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Let's Honor our RXPI Scientists!
Let's Honor our RXPI Scientists!
Join us Friday, November 12th for a Virtual Family Science Night!
Join us Friday, November 12th for a Virtual Family Science Night!
There is no live virtual component to this event, please participate at your leisure. Thank you to all the students that submitted projects to the Science Fair this year!
Try some science at home!
Try some science at home!
Here are some science experiments to try at home with things you have on hand.
Slingshot Straw Rocket
Slingshot Straw Rocket
How does the number of rocket fins affect the distance the rocket travels?
How does the number of rocket fins affect the distance the rocket travels?
Click for the video on how to build a Slingshot Straw Rocket.
Materials Needed: Tape, index card, scissors, straw, stick, eraser, rubber band, brad.
Static Flyer
Static Flyer
How does the type of material rubbed on balloon affect how the ballon is charged?
How does the type of material rubbed on balloon affect how the ballon is charged?
Charge a balloon by rubbing material on it and use the electrical charges of static electricity to repel or levitate a piece of plastic!
Blow up a balloon and tie it.
Rub the balloon with cotton material to create a static charge. Rub the provided piece of plastic bag with the same cotton material.
Use the static charge to repel or levitate the piece of plastic bag above the balloon.
Try different materials to charge the balloon with static to see if it can levitate the plastic.
Click HERE to learn how to use static electricity to make things levitate.
Who needs a magic wand to create levitating objects when you have a balloon? Well, if you know how static electricity works, you won’t need a wand! In the Static Flyer experiment, we’ll teach you how understanding electrical charges can result in a trick that would make Harry Potter, Gandalf the Grey, and even Merlin jealous.
Build the World's Easiest Bird Feeder
Build the World's Easiest Bird Feeder
How does the shape or placement of the bird feeder affect the number of birds feeding?
How does the shape or placement of the bird feeder affect the number of birds feeding?
Instructions: Click HERE to watch a video on how to build the world's easiest bird feeder.
Instructions: Click HERE to watch a video on how to build the world's easiest bird feeder.
Thread the pipe cleaner through the Cheerios.
Twist the ends of the pipe cleaner together to keep the Cheerios from sliding off. Be sure to leave enough length on one end to tie around a branch.
Locate a branch or other location outside.
Twist the end of the pipe cleaner around the branch until it is secure.
Observe the birds that enjoy your World’s Easiest Bird Feeder.
How does the shape of the feeder effect the type or number of birds eating from the feeder? How does the placement of the feeder impact the number of birds feeding?
Balsa Wood Plane
Balsa Wood Plane
How does the number of spins affect the distance the plane travels?
How does the number of spins affect the distance the plane travels?
Use the materials provided by Civil Air Patrol to build the balsa wood plane. Test how the number of spins effects the distance the plane flies.
Twirl Flyer
Twirl Flyer
How does weight (paper clip) impact the number of twirls the flying object does?
How does weight (paper clip) impact the number of twirls the flying object does?
Use paper to create a unique flying object.
1- Cut a piece of paper about 2 1/2 inches wide and 11 inches long.
2- As shown in the picture, cut on the dotted lines.
3- Bend the paper and attach the 2 cut lines to form the flying object.
4- Hold it up high and release it. Observe how it travels through the air.
5- Add a paperclip to your flyer. How does it change how your flying object travels?
Make a Constellation
Make a Constellation
Research why we can see stars at night but not during the day.
Research why we can see stars at night but not during the day.
In the activity, students use paper cups to project stars onto a dark wall and then try to find the same constellation in the night sky.
Cut the circular pattern out and stick it to the bottom of your cup with the dot sticker.
Use the tack to punch holes in the bottom of your cup following the dot pattern.
Point the cup up to a light and look through the cup to see the constellation. If you have a flashlight, you can turn the lights off and shine your light through the cup to project the constellation onto a wall.
Go outside to try and find the constellation in the night sky.
Can you see the big dipper constellation in the daytime sky? Why?
Can you see the big dipper constellation in the daytime sky? Why?
What other constellations do you see?
What other constellations do you see?
Can you make a model of other constellations?
Can you make a model of other constellations?
Ideas for More Building at Home
Ideas for More Building at Home
Buzzing Noise Maker
Buzzing Noise Maker
Do you like to make a ton of noise? The Buzzing Noise Maker experiment is perfect for you! The greatest aspect of the Buzzing Noise Maker is that, while you’re attracting quite a bit of attention and making all that noise. Click here to see how to create a buzzing sound with just a few materials.
Color Mixing Wheel
Color Mixing Wheel
Click here to Create a wheel that will show you color and color mixing in a new way
Here’s an amazing way to combine scientific principles of physics with the visual science of color mixing to create a gizmo that will have you twirling and spinning for hours. The activity isn’t just visually spectacular, it’s scientifically sound and filled with just enough open-ended curiosity that you’re bound to make many versions of the Color Mixing Wheel.
Homemade Ice Cream
Homemade Ice Cream
Make your own Brown Sugar ice cream right at home with Imperial Sugar and Dixie Crystals. Food always tastes better when it’s homemade, and the same is true for ice cream. We went out and got some brown sugar from Imperial Sugar and Dixie Crystals to concoct a tasty ice cream creation. You can make your own ice cream, too! With the easy-to-follow steps below, you’ll have Brown Sugar Homemade Ice Cream in less than 30 minutes! Click here for the experiment details.
Homemade Rock Candy
Homemade Rock Candy
Here’s kitchen chemistry that turns a solution of sugar and water into a tasty treat.
Science is often referred to as the most fun subject in school mainly because… it is! It can be a most delicious subject, too. When you make this treat, you’ll be jumping “string-first” into some serious chemistry that’s hiding as candy. You’ll discover and use principles like solutes, solvents, viscosity, sedimentation, solutions, and supersaturated solutions. How tasty does all that sound? Not so much? Read on! Click here for the instructions.
The Floating Egg
The Floating Egg
Eggs sink in regular tap water, but creating a saltwater solution… that's an egg-citingly different story.
We’ve shown you how different sodas will either sink or swim in plain tap water, but what’s the deal with eggs? Drop as many eggs into plain tap water as you want, but they’ll all sink to the bottom. In the Floating Egg experiment, we’ll show you how the addition of something as simple as table salt, can drastically alter what happens to eggs in water. Click here for more information on how to do this at home.
Float a Marker Figure
Float a Marker Figure
Their eyes will pop out of their heads when you “levitate” a stick figure right off the table! This experiment works due to the insolubility of dry-erase marker ink in water, combined with the lighter density of the ink.
Learn more: Gizmodo
Newspaper STEM Challenge: Make a Chair
Newspaper STEM Challenge: Make a Chair
Challenge: Using newspaper, masking tape, and scissors, build a chair to hold one member of your family at least 2 inches above the ground for 5 seconds. No body part may touch the ground during this time.
How do Pop Rocks Work?
How do Pop Rocks Work?
Here's the basic idea. Hard candy (like a lollypop or a Jolly Rancher) is made from sugar, corn syrup, water and flavoring. You heat the ingredients together and boil the mixture to drive off all of the water. Then you let the temperature rise. What you are left with is a pure sugar syrup at about 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). When it cools, you have hard candy.
To make Pop Rocks, the hot sugar mixture is allowed to mix with carbon dioxide gas at about 600 pounds per square inch (psi). The carbon dioxide gas forms tiny, 600-psi bubbles in the candy. Once it cools, you release the pressure and the candy shatters, but the pieces still contain the high-pressure bubbles (look at a piece with a magnifying glass to see the bubbles).
When you put the candy in your mouth, it melts (just like hard candy) and releases the bubbles with a loud POP! What you are hearing and feeling is the 600-psi carbon dioxide gas being released from each bubble.
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