my experience planning labs which helps me to identify equipment and its uses.
First I look at an introductory syllabus. While this kit isn’t extensive, it does have key items used in loads of Physics labs.
Many of the labs which use similar equipment are in the Physics 6 Lab Manual. The protractor and washers can be used to measure Freefalling Washers. It might be used to make a Protractor Launcher. The pulley can be used with the spring scale and washers in a standard pulleys lab.
Look at the Slinky lying between the safety glasses and hole punch. A Slinky is useful to learn about Waves. The blocks may be for Center of Mass, as is the photo of the bag near the bottom from another kit. Yes, I dig when I want information.
Aluminum Pan: The hole punch is to create paper chads to use with static electricity labs, such as Exploratorium’s Charge and Carry. The colorful rocket flingers can be used with rocket-related labs, such as this Rocket Range Experiment.
The acrylic, tubular, dynamometer are spring scales. Apparent Weight, Measure Weight, and Force and Mass are basic Physics labs using a spring scale. See the bag with the steel rod, paper clips, and blocks of wood? I think the bag has a magnet/and or washers. My guess is the Floating Paperclip Lab.
Note in the lab list at the top is Buoyancy and Archimedes. There are pipettes and a nut in the kit; the lab is likely a Cartesian Diver. Here are instructions. (BTW, the nut and pipettes are not easy to spot.)
Physics has loads of measurements. The wooden blocks and items in the bag on the left can be used for density labs and measures. The plastic egg might be used for Kinder Eggs and Physics—just a guess with the clay.
I don’t see a thermometer. However, several Gas Law Experiments use pipettes, string, balloons, and cups. Additionally, many of these lab materials can be used with Kinematics labs. It is much easier to buy a kit with a lab manual. But, you can find many of these materials at Walmart and rig your own labs.
I looked for clues on eBay, too. Sometimes the kit contents are labeled Kinematics, Ideal Gas Law, Thermodynamics, and Center of Mass. Free Fall and Lab 1D Kinematics (part of Kinematics) uses hex nuts and string. The hex nuts fall into an aluminum pan.
Every Physics kit is customized by the instructor. Contents vary. Some do list the labs; others only list the contents.
Compare this kit with QSL kits, which are loaded. Be sure any used kit has a lab manual! You might not want to spend umpteen hours looking for labs to go with the kit.
There are two listings at Good Will I don’t want you to miss—especially the Apologia Chemistry and Physics Lab kit. This set is for Apologia’s Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics Curriculum, an elementary program.
There is also an HST electricity kit and an AIMS Electricity kit. I don’t want you to miss deals.
In another life, I required all of my students (except AP classes) to participate in science fair, typically around 120-140 students—every year! I needed ideas because the teens seldom had their own project plans. Moreover, I spent a day in the high school’s seminar room delivering ISEF Rules and fielding questions from classes participating in science fair—all the honors students. (Mine weren’t honors students; I thought every kiddo should do one project.) Guess which questions? Do you have any ideas for projects? (I hosted science fair in private schools, too. Kiddos have the same struggle with ideas.) I have suggestions—mainly for labs, which can become full-blown projects. One concept is memory wire or Nitinol.
If you make jewelry, you are probably familiar with Beadaholic’s Memory Wire. It was developed by the Naval Ordnance Lab and tested by NASA. Shape Memory Alloys have biomedical applications, such as stents. There are experiments here and here. (Yes, you just bend the wire, put it in hot water, and watch it regain its original shape.) Here is a detailed lesson with notes. Could it serve as a science fair project? This is fine for a middle school project. However, the student should conduct many, many trials to demonstrate the wire retains its original shape. I would recommend doing 100 trials. Enlist help. Take videos and photos of people trying every shape imaginable as part of the evidence. Maintain the same temperature of the hot water. Be sure to understand how Nitinol is used in stents. Can you tell I’ve done this before? Hey! Once you finish you can use the wire to make a bracelet.
One of my colleagues assigned essays with title such as ‘Why Rocks are Hard’ or ‘Why Water is Wet’. I thought he was hysterical. But why is water wet? The answer is the unique properties of water. First examine Properties of Water with surface tension experiments. (Very young kiddos love Sink of Float experiments, too. Do Gravity-defying water, which is more about air pressure. Kiddos think it’s cool.). Potato Float examines sea water. The Properties of Water has all the standard labs: Drops on Pennies, Drop in Milk, Lava Lamp, and How to Make a Paper Clip Float. String Cohesion and Adhesion has kiddos pour water down string (or yarn.). If you have very dry weather, do the Bending Water Experiment. (It relies on static electricity. If the air is too humid, the water molecules capture the static—electrostatic force.) Finally, Exploratorium has a collection, water, which does not disappoint.
There are Just Add Water kits—excellent sources for more water experiments, such as Instant Snow. Also, hilarious.
Micro-scale, small-scale, or Microscience uses small amounts of chemicals or materials to do experiments. It first gained popularity in Chemistry; small-scale labs are cheaper and safer. (A small drop of corrosive chemicals is much less hazardous than a beaker of solution.)
UNESCO uses Radmaste kits. They have published a load of YouTube Videos for the kits. I bought a lot on eBay.
The UNESCO Primary Microscience has so many great ideas! Make your own micro-science kit with RSC Apparatus and Techniques; this site has suggested, basic equipment. (Cut a straw to make a tGet more ideas from Flinn. (Flinn will ship materials to a school or church office and accepts a credit card.) Home Science Tools sells reaction plates.
One piece of basic equipment is a Petri dish: Painting in a Petri dish, Petri Dish Electrolysis, (similar to Tin Dendrites; incidentally, the MEL Science Kits are micro-scale.), and Candy Chromatography.
Drops on a Penny, Milk Rainbow, or the Color Change experiment use small amounts of chemicals and materials. Think small! Can you get the same results with smaller quantities? The answer is frequently, ‘Yes!’
