We’re having fun with science experiments this week. My daughter has discovered Bill Nye Science Guy Episodes on DVD
from the library and has asked to repeat some of his experiments. She recently found a science kit at the store and wanted me to buy it. But, since I am a chemical engineer and my husband is a biochemist, we figured we didn’t need the kit and could make them at home.
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| How Not to Clean Pennies |
In trying to clean pennies, we discovered we should still have reference material. My husband helped her clean pennies with vinegar and salt and left them sitting in the solution for 2 days because they weren’t getting clean enough. I emptied the container yesterday and discovered that the pennies were disintegrating. After a search online, I discovered they were only supposed to be left for 10-20 seconds. I guess even with our backgrounds having some directions are a good idea.
So we cleaned pennies again and then experimented with baking soda and vinegar and experimented with rinsing and not rinsing them (not rinsing leads to blue/green oxidation spots). While at Target, I found a workbook of science experiments in the dollar section and purchased it to give us some guidance. You can also find Kids Science Experiment Books on Amazon.com.
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| I don’t like this experiment – too messy! |
Today, my daughter selected a few experiments. We started by making blue goo from cornstarch and water. She was not so thrilled about the mess since you have to mix it with your hands and I ended up doing most of the mixing. I am finally getting the blue food coloring off of my hands after numerous washings. She loves Dinosaurs and Science, and says she wants to be a paleontologist but I don’t see her wanting to go on a dig and getting dusty/dirty or camping out.
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| Recording Observations |
Then, she asked to do the magic balloon experiment. She loved this experiment. We put vinegar in an old Aquafina bottle and baking soda in a balloon that we attached to the top. When you dump the baking soda into the vinegar the balloon will blow up. She loved this experiment! Of course, a pink balloon probably helped.
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| Our “Lava Lamp” |
Finally she wanted to make a Lava Lamp. Instead of using a 2 L soda bottle, I decided to improvise with the Aquafina bottle (20oz) used above since it would use a lot less oil (1/2 oil, 1/2 water with food coloring). Got the bottle filled and then realized I didn’t have a cap. Whoops. I ended up dumping a 16 oz Ice Mountain bottle down the drain so we could use that. I also discovered that yellow is not necessarily the best food color choice since the oil is yellow to begin with. It will be interesting to see how different it looks tomorrow morning after having more time to settle.
I like these types of experiments that use items I have in my house and are mostly inexpensive. For cheap baking soda for experiments, we replaced the baking soda containers in our refrigerator and saved the old baking soda for her experiments.
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