Sharpie Tie-Dye

If you have ever tried to tie-dye, you know that it can make a big mess and usually your hands end up different colors too! In this science activity, you will get to enjoy the fun and creative experience of tie-dying without all the mess. And bonus, you may even learn a little bit of science along the way!

Many substances are soluble in water meaning that they can be broken down by water molecules. If you are coloring with washable markers and you accidently get some marker on the table, what do you do? You will probably go get a paper towel wet with water and wash the marker off. Amazingly, the marker will wash right off. This is because washable markers are designed to be soluble in water meaning that plain old water can break down the molecules and cause them to "disappear" so you cannot see the color anymore.

But are all markers like this? Of course not! If you are coloring with sharpie markers, you know you have to be careful because they are much more permanent or harder to break down than other marker ink. That is because sharpie makers are not soluble in water. In this experiment, you will create a tie-dye using sharpie markers and alcohol. The alcohol is used because the ink in the sharpie makers is soluble in rubbing alcohol and can create the really cool effect of tie-dye. For instructions and materials for this activity, click here.

All About Flowers

With Spring arriving, all of the trees and flowers will begin to bloom. Did you know that flowers have different parts and each of these parts has a different job? You probably know that the roots of the flower provide water and nutrients to the plant to keep it healthy. You also probably know that the stem helps carry those water and nutrients to the plant. But did you know that the flower itself is more than just pretty petals? All of the different parts of the flower help it to pollinate and make seeds so that more flowers can grow. In this activity, you will dissect, or take apart, the different parts of a flower. You will need good flower to dissect such as a lilly, iris, daffodil, or tulip. You will also need some scissors and a magnifying glass. For more information and instructions on how to dissect a flower, click here.

Separating Salt and Pepper

Science is a powerful tool that you can use to understand our world, but you can also use it to perform some really cool tricks! In this experiment, you will test out the power of static electricity. All you need for this experiment is a plastic comb, your hair (no really!) and some salt and pepper. Do you think you will be able to separate the small little pieces of pepper and salt when they are mixed together? This seems like a really difficult task, but using the power of science, it's possible! Mix the salt and pepper together. Then run the comb through your hair, when you hold the comb over the salt and pepper, watch and see what happens!

Instant Freeze Water

In January, one of the things that everyone looks forward to is the arrival of snow! We love to build snowmen, go sledding, and throw snowballs at our friends and family. But this time of the year also brings some unique opportunities for science experiments.

In this science experiment, Instant Freeze Water, you will work with super cooled water. The super cooled water actually gets below the freezing point but still remains a liquid. When the water is agitated (tapped) the ice crystals form and the water instantly freezes. For this experiment, you will need ice, water bottle, salt , and a thermometer. For complete instructions and pictures, check out the link above.

There are several different ways to conduct this experiment so do your research and try this out and see if you can get it to work. Don't get frustrated if this one doesn't work on the first time, it takes some practice!

Crystalized Christmas Ornaments

With Christmas just around the corner, everyone is figuring out what presents they will buy for their family members and friends. But why not use science to make some wonderful gifts? In this science experiment, you will use common household items to create beautiful Christmas ornaments made out of crystals. You will shape pipe cleaners into various holiday shapes. Then suspend your ornament into a supersaturated borax solution and watch the crystals grow! The result is your pipe cleaner ornament covered in beautiful, rock hard crystals. This would make a wonderful gift and a pretty ornament for the tree! Click on the picture for instructions and a video from Steve Spangler science.

Making A Folded Egg

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are all beginning to think about our favorite foods that we will enjoy for Thanksgiving dinner. But did you know that cooking is all about science? For our next science experiment, we are going to keep with the Thanksgiving theme and use one of the traditional Thanksgiving foods in our experiment: eggs. In this really cool science experiment, you will create a folding egg that can then be reinflated again! Check out the video to see how to conduct the experiment. Next, click here for the instructions on the experiment from Steve Spangler Science. Maybe you can use this experiment to wow your guests at Thanksgiving!