Science Camp: Day Two

I made all kinds of plans for Science Camp.  But, when the kids are engaged and happy, I roll with it.  The girls tried color change with curry powder and turmeric.  The girls wanted to make giant bubbles.  Not on the schedule—but fine.  The boys wanted to build a Knex Nerf gun and test the hydraulics in the Geckobot kit.  One boy took home the Sterling engine and build it at home with his dad.  It has a solar panel which needs to charge.  We took a brownie break and went back to the Chemistry kits.  I also had a stack of inexpensive crafts I’m purging.  The girls are making pillows in between science experiments.  I think treats and crafts are fine to add to Science Camp.  Weather permitting we go to the pool after Camp, too.  The girls made Foam and loads of slime!  They tested color changing slime, fluffy slime, glitter slime, etc.  The boys made solutions  and performed experiments with different invisible inks and reactions with water glass, sodium silicate from the MEL kits.  I added PHTH Invisible Ink.  (Home Science tools sells phenolphthalein or PHTH.)  Another invisible ink is between Copper II sulfate and Ammonium carbonate.  Write with the solutions on paper using a q-tip.  The boys are loving all the building and the chemical experiments.  If I don’t get to do everything I planned, it’s fine.

Science Camp: Day One

 Yeah!  Let’s start Science Camp. I am a hypocrite. I’m using loads of kits for Science Camp.  I bought MEL kits, the FOSS set, COSI kits, and the Thames and Kosmos sets from Good Will.  I got good deals on all of the kits.  The kids are completely thrilled with the kits and excited to keep them.

 Things are kind of split into boys and girls.  The boys are thirteen and the girls are eight.  Their preferences differ tremendously.  The girls tried using butterfly tea as a pH indicator. Mainly they explored color changes using baking soda, citric acid, sudsy ammonia, and vinegar.  The girls were enthralled with mixing and changing colors for any hour.  Next the girls worked with Fizz Wizard and Jammin’ Jelly  (Here, here, and here are several, similar experiments.)  My husband, Rob lead the experiments, insisted on learning new terms, and performed every lab exactly as described.  The girls used balance from the FOSS kits I bought from Good Will to weigh Pokémon toys.  The girls played with Crayola 3D chalk and made bracelets.  (The girls love crafts.  I alternated crafts with science.)

The boys started with the MEL Tin Science kits.  (I bought refills of stannous chloride and sodium bisulfate at Amazon.  We used the kit in Chemistry and Physics.)  Next we moved on to my stash of Physics kits.  I bought loads of kit for my husband, Rob’s Physics classes.  He hasn’t used any of them—ever!  I asked the boys if they wanted to try the kits and then keep them.  (I have a dozen.)  At thirteen, the boys still love building kits and were excited to keep them.  What a win.  We’re cleaning off several shelves.  My girlfriend is taking extra supplies home for Co-op. The boys spent the entire morning doing the Chemistry Kit and playing with the Remote Control Machines kit.  

Science Camp Starts Monday!

I’m in the last stages of denial.  Ready or not Science Camp starts Monday.   I’ve been working on ideas for months; this time most of my ideas are new.  This fills me with terror.  Are they engaging?  Age appropriate?  Will we finish hours before camp ends?  I have loads of stuff; now to see if things work.

Science on a Shoestring: Lab Equipment

One time, at a GLOBE workshop, the presenter told us to start with a bucket and a thermometer.  What tools are most essential for science classes, especially high school level courses?  Basics include safety glasses, thermometers, pipettes, graduated cylinders, pH paper, and a digital scale.  This equipment costs less than $36 on Amazon.  A set of test tubes in a cardboard holder is $10.  (Use a clothespin as a test tube holder.)  Sub a glass medicine dropper for the plastic pipettes.  Save large yogurt container to use as beakers.  Use cupcake papers as weigh papers for the digital scale.  You can perform many labs with these simple materials.  Don’t let cost keep you from doing labs. 

Science Camp: The Library of Things

 Have you heard of the Library of Things?  Our local library system offers environmental test devices.  They loan them for two weeks.  Rob and I borrowed them in order to test the devices ourselves before Science Camp.  Below are pix of the devices.  I’m in the throes of preparations for Camp.  I’ll post more next week.

Summer Science Camp 2023

 Here is my spreadsheet for Summer Science Camp.  The spreadsheet is more of a vast wish list.  Next week, my husband, Rob, and I will start getting the kits.  We expect six teens and two young siblings—all Science Camp veterans.  The boys are all thirteen; the two little girls are seven.  The little girls love slime, color change, and kitchen science experiments.  I’m going to let them jump in with the teen boys whenever they want.

I managed to amass several deals through Good Will online.  There are screen shots below.  I bought a dozen MEL Science kits to use with my Chemistry class.  My husband, Rob, had his Physics class do experiments with the kits, too.  I bought some refill chemicals, such as sodium silicate and stannous chloride.  I had a flash last week; the boys are thirteen!  We can use the MEL kits during Science Camp!  I have about a dozen different  kits.  A week ago, I bid on COSI Lunchbox Hyperloop kits—essentially magnet kits.  

Normally, I don’t use many kits.  But, the boys have been to Science Camp and over to my house for experiments for years.  Last year, the kids took Human Anatomy and did loads of fun activities.  I have had to stretch to think up fun labs.  I spent about $200 for all of the kits and replacement chemicals.  The remaining experiments will be from stuff already on hand.  Below are the screen-shots of the kits.

Butterfly Tea and LeChatelier

The kids decided to do the LeChatelier lab from the Apologia textbook, too, Experiment 15.2.  Guess what?  I modified the experiment.  I used  red cabbage powder instead of boiling red cabbage leaves.  Additionally, the kids used the butterfly tea.  We used baking soda, citric acid, ammonia, and baking soda.  The kids noted how the color changes in acids and bases and at hot and cold temperatures.

Module 13 in Apologia Chemistry is Equilibrium.  Beyond Benign has this Equilibrium/LeChatelier lab.  We did the second part using butterfly tea. FYI I keep an electric kettle in our lab to heat water quickly. The kids used steeped tea to experiment with temperature, baking soda, and citric acid.  The tea changes color.  I’m using the butterfly tea for Science Camp, too.

Biology on a Budget: Experimental Design

 Next Fall, I'm teaching Biology again for the local Co-op.  There are some labs I do every year.  But it's always fun to change things.  I ran across this Biology Lab Manual, full of budget-friendly biology labs.  Look at the first labs labeled "Scientific Method" and "Lab Variables: Penny Drop Lab, Alka-Seltzer Activity, and Shape of Water vs. Drop Height. Additionally, there is a graphing exercise: Heart Rate Response to Exercise.  These types of labs are ideal to use at the beginning of Biology.  As an instructor, it’s important to teach lab skills, graphing, independent, controlled, and confounding variables,  and experimental design.  These labs offer an opportunity to review formal, written, lab reports.  I invest time at the beginning of the year hammering home these concepts integral to labs all year.

Chemistry on an Extreme Budget: Two Gas Law Labs

 The Chemistry Co-op class is doing the Boyle's Law Lab and the Charles’ Law Lab.  These labs use water, plastic pipettes, a thermometer, and a little food dye.  Try to use similar, thin books for the Boyle's Law lab.  (I teach French and used a stack.  Thicker books, such as the Apologia textbooks can work, too.) Instead of using a clamp to seal the pipette, we heat-seal the pipette by burning the end. Remember, the gas in the pipette is air.  The volume of liquid moves as the air is compressed or as the temperature changes.  While the lab apparatus is crude, the labs demonstrate two, key Gas Laws well.  

                                                   These are heat-sealed; the ends are melted.