Make your own Volcano

You will need...

• A volcano - Talk to an art teacher about making a volcano out of paper mache or plaster. You can also use clay or if you're in a hurry to make your volcano, use a mound of dirt outside.

• A container that 35mm film comes in or similar size container.
• Red and yellow food coloring (optional)
• Vinegar
• Liquid dish washing soap

What to do...

1. Go outside or prepare for some clean-up inside
2. Put the container into the volcano at the top
3. Add two spoonfuls of baking soda
4. Add about a spoonful of dish soap
5. Add about 5 drops each of the red and yellow food coloring
   
   Now for the eruption!:
   
6. Add about an ounce of the vinegar into the container and watch what your volcano come alive.

How it works...

A VOLCANO is produced over thousands of years as heat a pressure build up. That aspect of a volcano is very difficult to recreate in a home experiment. However this volcano will give you an idea of what it might look like when a volcano erupts flowing lava. This is a classic experiment in which a CHEMICAL reaction can create the appearance of a PHYSICAL volcano eruption. You should look at pictures of volcanoes to be familiar with the different types. (A SHIELD volcano, for example is the most common kind of volcano, and yet few people know about them) The reaction will bubble up and flow down the side like a real volcano (only much faster!) Look for videos of volcanoes erupting and be sure that you understand how heat and pressure work to really make volcanoes erupt.

MAKE SOME STARCH SLIME TODAY!

You will need...

* 1/4 cup of water
* 1/4 cup of white craft glue (like Elmer's glue)
* 1/4 cup of liquid starch (used for clothes)
* Food coloring (optional)
* Mixing bowl
* Mixing spoon

What to do...

1. Pour all of the the glue into the mixing bowl.
2. Pour all of the water to the mixing bowl with the glue.
3. Stir the glue and water together.
4. Add your food color now - about 6 drops should do it.
5. Now add the liquid starch and stir it in.
6. It should be nice and blobby by now. As you play with your slimy concoction, it will become more stretchy and easier to hold.
7. Explore your slimy creation and store it in a zip bag when you are not using it.

How it works...

The glue is a liquid polymer. This means that the tiny molecules in the glue are in strands like a chain. When you add the liquid starch, the strands of the polymer glue hold together, giving it its slimy feel. The starch acts as a cross-linker that links all the polymer strands together.

Make your own slim

You will need...

• Elmer's glue (most kinds of white craft glue will work)
• 2 disposable cups
• Food coloring (you pick the color)
• Water
• Borax Powder (available at most large grocery stores near the laundry detergent)
• A plastic spoon (for stirring)
• A tablespoon (for measuring)

What to do...

1. Fill one small cup with water and add a spoonful of the Borax powder and stir it up. Then set it aside.
2. Fill the other small cup with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the glue.
3. Add three tablespoons (20 ml) of water to the glue and stir.
4. Add a few drops of the food coloring and stir it up until mixed.
5. Now the fun part...Add one tablespoons of the Borax solution you made earlier and stir well. Watch the slime form!
6. After the slime forms let it sit for about 30 seconds and then pull it off the spoon and play with it!

Tip: Keep your slime in a tightly closed plastic bag when you are not playing with it, and keep it away from carpet and your little sister's hair.

How it works...

Now for the SCIENCE part.... This POLYMER is unique because it has qualities of both a solid and a liquid. It can take the shape of its containers like a liquid does, yet you can hold it in your hand and pick it up like a solid. As you might know, solid molecules are tight together, liquid molecules spread out and break apart (drops) POLYMER molecules CHAIN themselves together (they can stretch and bend like chains) and that makes them special. Jell-O, rubber bands, plastic soda bottles, sneaker soles, even gum are all forms of polymers. The polymer you made should be kept in a sealed plastic bag when you aren't playing with it. Also, be sure to keep it away from young kids or pets who might think it's food. Have fun!

Make a Cartesian Driver

You will need...

• A clear ONE liter plastic soda bottle and cap (not the big 2 liter bottle)

• A ball point pen cap that does not have holes in it
• Some modeling clay ("sculpey" works too)

What to do...

. Remove any labels from your bottle so that you can watch the action.

2. Fill the bottle to the very top with water.

3. Place a small pea-size piece of modeling clay at the end of the point on the pen cap. (see drawing)

4. Slowly place the pen cap into the bottle, modeling clay end first. (some water will spill out - that's okay) It should just barely float. If it sinks take some clay away. If it floats too much add more clay.
5. Now screw on the bottle cap nice and tight.

6. Now for the fun part. You can make the pen cap rise and fall at your command. Squeeze the bottle hard - the pen cap sinks...stop squeezing and the pen cap rises. With a little practice, you can even get it to stop right in the middle.

How it works...

Impressive, but how does it work? This eaxperiment is all about DENSITY. When you squeeze the bottle, the air bubble in the pen cap compresses (gets smaller) and that makes it more dense than the water around it. When this happens, the pen sinks. When you stop squeezing, the bubble gets bigger again, the water is forced out of the cap, and the pen cap rises.

If it doesn't work: play around with the amount of clay and be sure the bottle is filled to the very top before putting on the cap.

Soy Sauce Diver: That's right, next time you go to your local Chinese Food restaurant, ask for a packet of soy sauce (the kind they use for take out orders) Don't open it - just put it in the bottle the same way instead of the pen cap. When you squeeze the bottle the air bubble inside the packet compresses and become more dense. The bubble in the packet makes it rise and fall just like the pen cap. This sometimes works with ketchup and mustard packs too. Have fun!

Clean pennies with Vineger

You will need...
* A few old (not shiny) pennies
* 1/4 cup white vinegar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Non-metal bowl
* Paper towels

What to do...

1. Pour the vinegar into the bowl and add the salt - stir it up.
2. Put about 5 pennies into the bowl and count to 10 slowly.
3. Take out the pennies and rinse them out in some water. Admire their shininess!

How it works

There is some pretty fancy chemistry going on in that little bowl of yours. It turns out that vinegar is an acid, and the acid in the vinegar reacts with the salt to remove what chemists call copper oxide which was making your pennies dull. You're not done yet, though, lets try another experiment:

Add more pennies to the bowl for 10 seconds, but this time , don't rinse them off. Place them on a paper towel to dry off. In time the pennies will turn greenish-blue as a chemical called malachite forms on your pennies. But wait, your still not done yet.

Place some nuts and bolts in the vinegar and watch - they become COPPER in color! The vinegar removed some copper from the pennies and that copper was attracted by to the metal in the nuts and bolts - cool.

Make a Strew Hoop Plane

You will need...

• A regular plastic drinking straw
• 3 X 5 inch index card or stiff paper
• Tape
• Scissors

What to do...

• 1. Cut the index card or stiff paper into 3 separate pieces that measure 1 inch (2.5 cm) by 5 inches (13 cm.)
  
• 2. Take 2 of the pieces of paper and tape them together into a hoop as shown. Be sure to overlap the pieces about half an inch (1 cm) so that they keep a nice round shape once taped.

• 3. Use the last strip of paper to make a smaller hoop, overlapping the edges a bit like before.
  
• 4. Tape the paper loops to the ends of the straw as shown below. (notice that the straw is lined up on the inside of the loops)
  
  
  
• 5. That's it! Now hold the straw in the middle with the hoops on top and throw it in the air similar to how you might throw a dart angled slightly up. With some practice you can get it to go farther than many paper airplanes.

How it works...
Can we really call that a plane? It may look weird, but you will discover it flies surprisingly well. The two sizes of hoops help to keep the straw balanced as it flies. The big hoop creates "drag" (or air resistance) which helps keep the straw level while the smaller hoop in at the front keeps your super hooper from turning off course. Some have asked why the plane does not turn over since the hoops are heavier than the straw. Since objects of different weight generally fall at the same speed, the hoop will keep its "upright" position. Let us know how far you were able to get the hoop glider to fly by submitting it to our BLOG PAGE.

Magic Ketchup

You will need...
* A 1 liter plastic bottle
* Ketchup pack from a fast food restaurant
* Salt (using Kosher salt helps keep the water from becoming foggy)

What to do...

1. Remove any labels from the bottle and fill it all the way to the top with water.
2. Add a ketchup pack to the bottle.
3. If the ketchup floats, you're all set - go to step 4. If the ketchup sinks in the bottle, go to step 5.
4. For the floating ketchup pack simply screw the cap on the bottle and squeeze the sides of the bottle hard. If the ketchup sinks when you squeeze it, and floats when you release it, congratulations, you're ready to show it off. If it does not sink when you squeeze it, try a different kind of ketchup pack or try a mustard or soy sauce pack.
5. If the ketchup pack sinks, add about 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of salt to the bottle. Cap it and shake it up until the salt dissolves. (Kosher salt will keep the water from getting too cloudy, although it will usually clear up over time if using regular table salt.)
6. Continue adding salt, a few tablespoons at a time until the ketchup is just barely floating to the top of the bottle.
7. Once it is consistently floating, make sure the bottle is filled to the top with water, and then cap it tightly.
8. Now squeeze the bottle. The magic ketchup should sink when you squeeze the bottle and float up when you release it. With some practice you can get it to stop in the middle of the bottle.

How it works...
This experiment is all about buoyancy and density. Buoyancy describes whether objects float or sink. This usually describes how things float in liquids, but it can also describe how things float or sink in and various gasses.

Density deals with the amount of mass an object has. Adding salt to the water adjusted the water's density to get the ketchup to float. Sound complicated? It is, but here's the basics on the ketchup demo...there is a little bubble inside of the ketchup packet. As we know bubbles float, and the bubble in the ketchup sometimes keeps the heavy packet from sinking. When you squeeze the bottle hard enough, you put pressure on the packet. That causes the bubble to get smaller and the entire packet to become MORE DENSE than the water around it and the packet sinks. When you release the pressure, the bubble expands, making the packet less dense (and more buoyant) and, alas, it floats back up. This demonstration is sometimes known as a CARTESIAN DIVER.

Chicken in a cup

You will need...
* A plastic drinking cup
* Yarn or cotton string (nylon string will not work well)
* 1 paper clip
* Paper towel
* A nail
* Scissors

What to do...

1. Cut a piece of yarn about 20 inches (40 cm) long.
2. Ask an adult to use the nail to carefully punch a hold in the center of the bottom of the cup.
3. Tie one end of the yarn to the middle of the paper clip.
4. Push the other end of the yarn through the hole in the cup and pull it through as shown in the picture.
5. Get a piece of paper towel about the size of a dollar bill, then fold it once and get it damp in the water.
6. Now it's time to make some noise! Hold the cup firmly in one hand, and wrap the damp paper towel around the string near the cup. While you squeeze the string, pull down in short jerks so that the paper towel tightly slides along the string. If all goes well - you hear a chicken!

How it works...

This is an example of how a sounding board works. The vibrations from the string would be almost silent without the cup, but when you add the cup, it spreads the vibrations and amplifies them (makes them louder.) Pianos and music boxes use wood to act as a sounding board to make the instrument louder.

Blown up a Balloon with yeast

You will need...

• A packet of yeast (available in the grocery store)
• A small, clean, clear, plastic soda bottle (16 oz. or smaller)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• Some warm water
• A small balloon

What to do...

1. Fill the bottle up with about one inch of warm water.
( When yeast is cold or dry the micro organisms are resting.)
2. Add all of the yeast packet and gently swirl the bottle a few seconds.
(As the yeast dissolves, it becomes active - it comes to life! Don't bother looking for movement, yeast is a microscopic fungus organism.)
3. Add the sugar and swirl it around some more.
Like people, yeast needs energy (food) to be active, so we will give it sugar. Now the yeast is "eating!"
4. Blow up the balloon a few times to stretch it out then place the neck of the balloon over the neck of the bottle.
5. Let the bottle sit in a warm place for about 20 minutes
If all goes well the balloon will begin to inflate!

How it works...

As the yeast eats the sugar, it releases a gas called carbon dioxide. The gas fills the bottle and then fills the balloon as more gas is created. We all know that there are "holes" in bread, but how are they made? The answer sounds a little like the plot of a horror movie. Most breads are made using YEAST. Believe it or not, yeast is actually living microorganisms! When bread is made, the yeast becomes spread out in flour. Each bit of yeast makes tiny gas bubbles and that puts millions of bubbles (holes) in our bread before it gets baked. Naturalist's note - The yeast used in this experiment are the related species and strains of Saccharomyces cervisiae. (I'm sure you were wondering about that.) Anyway, when the bread gets baked in the oven, the yeast dies and leaves all those bubbles (holes) in the bread. Yum.

Blobs in a Bottle

You will need...

• A clean 1 liter clear soda bottle
• 3/4 cup of water
• Vegetable Oil
• Fizzing tablets (such as Alka Seltzer)
• Food coloring

What to do...

1. Pour the water into the bottle.

2. Use a measuring cup or funnel to slowly pour the vegetable oil into the bottle until it's almost full. You may have to wait a few minutes for the oil and water separate.

3. Add 10 drops of food coloring to the bottle (we like red, but any color will look great.) The drops will pass through the oil and then mix with the water below.

4. Break a seltzer tablet in half and drop the half tablet into the bottle. Watch it sink to the bottom and let the blobby greatness begin!

5. To keep the effect going, just add another tablet piece. For a true lava lamp effect, shine a flashlight through the bottom of the bottle.

How it works...

To begin, the oil stays above the water because the oil is lighter than the water or, more specifically, less dense than water. The oil and water do not mix because of something called "intermolecular polarity." That term is fun to bring up in dinner conversation. Molecular polarity basically means that water molecules are attracted to other water molecules. They get along fine, and can loosely bond together (drops.) This is similar to magnets that are attracted to each other. Oil molecules are attracted to other oil molecules, they get along fine as well. But the structures of the two molecules do not allow them to bond together. Of course, there’s a lot more fancy scientific language to describe density and molecular polarity, but maybe now you’ll at least look at that vinegrette salad dessing in a whole new way.

When you added the tablet piece, it sank to the bottom and started dissolving and creating a gas. As the gas bubbles rose, they took some of the colored water with them. When the blob of water reached the top, the gas escaped and down went the water. Cool, huh? By the way, you can store your "Blobs In A Bottle" with the cap on, and then anytime you want to bring it back to life, just add another tablet piece.

Make a Balloon Rocket

You will need...

• 1 balloon (round ones will work, but the longer "airship" balloons work best)
• 1 long piece of kite string (about 10-15 feet long)
• 1 plastic straw
• tape

What to do...

1. Tie one end of the string to a chair, door knob, or other support.
2. Put the other end of the string through the straw.
3. Pull the string tight and tie it to another support in the room.
4. Blow up the balloon (but don't tie it.) Pinch the end of the balloon and tape the balloon to the straw as shown above. You're ready for launch.
5. Let go and watch the rocket fly!

How it works...

So how does it work? It's all about the air...and thrust. As the air rushes out of the balloon, it creates a forward motion called THRUST. Thrust is a pushing force created by energy. In the balloon experiment, our thrust comes from the energy of the balloon forcing the air out. Different sizes and shapes of balloon will create more or less thrust. In a real rocket, thrust is created by the force of burning rocket fuel as it blasts from the rockets engine - as the engines blast down, the rocket goes up!

Bend a bone with Vinegar

You will need...

• A jar large enough to fit a chicken bone
• A chicken bone - a leg or "drumstick" bone works best
• Vinegar

What to do...

1. Have a nice chicken dinner and save a bone. Leg bones work best.

2. Rinse off the bone in running water to remove any meat from the bone.

3. Notice how hard the bone is - gently try bending it. Like our bones, chicken bones have a mineral called calcium in them to make them hard.

4.Put the bone into the jar and cover the bone with vinegar. It might be a good idea to put the lid on the jar or cover it - let it sit for 3 days

5. After 3 days remove the bone. It should feel different. Now can rinse it off and try bending it again. Is it really a rubber bone?


How it works...

So what happened? What is so special about vinegar that it can make a hard bone squishy? Vinegar is considered a mild acid, but it is strong enough to dissolve away the calcium in the bone. Once the calcium is dissolved, there is nothing to keep the bone hard - all that is left is the soft bone tissue. Now you know why your mom is always trying to get you to drink milk - the calcium in milk goes to our bones to make our bones stronger. With some effort and you can really get the bone to bend.

Make plastic MIlk

You will need...

• One cup of milk
• 4 teaspoons of white vinegar
• A bowl
• A strainer
• Adult help

What to do...

1. Ask your friendly adult to heat up the milk until it is hot, but not boiling
2. Now ask the adult to carefully pour the milk into the bowl
3. Add the vinegar to the milk and stir it up with a spoon for about a minute
4. Now the fun part, pour the milk through the strainer into the sink - careful it may be hot!
5. Left behind in the strainer is a mass of lumpy blobs.
6. When it is cool enough, you can rinse the blobs off in water while you press them together .
7. Now just mold it into a shape and it will harden in a few days. - Cool!

How it works...

Plastic? In milk? Well, sort of. You made a substance called CASIN. It's from the Latin word meaning "cheese." Casin occurs when the protein in the milk meets the acid in the vinegar. The casin in milk does not mix with the acid and so it forms blobs. True plastics, called polymers, are a little different. If you want to make a true plastic and learn more about polymers, try the Homemade Slime experiment. Have fun!

Make your own rock candy

You will need...

• A wooden skewer (you can also use a clean wooden chopstick)
• A clothespin
• 1 cup of water
• 2-3 cups of sugar
• A tall narrow glass or jar

What to do...

1. Clip the wooden skewer into the clothespin so that it hangs down inside the glass and is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom of the glass. (as shown)
2. Remove the skewer and clothespin and put them aside for now.
3. Get a helpful adult!
4. Pour the water into a pan and bring it to boil.
5. Pour about 1/4 cup of sugar into the boiling water, stirring until it dissolves.
6. Keep adding more and more sugar, each time stirring it until it dissolves, until no more will dissolve. This will take time and patience and it will take longer for the sugar to dissolve each time.Be sure you don't give up too soon. Once no more sugar will dissolve, remove it from heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
7. NOTE: While it is cooling, some peole like to dip half of the skewer in the sugar solution and then roll it in some sugar to help jump start the crystal growth. If you do this, be sure to let the skewer cool completely so that sugar crystals do not fall off when you place it back in the glass.
8. Have your friendly ADULT carefully pour the hot sugar solution into the jar almost to the top. Then submerge the skewer back into the glass making sure that it is hanging straight down the middle without touching the sides.
9. Allow the jar to cool and put it someplace where it will not be disturbed.
10. Now just wait. The sugar crystals will grow over the next 3-7 days.

Want colored rock candy? Add food coloring to your sugar water and make sure sure that it is pretty dark in color for the best result.

How it works...

When you mixed the water and sugar you made a SUPER SATURATED SOLUTION. This means that the water could only hold the sugar if both were very hot. As the water cools the sugar "comes out" of the solution back into sugar crystals on your skewer. The skewer (and sometimes the glass itself) act as a "seed" that the sugar crystals start to grow on. With some luck and patience you will have a tasty scientific treat! Enjoy!

Science Experiments: Try some Lave in a cup

Science Experiments: Try some Lave in a cup

Try some Lave in a cup

You will need...

• A clear drinking glass
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Water
• Food coloring (optional)

What to do...

1. Fill the glass about 3/4 full of water .
2. Add about 5 drops of food coloring - I like red for the lava look.
3. Slowly pour the vegetable oil into the glass. See how the oil floats on top - cool huh? It gets better.
4. Now the fun part: Sprinkle the salt on top of the oil.
5. Watch blobs of lava move up and down in your glass!
6. If you liked that, add another teaspoon of salt to keep the effect going.

How it works...

So what's going on? Of course, it's not real lava but it does look a bit like a lava lamp your parents may have had. First of all, the oil floats on top of the water because it is lighter than the water. Since the salt is heavier than oil, it sinks down into the water and takes some oil with it, but then the salt dissolves and back up goes the oil! Pretty cool huh?

Amazing Egg Experiments

You will need...

• Eggs
• Salt
• Water
• Two tall containers to conduct the float and sink test
• Cellophane
• Rubber band

Warning: Always wash your hands well with soap and water after handling raw eggs. Some raw eggs contain salmonella bacteria that can make you really sick!

Squeeze an Egg Without Breaking It
Eggs are amazingly strong despite their reputation for being so fragile. Place an egg in the palm of your hand. Close your hand so that your fingers are completely wrapped around the egg. Squeeze the egg by applying even pressure all around the shell. To everyone's amazement (mostly your own) the egg will not break. If you're a little nervous about the outcome, try sealing the raw egg in a zipper-lock bag before putting the squeeze on it, or hold the egg over the sink if you're in the super-brave category.

Now hold the egg between your thumb and forefinger and squeeze the top and bottom of the egg. Are you covered in egg yolk? Why not?

Finally, hold the egg in the palm of your hand. Press only on one side of the shell. Do not squeeze the egg - just press on the side. Uh oh. Why do you think that happened?

The egg's unique shape gives it tremendous strength, despite its fragility. Eggs are similar in shape to a 3-dimensional arch, one of the strongest architectural forms. The egg is strongest at the top and the bottom (or at the highest point of the arch). That's why the egg doesn't break when you add pressure to both ends. The curved form of the shell also distributes pressure evenly all over the shell rather than concentrating it at any one point. By completely surrounding the egg with your hand, the pressure you apply by squeezing is distributed evenly all over the egg. However, eggs do not stand up well to uneven forces which is why they crack easily on the side of a bowl (or why it cracked when you just pushed on one side). Be careful not to wear a ring while performing our squeezing act. The uneven pressure of the ring against the shell will result in an amusing display of flying egg yolk for your audience members. This also explains how a hen can sit on an egg and not break it, but a tiny little chick can break through the eggshell - the weight of the hen is evenly distributed over the egg, while the pecking of the chick is an uneven force directed at just one spot on the egg.

Hardboiled or Raw?
Can't remember which egg is which? The answer is only a spin away. Simply spin the egg and pay close attention to how well it spins. If the egg spins well, it's hardboiled. However, if the egg wobbles and spins slowly, it's raw. A hardboiled egg is solid inside whereas a raw egg is fluid. When you spin the raw egg, its center of gravity changes as the fluid inside the egg moves around. This results in the wobbling motion you noticed in the raw egg. As soon as the raw egg starts spinning, touch it briefly with your finger just long enough to stop it. When you take your finger away, the egg will continue to spin for just a quick second. This is due to the inertia of the fluid inside the egg. When the hardboiled egg is spun, the solid center immediately moves with the shell, causing little resistance to the spinning motion.

The Floating Egg
It's so simple and amazing. A raw egg will float in very salty water but will sink in plain tap water. Why? Salt water is more dense than regular water. You'll need to make a very saturated salt solution by dissolving roughly 4 tablespoons of salt in about 2 cups of water. Use pickling or Kosher salt to make a clear salt solution. Table salt may be used, but the solution will be somewhat cloudy due to the additives used to make the salt free-flowing.

Fill a glass half full with the salt water. Slowly add plain water by pouring it down the sides of the glass, being careful not to mix the two liquids. Gently drop the egg into the water and watch as it sinks through the plain water, only to abruptly stop when it hits the salt water. The egg floats on the top layer of the salt water.

The Rising Egg
Fill the bottom 1/5 of a tall glass w

ith salt. Add just enough water to make a wet salt layer. Carefully lower an egg down on top of the wet layer of salt. Slowly add more water by pouring it down the sides of the glass so as not to disturb the bottom layer of water. Cover the top of the glass with cellophane and a rubber band. Notice how the egg rests on the layer of undissolved salt on the bottom of the glass.

Be sure to put the glass in a place where no one will be able to disturb it. Observe for weeks. That's right, weeks. Months even! Over the course of the next several weeks, the bottom layer of salt will begin to dissolve in the water above it. As the salt dissolves, the egg will rise off the bottom and float on the layer of salt water. As more time passes, the salt level continues to drop and the egg continues to rise. Be sure to put the glass in a place where no one will be able to disturb it. Record the egg's progress by marking on the outside of the glass using a felt tip marker.

You might wish to substitute a golf ball in place of the egg to avoid the decay of the egg's shell over time. The "golf ball" idea was originally published by Bob Becker, a great chemistry teacher from St. Louis, Missouri.

Fantastic Foamy Fountain

You will need...

• A clean 16 ounce plastic soda bottle
• 1/2 cup 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid (20-volume is a 6% solution, ask an adult to get this from a beauty supply store or hair salon)
• 1 Tablespoon (one packet) of dry yeast
• 3 Tablespoons of warm water
• Liquid dish washing soap
• Food coloring
• Small cup
• Safety goggles

What to do...

1. Put on those safety goggles and head outside. No really, when this works, that film canister really flies! If you want to try the indoor version, do not turn the canister upside down in step 5.
2. Break the antacid tablet in half.
3. Remove the lid from the film canister and put a teaspoon (5 ml) of water into the canister.Do the next 2 steps quickly
4. Drop the tablet half into the canister and snap the cap onto the canister (make sure that it snaps on tightly.)
5. Quickly put the canister on the ground CAP SIDE DOWN and STEP BACK at least 2 meters.
6. About 10 seconds later, you will hear a POP! and the film canister will launch into the air!

Caution: If it does not launch, wait at least 30 second before examining the canister. Usually the cap is not on tight enough and the build of of gas leaked out

How it works...

There's nothing like a little rocket science to add some excitement to the day. When you add the water it starts to dissolve the alka-seltzer tablet. This creates a gas call carbon dioxide. As the carbon dioxide is being released, it creates pressure inside the film canister. The more gas that is made, the more pressure builds up until the cap it blasted down and the rocket is blasted up. This system of thrust is how a real rocket works whether it is in outer space or here in the earth's atmosphere. Of course, real rockets use rocket fuel. You can experiment controlling the rocket's path by adding fins and a nose cone that you can make out of paper. If you like this experiment, try the Exploding Lunch Bag. Be safe and have fun!

Cloud in a Bottle

You will need...

• 1-liter clear plastic bottle with cap
• Foot pump with rubber stopper attached
• Water
• Rubbing alcohol
• Safety glasses

What to do...

1. Put on your safety glasses and start by pouring just enough warm water in the bottle to cover the bottom.
2. Swirl the water around and then put the rubber stopper in the bottle.
3. Start by pumping the foot pump five times. You will notice that as you start to pump, the rubber stopper will want to pop right out. Hold it in the bottle tightly, being very careful not to let it fly out of the bottle.
4. After five pumps, pull the stopper out of the bottle. You'll likely see a very faint "poof" of a cloud. There wasn't enough pressure in the bottle to make a good cloud, but now you are starting to get the feel of the foot pump.
5. Repeat the experiment again, but instead of five pumps, pump the foot pump ten times. You'll notice that the more you pump, the harder it is to keep the stopper in the bottle. Just remember to hold it in there tightly. When you are done pumping, pull out the stopper. You should see a slightly more visible cloud this time.
6. Now that you have a good feel for how the experiment works, fill the bottom of the bottle again and pump the foot pump 15-20 times. You want to put about 9 kg (20 lbs) of pressure in the bottle.
7. When you remove the rubber stopper, you should see a good cloud.

How it works...

Even though we don't see them, water molecules are in the air all around us. These airborne water molecules are called water vapor. When the molecules are bouncing around in the atmosphere, they don't normally stick together.

Pumping the bottle forces the molecules to squeeze together or compress. Releasing the pressure allows the air to expand, and in doing so, the temperature of the air becomes cooler. This cooling process allows the molecules to stick together - or condense - more easily, forming tiny droplets. Clouds are nothing more than groups of tiny water droplets!

The reason the rubbing alcohol forms a more visible cloud is because alcohol evaporates more quickly than water. Alcohol molecules have weaker bonds than water molecules, so they let go of each other more easily. Since there are more evaporated alcohol molecules in the bottle, there are also more molecules able to condense. This is why you can see the alcohol cloud more clearly than the water cloud.

Clouds on Earth form when warm air rises and its pressure is reduced. The air expands and cools, and clouds form as the temperature drops below the dew point. Invisible particles in the air in the form of pollution, smoke, dust or even tiny particles of dirt help form a nucleus on which the water molecules can attach.

Easy science experiments and science fair project ideas that make learning fun

efore you start setting up your award winning science fair concept, be sure you know the difference between a demonstration and a science experiment.

A SCIENCE DEMONSTRATION is a quick little science "show" that explains a science concept like building a model volcano and watching it erupt. It shows how something works, but it is not a true experiment.

A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT is usually more involved and in most real experiments you compare results. An example would be "What fertilizer works best on plants?" or "What is the strongest brand of paper towel?" In these examples, you ask a question and then perform experiments to get the answer.

Hopefully that makes sense. Most science fairs are looking for experiments, not just demonstrations, but check with your teacher to be sure before you get underway.