Ok I have finally decided what to do for my science fair project. I am calling it "The Sweet Life" and I am testing to see if ants prefer natural or artificial sweetners.
I am putting out real sugar, brown sugar, sweet n low, equal, and splenda. Since artificial is sweeter than real sugar I am hypothesizing that ants will prefer the artificial sweetner. I will keep you posted.
This is taking longer than I thought, we have been hit with a cold front and I have learned that ants are not as active in the cold...
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tower of Coins!
This is a fun experiment usine inertia (the resistance to change in a motion of an object).
The only materials required is a stack of coins, all the same denomination (quarters, dimes, nickles, pennies), and a butter knife.
Using a constant motion slice the stack of coins with the FLAT side of the knife. What happens?
If you want to use this for a science fair project you could ask:
What is the minimum number of coins?
What is the maximum number of coins?
The only materials required is a stack of coins, all the same denomination (quarters, dimes, nickles, pennies), and a butter knife.
Using a constant motion slice the stack of coins with the FLAT side of the knife. What happens?
If you want to use this for a science fair project you could ask:
What is the minimum number of coins?
What is the maximum number of coins?
Rocket Blast Off!
This is one of my favorite experiments. I bought a kit on clearance at a discount store and it is really easy. You can do this with a balloon too. I will explain below howo to do that.
For this I fulled the rocket with vinegar and placed baking soda in the tube on the base. Put them together and blast off!
To make this with a balloon and soda bottle is basically the same formula. You would just need to partially fill a soda bottle with vinegar and place some baking soda in the balloon. Put the balloon on top of the bottle and watch the ballooon fill until it blasts off!
This works because when vinegar is mised with baking soda, carbon dioxide if formed. When more and more carbon dioxide is formed and it can not hold any more gas, it creates thrust which blows off your rocket or balloon. This is a demonstration of Newton's Law of Motion. This is the same motion that real rockets use!
To make it an experience you can try to answer:
Does the amount of vinegar or baking soda affect the amount of carbon dioxide produced, or change the distance of flight?
Does the size of the bottle or rocket affect the amount of carbon dioxide produced, or change the distance?
For this I fulled the rocket with vinegar and placed baking soda in the tube on the base. Put them together and blast off!
To make this with a balloon and soda bottle is basically the same formula. You would just need to partially fill a soda bottle with vinegar and place some baking soda in the balloon. Put the balloon on top of the bottle and watch the ballooon fill until it blasts off!
This works because when vinegar is mised with baking soda, carbon dioxide if formed. When more and more carbon dioxide is formed and it can not hold any more gas, it creates thrust which blows off your rocket or balloon. This is a demonstration of Newton's Law of Motion. This is the same motion that real rockets use!
To make it an experience you can try to answer:
Does the amount of vinegar or baking soda affect the amount of carbon dioxide produced, or change the distance of flight?
Does the size of the bottle or rocket affect the amount of carbon dioxide produced, or change the distance?
Exploding Lunch Bag!
How many times have you wished whatever your mom put in your lunch would just explode so you wouldn't have to eat it? Well this experiment shows you how to do just that! This was another one that had to be done outside. We got this idea from http://www.sciencebob.com/
Materials needed:
~ Measuring cup
~ A sanwich sized baggie
~ One Kleenex
~ Baking soda
~ Warm Water
~ Vinegar
Procedure:
1. Put 1/4 cup of warm water into baggie.
2. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar into the baggie.
3. Put 3 tsp of baking soda into the kleenex by folding the kleenex around it
4. Quickly zip most of the baggie with leaving only enough space to add the baking soda kleenex. QUICK QUICK zip the baggie completely closed.
5. Step back and watch... POP!
This works because the baking soda and the vinegar eventually mix (the tissue buys you some time to zip the bag shut) When they do mix, you create an ACID-BASE reaction and the two chemicals work together to create a gas, (carbon dioxide - the stuff we breathe out) well it turns out gasses need a lot of room and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bag, and keeps filling the bag until the bag can no longer hold it any more and, POP! Be sure to clean up well and recycle those plastic bags...have fun!
The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
Materials needed:
~ Measuring cup
~ A sanwich sized baggie
~ One Kleenex
~ Baking soda
~ Warm Water
~ Vinegar
Procedure:
1. Put 1/4 cup of warm water into baggie.
2. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar into the baggie.
3. Put 3 tsp of baking soda into the kleenex by folding the kleenex around it
4. Quickly zip most of the baggie with leaving only enough space to add the baking soda kleenex. QUICK QUICK zip the baggie completely closed.
5. Step back and watch... POP!
This works because the baking soda and the vinegar eventually mix (the tissue buys you some time to zip the bag shut) When they do mix, you create an ACID-BASE reaction and the two chemicals work together to create a gas, (carbon dioxide - the stuff we breathe out) well it turns out gasses need a lot of room and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bag, and keeps filling the bag until the bag can no longer hold it any more and, POP! Be sure to clean up well and recycle those plastic bags...have fun!
The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Will different temperature water affect how fast the bag inflates?
2. What amount of baking soda creates the best reaction?
3. Which size bag creates the fastest pop?
2. What amount of baking soda creates the best reaction?
3. Which size bag creates the fastest pop?
Foamy Fountain
This is the first experiment I made a video of . I thought it would be cool to show a video of some of the experiements. I got this one from Science Bob. It didn't turn out quite like it does on sciencebob.com but I am still happy with it. This is a really fun experiment, but you will need the help of an adult. The below information was taken from http://www.sciencebob.com/. It is really messy so be careful, my mom made me do it outside.
This is just a demonstration, but this would be a really cook science fair project, if you want to do that see the last paragraph. Be sure to let me know how it turns out!
Materials:
- A clean 16 ounce plastic soda bottle
- 1/2 cup 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid (20-volume is a 6% solution, my mom bought this at Sally's beauty supply)
- 1 Tablespoon (one packet) of dry yeast
- 3 Tablespoons of warm water
- Liquid dish washing soap
- Food coloring
- Small cup
- Safety goggles
1. Hydrogen peroxide can irritate skin and eyes, so put on those safety goggles and ask an adult to carefully pour the hydrogen peroxide into the bottle.
2. Add 8 drops of your favorite food coloring into the bottle.
3. Add about 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap into the bottle and swish the bottle around a bit to mix it.
4. In a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast together and mix for about 30 seconds.
5. Now the adventure starts! Pour the yeast water mixture into the bottle (a funnel helps here) and watch the foaminess begin!
The foam you made is special because each tiny foam bubble is filled with oxygen. The yeast acted as a catalyst (a helper) to remove the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide. Since it did this very fast, it created lots and lots of bubbles. Did you notice the bottle got warm. Your experiment created a reaction called an Exothermic Reaction - that means it not only created foam, it created heat! The foam produced is just water, soap, and oxygen so you can clean it up with a sponge and pour any extra liquid left in the bottle down the drain.
The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Does the amount of yeast change the amount of foam produced?
2. Does the experiment work as well if you add the dry yeast without mixing it with water?
3. Does the size of the bottle affect the amount of foam produced?
2. Does the experiment work as well if you add the dry yeast without mixing it with water?
3. Does the size of the bottle affect the amount of foam produced?
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