weekend experiment

My intention is to post one experiment every friday to try out in the weekend.   Today I made paneer which is Indian cottage cheese.  You boil milk and add lemon juice to the boiled milk and the milk breaks up with cheese floating on top and water at the bottom.  That's not the experiment I am suggesting here today though:)  When our son saw it, he complained that he didn't get to do the experiment and so I had to quickly think of an experiment we can do which has to involve lemons.  So here is the simple experiment we did today
Ingredients needed:
A couple of lemons
A table spoon of baking soda
A tall glass jar (or tumbler or anything you can see through would work)
A tea spoon of dishwashing liquid

In the glass jar, put a table spoon of baking soda.  Add the dishwashing liquid to the baking soda and mix it a little.  Then get the kid(s) to pour the lemon juice taking precautions and make sure you are prepared for a little mess.  And watch what happens.
ps: if you are fresh out of lemons at home, you can use good old vinegar for this experiment.

kid inventions

We hear about new inventions all the time that makes our life better (or more work) sometimes.  As I watch children coming up with such creative ideas and solutions for what they perceive as a problem, I wondered how many inventions are created by children that we use everyday.  So from time to time I will add a kid invention here.
As the winter season started here and the temperatures going below zeroC, we dress up in layers and cover every part of our body except the face.  One of the contraptions people use (especially if they are skiing) is Ear Muffs.  Keeps your ears warm and safe from cold air.  Did you know the Ear Muffs were invented by a 15yr old boy named Chester Greenwood? He wanted to protect his ears from cold and tried wrapping a scarf but it was bulky and itchy.  So, he made two ear-shaped loops from wire and asked his grandmother to sew fur on them.  Later he patented a better version of it and apparantly soldiers in US even used them in World War I.  It seems like a simple idea now but when it didn't exist, it took this boy to make it happen.
That 15 year old kid grew up to have 100 patents in his lifetime!  Great invention isn't it..
Have a great science day everyone...

Are Science shows for preschoolers?

I answered the questions for the previous post in the comment section of that post to keep it together.
One of the misconceptions around us is that science is for “older” kids. That it is somethings Kids “have” to learn in school. But from own experiences I can say emphatically that preschool children enjoy science if presented the right way just as much as older kids. A couple of weeks ago, I gave a science show in local International playschool (IEEC in Pynniki, Tampere) to 5 and 6 yr old children. The 6yr olds of that school do science experiments on occasion like menthos and coke etc so the children are already familiar with how fun science can be.

I gave the show for the occasion of Halloween and so we had lot of fun halloweeny experiments. I took some dry ice and we had lots of fun with it including making some magic potion for all the witches and wizards that came. We made a lot of mess by pouring a bit of dish washing liquid into a tall jar with warm water and dry ice. It produced so many big bubbles and each kid got to burst a few bubbles which releases the smoke (carbon dioxide). Ofcourse we made some screaming balloons too including one gaint one.

I also took some ‘ghost balls’ that are just a few millimeters wide when dry but soak them in water and they are big marble size balls. They earn the name “ghost balls” because when you place them in water, you cannot spot them. Their refractive index is the same as of water so they just “disappear”. Later the director of the school Shawn told me that they got the parents to put their hands into the ‘water’ and get amazing expressions when they find those ghost balls (well, can’t let the children have all the fun right).

For the 6 yr olds, we also made some slime just using some borax and white glue. Put some food color and it became a colorful gooey mess. The number of ‘eeewwws’ and ‘yuuucks’ I heard followed by asking if they can touch it or do it for themselves was enough indication they found it fascinating and fun. Their teacher Liliana did promise that if they behave well enough, they might get to do it very soon.

But for me the best part came right after the show when a 6yr old girl walked up to me and said “When I grow up, I am going to be a scientist’ with a glow on her face and twinkle in her eyes. I can’t think of a better way of ending a science show than that….

Hello and Welcome

After closing the museum, I went through an array of emotions - anger, disappointment, fear, you name it.  After a while I wondered if I will ever enjoy going to a science museum again without feeling bitter and sad.  It so happened, we visited Tietomaa in Oulu a few weeks ago with our son who is ofcourse my main inspiration behind museum.  Except when I was chatting with Tietomaa CEO, who was exremely nice to come on a saturday, I observed that I was enjoying the science museum as if nothing has happened.  I was quite glad to see we all were exploring, trying out all the exhibits and watching our son try to come up with reasons why something is working the way it is.  By the Way, Tietomaa is filled with exhibits that are fun for children (and adults).  After 4 hrs of fun, we had to bribe our son with a fun gift from the museum giftstore to get him out:)
After that experience, the idea to continue my new career path slowly taking shape i.e. work towards promoting "Science Is Fun".  Hence this blog.  Apart from sharing news on any projects I might work on, I will also share some fun science experiments to do at home with everyday ingredients you can find at home.  Where possible, I will try to include some home videos of experiments as well to accompany the description.  I will also try to bring news from around the world on science competitions for kids etc etc.  Give hints to observe science around us in everyday things we do basically assuring science and science experiments are not just for kids:)
Let me kick off with a fun experiment we did on halloween day.  Smaller kids just love the noise of it while older children can learn about inertia and sound.  Parents be aware that this is a bit noisy and you might find it annoying which makes it that much more fun for the children:)

• Take a balloon, drop a small hexnut into it, blow the balloon and tie it. (dont blow too much or it might burst in your hands and that's not the screaming we are looking for)

• Hold the balloon with the tied end between your fingers (eg: between index finger and second finger).  Little ones can hold it in both their hands.

• Move the balloon in front of you in a circular motion.

• Hear the balloon scream!

so,
What's going on inside the balloon?
How is the noise generated inside?
Where else would you see similar motion?
Now try with a penny (or a cent) in the balloon instead of a hexnut and see what happens.  Do you observe any difference?
Answers to come in the next blog entry.
Good science day to all of you.