Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics: Displacement and Volume

Our little household is doing Chemistry and Physics this summer with Paul, ten.  Ordinarily, he goes to camps and VBS—all canceled.  We are doing a few hours of School every day.  Paul did the volume Try-it in Lesson 1.  My husband, Rob, added the calipers.  Paul measured volume of several objects by displacement and by direct measurement with calipers.  This activity is more of a lab.  It even has a hypothesis.  Which method is more accurate.  Paul measured several objects both ways.  He wrote up the lab in the Notebooking Journal.  Scan a copy of the lab for your digital portfolio.

Mad Science Camp: STEM Sports

I ran across an interesting idea: STEM and Sports.  Here is a teacher’s guide with suggestions, such as the relation ship between aerodynamics and football—definitely School, not Camp.  Look at this 4H  Shooting Sports Curriculum.  The curriculum is School; the program has hands-on activities which do not involve rifles and archery, such as a cardboard target with holes to shoot ping pong balls through with a paddle.  Look at this PE Mini-Golf Lesson.  Here is an article where kids designed their own golf course. Here is an article from Scientific American about building your own mini-golf course.  I think the way to go is to give the kids constraints: same number of wood planks, plastic cones, buckets, pool noodles, ... and challenge kids to create a mini-golf course which requires the most angles to hit a ball into a hole.  Fun, right?

Mad Science Camp: Kitchen Science Kit

Good Will online has listings for Kitchen Science kits.  I never buy these.  It’s the volcano illustrated in the box.  I ban all volcanos, models of the solar system, and Mentos and Coke experiments from Mad Science Camp— or Science Fair, for that matter.  Not happening.  Your kids have seen and done these.  Now, I do like the theme, kitchen science.  Start by printing clip art and having your kids make science posters or bumper stickers.  Kids seem to need the clip art images for inspiration.  Bonus points for a colorful periodic table. Place the art everywhere in your camp space.

Here are some time-tested experiments from Kiwi Science, such as Ice Experiments.  I used Melting Ice with Salt at Camp.  I thought the experiment was kind of lame; the kids didn’t at all.  Here are fifty more ideas.

What do we do at Camp?  One standard experiment is Color-changing Milk. Simple, easy, and always successful. We use the Fizz Wizard and Jammin’ Jelly Chemistry Kit.  For large groups, I do buy a class set so each team has a set of instructions, labeled containers, and tiny spoons.  (I buy large quantities of food-grade refill chemicals to refill the little containers.). I require the kids to do five of the experiments from the kit before they make potions and a huge mess.  The kids like for me to taste their creations.  Make sure to add sugar.  Yuck.  We also do red cabbage experiments.  The ‘magic’ crystals from the Fizz Wizard kit are red cabbage powder. 

Another hit is Periodic Table Elements Sugar Cookies from Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics.  What a blast!  Your kids are going to have a very full morning of fun.

Mad Science Camp: Slumber Party Science Kit

Good Will online has a listing for a Slumber Party Science Kit.  Someone is a marketing genius, selling a Spa kit as STEM.  The Kit retails for about $10; this listing with shipping is NOT a good buy.  This is the type of fun kit I might buy as a birthday present.  Why not make Spa Science a camp theme?  Here are DIY mask recipes—oops!  I mean experiments.  Here are instructions for soap crayons, bubble baths, bath salts, bath bombs, sugar scrub, hair spray, and lip balm.  Are you doing Camp with a family group?  Test several recipes and start saving cute jam jars.  Make notes of the best results.  You can make up bath salts or sugar scrubs late next Fall for presents.  Most homemade recipes will last one to three months.  Bath bombs are finicky to make and can require several trials and tweaks.  Can you grow and dry your own herbs to add?  See?  I told you I was not strict when it came to Camp.  Your kids will be doing all kinds of experiments to make perfect blends—remind them to change one variable at a time to understand what to tweak.  Yes!  This counts as science;  this bath bomb lab is evidence.  Bonus points if your kids look up the chemical formulas for Epsom salts, citric acid, baking soda, and sugar.

Mad Science Camp: Chemistry Themes and Marvelous Metals

Where do you get ideas?  One reliable source for Camp themes is from The American Chemical Society (ACS): National Chemistry Week Themes.  Remember I am a Chemistry teacher.  I am always looking for new ways to make Chemistry more fun.  It happens the ACS themes, such as Get Cooking with Chemistry, The Joy of Toys, or Chemistry Rocks make great Camp themes.  Once you have a theme, you can scroll down page after. page in Pinterest for activities.

Let’s see how a theme, Marvelous Metals, (Packet is here.) becomes a morning of Camp.  First, I want a few activities as Start-up: Water Drops on a Penny, Metals and Magnetism. and Magnetic Paperclip Chain.  Kids do these activities while they wait for everyone to arrive. (At Camp, I have a few kids waiting for me when I arrive at 7:30.). Since we have pennies out, let’s clean pennies and Float a Metal Boat. Bring hundreds of pennies.

I would set up a Floating Ring Magnet Set, Eddy Currents, a Disappearing Coin Bank, and Cold Metal on a side table for the kids to explore as time permits.

We need activities: Steel Wool and Vinegar, Microscopes and Money (Look for the security strip.  Is it metallic?), Coin Drop, Stay Put Coins,  Colorful Coins, Spinning Penny, Roll a Can with Static Electricity, and Engineer a Coin Sorter.

Have a teen try to make this Magnetic Coin Spinner in advance to demonstrate.  What else?  Make Bubble Wands with metal washers and make washer necklaces or car nut photo frames. 


Marvelous Metals  includes very disparate activities.  Just think of all the areas of science!  I am sure at least one of these metallic activities will captivate your kids.

Mad Science Camp: The Joy of Toys!

My campers generally have a short attention span and tend to be impulsive.  All of the activities need to be short and sweet.  When we do Camp, almost every camp we make some  toys to take home. What about a day of toys?  Call the day, The Joy of Toys!  (No, I do not mean Toy box 3 D printer, despite how cool it is.  3D printing one small object takes hours.  Ask me how I know.) Want ideas?  Start here, Toys from Trash.  My kids make many flying toys.  I buy Snapcopters and Handcopters to go with Rotocopters. (Print extra pages of the template; you will need them!). Make a CD Hovercraft.

The Joy of Toys was the theme for National Chemistry Week years ago.  Scroll down here  for a few ideas, such as the Cartesian diver and Bouncy Ball.  (Here is Chemistry in the Toy Store—the links still work and the science is sound.). Science toy maker has a CD or DVD periscope, which could work for Camps if everything is prepped, groups are small, and the campers are not impulsive.  Translation: my campers have never made periscopes or boomerangs.

 We have made magnet bottles with pipe cleaners; you can make them with bingo chips or paper clips, too.  Have you tried Spin-finite tops? I buy wooden pop tops and plastic flip tops to try.  Buggy and Buddy have 20 spinning top toys to make.  How do spinning tops work?  Here is a Physics explanation.

How about a balancing toy?  I buy a balancing bird for the kids to demonstrate center of gravity.  Here is a bag of balancing birds.  I also buy flipping frogs for the kids to take home as small favors.  Often, one of the teens makes origami paper jumping frogs for the kids.  (We tried origami with a big group at VBS once.  One time.  Period.). I have set up a balancing nail demo for the kids to try.  I keep a few demo toys, such as the Poly Density Bottle or the Air Zooka out for the kids to play with, but not take home because they are too expensive to buy one for everyone.

We made science toys everyday for a week one time at Mad Science Camp; but, it’s more fun to make toys one or two days.  Won’t your kids have a blast?  Ask them to figure out how the toys work.  They may not realize they’re doing science.  You’ll know when a toy is fun when the child asks you if they can take it home.  You should see the mom’s face when the child raves over the hanger she brings home to demo Head Harps or Secret Bells.

Mad Science Camp: K’NEX Roller Coaster

I bought two K’NEX Roller Coaster kits (and here) from Good Will.  (I paid about $50 for both kits with shipping.). Paul and my husband, Rob, are building the roller coaster in the basement.  I am not sure this would be good for camp.  Our Co-op has a Lego Club.  I think the Roller Coaster Kit might be better as part of a K’NEX club.  But, if you have a group of less impulsive kids, you might have the roller coaster kit at a station on the side for teens.  Kids could work on the kit if they finish a project early, over the course of a week of Camp.  Here are a few pictures.  Progress is slow.

Where do you buy microscope slides?

Biology and Human Anatomy classes involve the microscope and slides.  Here is a post about the digital microscopes we use.  Where can you buy microscope slides?  This set of slides for kids runs about $10; it’s a good basic set for beginners.  Good Will often has slides.  Home Science Tools has the Apologia Biology set—but it’s $45. I bought a set of 200 slides for my Biology Co-op classes for about $115.  This purchase was an investment; I hope to teach Biology or Anatomy for several years.

Are you on a strict budget?  I recommend this set of 25 slides for about $17.  This set has a nice variety of slides for Biology.  Also, buy an onion root tip slide to observe the stages of mitosis.  If your entire science budget is $100, use images, such as this one, pond life, or blood.  Save your money for household chemicals you’ll need for lab: baggies, cornstarch, iodine, meat tenderizer, split peas, etc.

Apologia Biology: Genetics

Here,  here,  here, and here are links for Genetics from my last Biology class.  Right now, science resources abound.  Let’s hope they continue!  For now, I am compiling as many new materials online as possible.   Here is Add Up and Cross Over, and Monohybrid and Dihybrid Crosses (Videos, lesson, and activities-such as Polygenic Inheritance Activity predicting skin color.), Blood Types,   By all means, test blood.  We use Eldon Cards.  Here is a pack of five for about $35.  Are your kids squeamish?  Try the Simulated ABO-Rh Blood Typing Kit.  My kids do this lab first before we test real blood.  Now, I am getting excited!  I love Genetics.

Apologia Biology: Mitosis

Before I launch into new materials, here is a blog post with some of the cell cycle and mitosis ideas.  Right now, the science resources online for remote education are frankly astounding.  I doubt they will last.  So, I am organizing links according to topics now.  Here are instructions for Mitosis and Meiosis Models with socks or yarn.  Here is Mitosis Match-up, with slide images.  Here is a lesson , complete with videos, quizzes, and resources for Disruptions of the Cell Cycle.  Cancer cell growth coincides well with the topic of mitosis.  One last idea is make Cell Cycle Models which include Mitosis.  I find these simple paper plate models to help kids understand mitosis in terms of the overall cell cycle.

UNESCO has distant learning materials.

Wow!  Even UNESCO has Covid-19 Distant Learning Materials.  Some of these are obvious, such as Google Classroom and Khan Academy.  Many of these resources are new to me.  Take a look.  I am astounded by the number of resources coming available in light of the Pandemic.