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.

Edible Rock Cycle

Have you ever looked down at the ground and noticed how many rocks you see? You will probably see lots and lots of rocks if you start looking! But did you know that all of the rocks you see can be classified into only three different types of rocks. The three different types of rocks are sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. Each of the different rocks types is created in its own, unique way and has its own, unique properties. In this activity, we will explore the rock cycle using a sweet treat! In this activity, you will be using chocolate to learn about and make the three different types of rocks. All you will need is some chocolate, some hot water, and some aluminum foil. For materials and instructions on how to make your own edible rock cycle, click here.

Hot Chocolate Science

It's awful nice to have a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. Hot chocolate tastes even better when you have been outside sledding in the cold snow and you need something to warm you up! But does hot chocolate really taste better hot? How hot does it have to be to get the maximum amount of flavor from your hot chocolate mix? Well, it all comes down to science. In this experiment, you will learn how temperature affects the molecules in the hot chocolate mix and how if affects the dissolving power of a liquid. For instructions on this experiment, click here. Click here for a work sheet to help set up your experiment.

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!

Vibrobots

Electricity is all around us and very important to our daily lives. Our cell phones, tablets, computers, video games, lights, hair dryers, pencil sharpeners, and even toothbrushes use electricity. It is important for us to understand how electricity works. In this lesson, you will get to design your own vibrobot. With simple materials, these robots can be put together for hours of fun. There are also many different ways to make vibrobots so you use your imagination to see what kind of robot you can make. Click on Makerspace for instruction on how to create the vibrobots!

Paper Rockets

Understanding the Scientific Method

What is the scientific method? The scientific method is a sequence of steps that scientists use to conduct experiments. Scientists conduct research to find out information about a topic. As they research, they may have a question about something they are learning. A scientist may need to perform and experiment to find out more information. A scientist will then make a hypothesis about what they think will happen in the experiment. Then, scientists will perform the experiment and make observations and record data about what they see happening. Finally, scientists will analyze the data and draw conclusions about their experiment. This experiment may lead to more questions and more experiments. THIS IS SCIENCE! Always asking questions and figuring out the answer.

Paper Rockets Activity: In this lesson, you will create a paper rocket and use the scientific method to perform your own experiment. All you need is a straw, paper, tape and scissors. Watch the video to learn how to create your paper rocket.