What you’re going to learn…

Sunday May 1, 2011

Click here for a printable version of this page.


There are 18 scientific principles, most of which kids need to know before they hit college. With the content in this unit, you’ll be able to quickly figure out what they know and where the gaps are, so you can focus on the areas you need to most.


Once kids have wrapped their heads around these ideas, they can pretty much explain the universe around them, including why airplanes fly, how electricity works, and why socks disappear in the dryer.


Don’t worry if these ideas are new to you – it may have been that no one has ever explained them to you or how important they are. The content in this unit is just a quick overview of what we’ll be learning in the main e-Science Online Learning program. The content in this program can be stretched over several years, so don’t try to cover it all in one night.


You’ll be able to tell when your child has mastered these principles in the way they describe how things work when they teach these ideas to others.


One of the most important things you can do as parents is to focus on the long-term outcome (how to think like a scientist), not how quickly you can get your child to memorize these top principles.


Scientists do real science by being patient observers, getting curious about the world around them, and asking questions.


There seems to be a predominant myth about scientists: that real scientists put on a white lab coat, walk into their lab, and have an ah-HA! moment about how to cure the common flu or invent warp drive and then fame and fortune follows (along with a wild hairdo).


That’s not the way real scientists do science. In fact, nothing could be further from reality.


Real scientists are everyday folks that have a curiosity mindset (How does that work? Why did that happen? What’s really going on here?) and are really good at watching the world around them. They see things in ways most people overlook. Why are things overlooked? Either because they are too busy or just weren’t trained to think like a scientist.


Thinking like a scientist is a way you train your mind to focus on how you can make things better for people or the planet. It’s a way of contributing while at the same time challenging yourself to understand something that you didn’t just a moment ago. It’s fun to figure things out if they are not too far out of reach. Just as you wouldn’t teach a toddler to sky-dive, we wouldn’t start you on your science adventure with stuff that too complicated to understand. We’ll make sure to go at your pace and throw enough solid content your way so you grow in order to keep up.


One of the quickest ways to kill your child’s passion for science is to not teach him how to deal with frustration when it pops up. If you’re anxious about doing science because you don’t want him to ever feel frustrated while doing science, let me tell you the good news up front:


SCIENCE CAN BE FRUSTRATING! This is especially true if you’re doing an experiment right in front of other people.


While every scientist gets to feeling frustrated or disappointed at times, they also don’t stay there long. When an experiment goes awry, or something doesn’t work, it’s important to work through these emotions (and events) with your child so they get into the habit of picking themselves up, brushing themselves off, and getting back in the saddle. What this usually means is taking a closer look at your experiment setup, your original ideas and guesses and see what happened.


Everyone gets frustrated. It’s part of life, part of reality. What’s not realistic is letting frustration stop you, or even reliving the same frustration over and over in your mind. That’s not how the real world operates. Everyone experiences setbacks, and the sooner your child figures out how to deal with these, the more resilient they are going to be and the faster they’re going to learn what works and what doesn’t.


In fact, one of the greatest experiments of all time gave a null result, which baffled top scientists for decades until Einstein came to the rescue with his special theory of relativity. It was the 1887 Michelson-Morley experiment that failed to detect the Earth’s motion through the ‘ether’. It’s good thing, too, because now we know the truth Einstein’s relativity principles that tell us the speed of light being constant for all observers (we’ll cover more of that in Unit 7).


We’re going to focus on the top scientific principles that will make you a brainiac extraordinaire. You might be surprised at the materials or experiment setup. But real science doesn’t need to be fancy – you can demonstrate all of these spades of science for dirt cheap. Ready?


Newtonian Physics

Scientists study motion. They study how things move through space and time in order to understand and predict the world.


The Principles of Galilean (Newtonian) Relativity are where Einstein’s original principles of relativity came from. The ideas that “I am at rest” don’t mean anything unless you talk about your motion relative to something else.


There is a natural state of motion to move at constant speed in a straight line. When you toss a ball, it wants to go in a straight line. But air resistance (drag) and gravity are working to bring it to a stop. Launch a Voyager spacecraft into space and it goes in a straight line until it hits something or is gravitationally affected by another object.


Newton’s three laws of motion (which are based on Galileo’s work) make all motion predictable once we know all the forces acting on the object:
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Shopping List for Unit Zero

Sunday May 1, 2011

How many of these items do you already have? We’ve tried to keep it simple for you by making the majority of the items things most people have within reach (both physically and budget-wise).


If you find you don’t have something, simply add it to your next errand or shopping store list.


Shopping List for Unit Zero: Overview of eScience


Click here for Shopping List for Unit Zero.


  • Ball (any size)
  • Garden hose attached to a faucet
  • 4 sheets of paper
  • Ping pong ball
  • Small funnel (you can even make one out of a cone of paper)
  • A couple of large latex balloons, un-inflated
  • Assortment of magnets, including two that are rectangular (you’re going to break one)
  • Large nail (at least 2 inches long)
  • Spool of magnet wire
  • D-cell battery
  • Paper clips
  • Compass (any cheap one will work)
  • Glass of water
  • Glow-in-the-dark toy
  • Cup of hot coffee
  • Can of soda

eScience Overview Exercises

Sunday May 1, 2011

Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


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Answers to eScience Overview Exercises

Sunday May 1, 2011

Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
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Educational Games That Teach

Saturday January 22, 2011

If you've ever wanted to sneak a peek into my cabinet of educational games and books for kids, now is your chance. Use this list for gift ideas, boredom busters, and just plain family fun. Some of these games you can pick up at the store, and the rest are the home-made, print-it-out, cut-and-play variety that your kids will really learn from.

I first made this list because I felt that so many games are watered-down versions of either bingo or "roll the dice and see where you land", with the occasional card pick. I was curious to see if there were any truly great educational games still available, or if they were all just brain candy.

My games listed here are designed to develop strategy, critical thinking, and chaotic surprise in addition to having the kids learn practical knowledge along the way (not trivial fluff). And when a kid memorizes the card deck, it works in their favor because now they know the entire periodic table.

Here you'll find games including arithmetic, fractals, equations, chemistry, physics, and more. If you have any you'd like to add to the pile, just submit it in the comments section so everyone can benefit. Are you ready?

Note: This list is growing so please check back for updates!

Favorite Books

Favorite Resource for Science Supplies

A lot of science supplies can be purchased online these days, especially the hard to find stuff. However, if you're in the market for oddball items from a company that reuses industrial overruns, here it is:

  • RAFT Resource Area For Teaching RAFT (Resource Area For Teaching). When I was first starting out, I would take a pickup truck to RAFT in San Jose and load up on everything I needed to teach science for the month. Since I was teaching at 60 different schools (about 50 classes per week), I went through a LOT of materials... and I knew I had to get them inexpensively. RAFT has grown a lot over the years, and if you've never had the opportunity before, now is your chance to check it out for yourself.
  • Educational Innovations is the place I got a lot of my physics stuff when I was teaching at the university.
  • Sci-Supply is an inexpensive physics store with lots of great stuff for smart kids.
  • Science First is where I get a lot of my higher-end, more commercial grade physics demos.

Favorite Science Games

Math Games

  • Equate the Math version of Scrabble, which is great for kids that are getting the hang of arithmetic
  • Best Dice Game for honing math skills - I keep a set in my purse wherever I go (no kidding!)
  • Monopoly using a third and fourth die to calculate tax for purchases or compound interest (for rate and time); federal income tax brackets (which depend on your capital) replaces the 'income tax' square... we try to make it as realistic as we can, and even do the 'bidding option' stated in the rules when buying property.
  • Mathematician Dice
  • Cryptarithms (one of my favorite math games - it's the image of "SEND MORE MONEY" at the above right - you have to figure out what number each letter represents!)
  • More Math Recommendations

Awesome Games Overall

  • Chess find a 34-piece set (with four queens) and a vinyl mat

Intelligent Music for Kids

(that doesn't make adults want to rip their hair out)

Here's the video of the Element Song:

 

 

Here's the video of the Nano Song:

 

Note: You can find more songs at the Harvard Physics Song site, but be sure to preview them before sharing them with your kids as they are more appropriate for college-level students!

What Pi Sounds Like by Michael Blake (see video below):


Basic Chemistry Safety Information

Monday November 1, 2010

Chemical Data & Safe Handling Information Sheet

What do I really need to know first? First of all, the chemicals in this set should be stored out of reach of pets and children. Grab the chemicals right now and stuff them in a safe place where accidents can’t happen. Do this NOW!


If you haven’t already done so, make sure to watch the introductory video for the Intermediate Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry lessons. They contain important information about the chemicals and lab equipment you’ll be using. When you’re done storing your chemicals out of reach, watch this video:


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Advanced Chemistry Exercises

Sunday October 31, 2010

Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


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Intermediate Chemistry Exercises

Sunday October 31, 2010

Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


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Answers to Advanced Chemistry Exercises

Sunday October 31, 2010

Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
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Answers to Intermediate Chemistry Exercises

Sunday October 31, 2010

Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
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Making Litmus Solution and Paper

Sunday October 31, 2010

You can go your whole life without paying any attention to the chemistry behind acids and bases. But you use acids and bases all the time! They are all around you. We identify acids and bases by measuring their pH.


Every liquid has a pH. If you pay particular attention to this lab, you will even be able to identify most acids and bases and understand why they do what they do. Acids range from very strong to very weak. The strongest acids will dissolve steel. The weakest acids are in your drink box. The strongest bases behave similarly. They can burn your skin or you can wash your hands with them.


Acid rain is one aspect of low pH that you can see every day if you look for it. This is a strange name, isn’t it? We get rained on all the time. If people were dissolving, if the rain made their skin smoke and burn, you’d think it would make headlines, wouldn’t you? The truth is acid rain is too weak to harm us except in very rare and localized conditions. But it’s hard on limestone buildings.


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Energy from Sugar

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Purple and white colors, making the whitewash that Tom Sawyer used, and produce an exothermic chemical reaction…..does it get any better?


Limewater is one of the compounds we work with in this experiment. Limewater was used in the old days of America. We’re talking about the 80’s…..the 1880’s.


Traveling medicine shows sold what was called “patent medicines”. These usually had no medicinal properties at all. The man in charge, the salesman of the operation, was called a “huckster”. He would have the one of the people gathered around to listen to him blow into limewater. Their exhaled breath contains carbon dioxide, and the lime water turned cloudy, just like in our experiment.


The man would hold up the glass with the cloudy limewater in it and pour in some of his fantastic remedy. As long as the “medicine” was acidic, it would turn the cloudy limewater clear. This was proof that the remedy would cure whatever ailed the person.


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Getting Air from Water

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students. This is a repeat of the experiment: Can Fish Drown? but now we’re going to do this experiment again with your new chemistry glassware.


The aquarium looked normal in every way, except for the fish. They were breathing very fast and sinking head first to the bottom of the tank. They would sink a few inches, then jerk into proper movement again.


The student had to figure out what was wrong. He had set up the aquarium as an ongoing science project, and it was his responsibility to maintain the fish tank. His grade depended on it.


He went to his mom for help. She looked over the setup. “Have you tested the water?”


A quizzical look on his face, the boy said, “Everything is normal nitrates, nitrites, hardness, alkalinity, and pH. The pH was a little acidic, but not outside the proper range.”


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Working with Cataylsts

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Don’t put this in your car….yet. Hydrogen generation, capture, and combustion are big deals right now. The next phase of transportation, and a move away from fossil fuels in not found in electric cars. Electric cars are waiting until hydrogen fuel cell vehicles become practical. It can be done and is being done.


Cars being powered by hydrogen are here, but not on the market yet. Engineers and chemists are always finding new ways to improve the chemical reaction that produces hydrogen and making the vehicles more efficiently use the fuel. Hydrogen fuel is not just easy to make, it is inexpensive, and the “exhaust” is water.


We will generate hydrogen in this lab. We will also see how combustible it is. Just let your imagination wander….just a bit and you will see noiseless cars and trucks zipping along the streets and interstates, carrying people and cargo. The Indianapolis 500 wouldn’t be quite the same, though. “And there they go, roaring, I mean quietly entering turn two…”


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Hydrogen Peroxide

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


In industry, hydrogen peroxide is used in paper making to bleach the pulp before they form it into paper. Biologists, when preparing bones for display, use peroxide to whiten the bones.


At home, 3% peroxide combined with ammonium hydroxide is used to give dark-haired people their desired blonde moment. Peroxide is also used on wounds to clean them and remove dead tissue. Peroxide slows the flow from small blood vessels and oozing in wounds as well.


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Generating Oxygen

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


This time we’re going to use a lot of equipment… really break out all the chemistry stuff. We’ll need all this stuff to generate oxygen with potassium permanganate (KMNO4). We will work with this toxic chemical and we will be careful…won’t we?


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Detonating Bubbles

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Zinc (Zn), is a metal and it is found as element #30 on the periodic table. We need a little zinc to keep our bodies balanced, but too much is very dangerous.


Zinc is just like the common, everyday substance that we all know as di-hydrogen monoxide (which is the chemical name for water). We need water to survive, but too much will kill us.


DHMO: In chemistry, “Di” equals the number 2; hydrogen is H; mono equals the number one; and oxide is derived from oxygen, and its symbol is O. Put these together and you have Di-hydrogen (H2), and mono oxygen (O). Put them together, what do you have? Water!


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Desalination

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Lewis and Clark did this same experiment when they reached the Oregon coast in 1805. Men from the expedition traveled fifteen miles south of the fort they had built at the mouth of the Columbia River to where Seaside, Oregon now thrives.


In 1805, however, it was just men from the fort and Indians. They built an oven of rocks. For six weeks, they processed 1,400 gallons of seawater, boiling the water off to gain 28 gallons of salt.


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Cold Light

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Glo-sticks! Parents hang them from their trick or treaters, backpackers read with them light late at night in a tent. Glo-sticks work on the principle of chemiluminescence.  Chemiluminescence is defined as emitting light without heat as the result of a chemical reaction.


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Carbon Dioxide

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students. This lab builds on concepts from the previous carbon dioxide lab.


Limewater….carbon dioxide…indicators. We don’t know too much about these things. Sure, we know a little. Carbon dioxide is exhaled by us and plants need it to grow. Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide.


Indicators…something we observe that confirms to us that something specific is happening. Lime water turns cloudy and forms a precipitate in the presence of carbon dioxide. Blue litmus paper turns red in the presence of an acid. The dog barking at the door and dancing around indicates that you better let the dog out, and quick, to avoid….a pet spill?


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Zinc Dust

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Who gets to burn something today? YOU get to burn something today!


You will be working with Zinc (Zn). Other labs in this kit allow us to burn metal, but there is a bit of a twist this time. We will be burning a powder.


Why a powder instead of a solid ribbon or foil as in the other labs?  Have you heard of surface area being a factor in a chemical reaction? The more surface area there is to burn, the more dramatic the chemical change. So, with this fact in mind, a powder should burn faster or be more likely to burn than a large solid.


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Magnesium Battery

Sunday October 31, 2010

Magnesium is one of the most common elements in the Earth’s crust. This alkaline earth metal is silvery white, and soft. As you perform this lab, think about why magnesium is used in emergency flares and fireworks. Farmers use it in fertilizers, pharmacists use it in laxatives and antacids, and engineers mix it with aluminum to create the BMW N52 6-cylinder magnesium engine block. Photographers used to use magnesium powder in the camera’s flash before xenon bulbs were available.


Most folks, however, equate magnesium with a burning white flame. Magnesium fires burn too hot to be extinguished using water, so most firefighters use sand or graphite.


We’re going to learn how to (safely) ignite a piece of magnesium in the first experiment, and next how to get energy from it by using it in a battery in the second experiment. Are you ready?


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Burning Sulfur

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Brimstone is another name for sulfur, and if you’ve ever smelled it burn…..whoa….I’m telling you ….you will see for yourself in this lab. It is quite a smell, for sure. Sulfur is element #6 on the periodic table. Sulfur is used in fertilizer, black powder, matches, and insecticides. In pioneer times sulfur was put into patent medicines and used as a laxative.


To further the evil reputation of sulfur, or brimstone, when sulfur is burned in a coal fired power plant, sulfur dioxide is produced. The sulfur is spewed into the air, where it is reacts with moisture in the air to form sulfuric acid. The clouds get full and need to let go of this sulfuric acid. Down comes the acid rain to wreak havoc on the masonry and plant life below.


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Making Copper

Sunday October 31, 2010

In this lab, we’re going to investigate the wonders of electrochemistry. Electrochemistry became a new branch of chemistry in 1832, founded by Michael Faraday. Michael Faraday is considered the “father of electrochemistry”. The knowledge gained from his work has filtered down to this lab. YOU will be like Michael Faraday. I imagined he would have been overjoyed to do this lab and see the results. You are soooo lucky to be able to take an active part in this experiment. Here’s what you’re going to do…


You will be “creating” metallic copper from a solution of copper sulfate and water, and depositing it on a negative electrode. Copper is one of our more interesting elements. Copper is a metal, and element 29 on your periodic table. It conducts heat and electricity very well.


Many things around you are made of copper. Copper wire is used in electrical wiring. It has been used for centuries in the form of pipes to distribute water and other fluids in homes and in industry. The Statue of Liberty is a wonderful example of how beautiful 180,000 pounds of copper can be. Yes, it is made of copper, and no, it doesn’t look like a penny…..on the surface. The green color is copper oxide, which forms on the surface of copper exposed to air and water. The oxide is formed on the surface and does not attack the bulk of the copper. You could say that copper oxide protects the copper.


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Making Chlorine

Sunday October 31, 2010

If we don’t have salt, we die. It’s that simple. The chemical formula for salt is NaCl. Broken down, we have Na (sodium) and Cl (chlorine). Either one of these can be fatal in sufficient quantities. When chemically combined, these two deadly elements become table salt. What once could kill now keeps us alive. Isn’t chemistry awesome?


Chlorine, element 17, is called a halogen as are all the elements in the 17th row. All halogens have similar chemical properties. They are highly reactive nonmetals, and react easily with most metals. Sodium is a metal, and is bonded with sodium in the table salt used in this lab. Besides being found in salt, chlorine has many uses in our world such as killing bacteria in our water, making plastic, cleaning products, and the list goes on. A very useful chemical, and is among the top ten chemicals produced in the United States. Ever since its discovery in 1774, chlorine has been very useful. It is found in nature in sodium chloride, but in very small concentrations. Seawater, the most abundant source of chlorine, has a concentration of only 19g of chlorine per liter.


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Electrochemistry

Sunday October 31, 2010

Electricity. Chemistry. Nothing in common, have nothing to do with each other. Wrong! Electrochemistry has been a fact since 1774. Once electricity was applied to particular solutions, changes occurred that scientists of the time did not expect.


In this lab, we will discover some of the same things that Farraday found over 300 years ago. We will be there as things tear apart, particles rush about, and the power of attraction is very strong. We’re not talking about dancing, we’re talking about something much more important and interesting….we’re talking about ELECTROCHEMISTRY!


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Ammonia Experiments

Sunday October 31, 2010

Ammonia has been used by doctors, farmers, chemists, alchemists, weightlifters, and our families since Roman times. Doctors revive unconscious patients, farmers use it in fertilizer, alchemists tried to use it to make gold, weightlifters sniff it into their lungs to invigorate their respiratory system and clear their heads prior to lifting tremendous loads. At home, ammonia is used to clean up the ketchup you spilled on the floor and never cleaned up.


The ammonia molecule (NH3) is a colorless gas with a strong odor – it’s the smell of freshly cleaned floors and windows. Mom is not cleaning with straight ammonia (it’s gas at room temperature because it boils at -28oF, so the stuff she cleans with is actually ammonium hydroxide, a solution of ammonia and water).  Ammonia is found when plans and animals decompose, and it’s also in rainwater, volcanoes, your kidneys (to neutralize excess acid), in the ocean, some fertilizers, in  Jupiter’s lower cloud decks, and trace amounts are found in our own atmosphere (it’s lighter than air).


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Acids and Bases

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


ACID!!! The word causes fear to creep in and get our attention.


BASIC!!! The word causes nothing to stir in most of us.


The truth is, a strong acid (pH 0-1) is dangerous, but a strong basic (pH 13-14) is just as dangerous. In this lab, we will get comfortable with the basics of bases and the acidity of acids along with how you can use both and tell the difference between them.


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Making Sodium Hydroxide

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Ever use soap? Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is the main component in lye soap. NaOH is mixed with some type of fat (vegetable, pig, cow, etc).  Scent can be added for the ‘pretty’ factor and pumice or sand can be added for the manly “You’re coming off my hands and I’ll take no guff” factor. Lots of people still make their own soap and they enjoy doing it.


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Potassium Permanganate

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in water turns an intense, deep, purple. It is important in the film industry for aging props and clothing to make them look much older than they are.


Also, artists use it in bone carving. People who carve antlers and bone use KMnO4 to darken the surface of the bone to make it look aged. They make the carving, soak it in potassium permanganate, then carve more, and repeat. The end result is a carving that has a light golden brown color. More dipping will darken the carving even more.


Potassium permanganate is going to undergo a chemical change with this activity. In this experiment, we will be able to witness several indicators of chemical change. Color changes, bubbles from gas generation, temperature change, and color disappearance are all indicators of chemical changes.


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Potassium Hexacynoferrate (Reagant)

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


How do you know if your brother is stealing your candy? Unwrap a wrapped hard candy that he likes a lot. Roll the candy around in the powdered food dye that matches the candy. (Push the powder into the candy so it “disappears”.) Re-wrap the candy. Set the candy in the place where it usually disappears from. Wait ten minutes after the candy disappears. Find your brother. He will be sporting a new color on his hands and mouth. Dye is hard to remove. It will have to be worn every day at school until it fades away as the skin cells slough off. The dye he now wears is in indicator that he has been taking your candy.


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Iron Sparklers

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Sparks flying off in all directions…that’s fun. In this lab, we will show how easy it is to produce those shooting sparks. In a sparkler you buy at the store, the filings used are either iron or aluminum.


The filings are placed in a mixture that, when dry, adheres to the metal rod or stick that is used in making the sparkler. The different colors are created by adding different powdered chemicals to the mixture before it dries. When they burn, we get red, blue, white, and green.


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Iodine

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


In gas form, element #59 is deadly. However, when iodine is in  liquid form, it helps heal cuts and scrapes. The iodine molecule occurs in pairs, not as a single atom (many halogens do this, and it’s called a diatomic molecule). It’s hard to find iodine in nature, though it’s essential for staying healthy… too little iodine in the body takes a heavy toll on how well the brain operates.


A chunk of iodine is blackish-blue, and will sublimate (go from a solid straight to a gas, as seen in the photo here).  Iodine is the heaviest element needed by living things. Iodized salt is sodium chloride fortified with iodine to prevent people from not getting enough iodine in their daily diets.


Iodine is found in seaweed (kelp) and seafood as well as vegetables that are grown in dirt that has high iodine levels. People that live inland and do not eat fish often have lower iodine levels than their coastal, fish-eating neighbors. The trick is not to get too much or too little iodine in your diet, because the symptoms of deficiency and excess levels are quite similar.


Starch (like cornstarch) are used as an indicator for detecting iodine in chemistry experiments. When combined with iodine, starch forms a blue-black color in the solution. We’re going to do this and many other activities in this lab, because this experiment is actually several labs rolled into one. First, we have to make iodine, store it, and then we get to use it in several experiments. Are you ready?


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How to Get Hydrogen from Zinc

Sunday October 31, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students.


Zinc and Hydrogen are important elements for all of us. Zinc (Zn) metal is element #30 on the periodic table. Lack of zinc in our diets will delay growth of our bodies and can kill.


Hydrogen gas (H) is element #1 on the periodic table. Hydrogen was discovered in the 1500s. In a pure state, hydrogen combustion (in small quantities) is interesting. In large amounts, mixed with oxygen, the explosion can be devastating.


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Hydrogen Bromide

Sunday October 31, 2010

WARNING!! THIS EXPERIMENT IS PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS!! (No kidding.) This experiment is for advanced students.


We’ve created a video that shows you how to safely do this experiment, although if you’re nervous about doing this one, just watch the video and skip the actual experiment.


Bromine is a particularly nasty chemical, so be sure to very carefully follow the steps we’ve outlined in the video. You MUST do this experiment outdoors. We’ll be making a tiny amount to show how the chemical reactions involving bromine work.


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Hydrogen Chlorine Gas

Sunday October 31, 2010

WARNING!! THIS EXPERIMENT IS PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS!! (No kidding.) This experiment is for advanced students.


We’ve created a video that shows you how to safely do this experiment, although if you’re nervous about doing this one, just watch the video and skip the actual experiment.


The gas you generate with this experiment is lethal in large doses, so you MUST do this experiment outdoors.  We’ll be making a tiny amount to show how the chemical reactions of chlorine and hydrogen work.


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Unit 15: Chemistry 2 (Advanced Chemistry) Video

Sunday October 31, 2010

In this unit, you will learn how to build your own home chemistry lab safely under the direction of professionals. We’ll show you how to do real chemistry experiments, provide chemical storage information, give guidelines on proper chemical disposal when you’re finished, highlight lab tips and tricks, and warn you about things to watch out for. This is real chemistry for real kids.


This video picks up where the intermediate chemistry video leaves off so you’ll want to be sure you have completed that one first. The C3000 contains three trays, the first of which is the C1000 (which is covered in the intermediate chemistry lesson). So if you’ve completed the first part and are ready for more, here we go!


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Unit 15: Chemistry 2 (Intermediate Chemistry) Video

Sunday October 31, 2010

In this unit, you will learn how to build your own home chemistry lab safely under the direction of professionals. We’ll show you how to do real chemistry experiments, provide chemical storage information, give guidelines on proper chemical disposal when you’re finished, highlight lab tips and tricks, and warn you about things to watch out for. This is real chemistry for real kids.


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Significant Digits

Sunday October 24, 2010

If you’re struggling to untangle the confusion about significant digits, then this is the video you’ll want to watch. Get a calculator, sheet of paper, and a pencil and get ready to become a super-genius on sig figs!



Unit 14: Electronics (Circuit Boards) Video

Monday October 4, 2010

This Lesson is for advanced students. Most people who learn about electronics start by studying the theory of how electric current flows through wires and other stuff that conducts electricity, called conductors. Unfortunately this stuff is BORING! I mean, I can’t stand it myself sometimes. So, we’re going to start with what I call “Lego brick” electronics.


You’re going to start by building cool things, then learn what each part of the circuit does, but not go into the minute details. You’ll learn how to build circuits out of electronic “bricks” like you can build something out of Lego bricks. You don’t need to design your own Lego bricks, but just focus on using them. Same thing here – you’ll learn how to put pieces together to build circuits. Our pieces are electronic components. Things like transistors, resistors, integrated circuits (chips), capacitors and lots more.


Although you can’t see electricity, you can certainly detect its effects – a buzzer sounding, a light flashing, a motor turning… all of these happen because of electricity. Which is why electricity experiments are among the most frustrating. You can’t always tell where the problem is in a circuit that refuses to work right.
We’re going to outline the different electronic components (resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, etc) so you get a better feel for how to use them in a circuit. While we’re not going to spend time on why each of these parts work (which is a topic best reserved for college courses), we are going to tackle how to use them to get your circuit to do what you want. The steps to building several different electronics projects are outlined very carefully so you can really understand this incredible micro-world.


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Unit 14: Electronics (Bread Boards) Video

Monday October 4, 2010

Electronics are used everywhere these days. Of course, we see them in TV’s and stereos, computers, cell phones and iPods. But they’re also a part of car keys and even mailing labels on boxes.


They’re used to explore the surface of mars in space probes and give sight to blind people. All these things use transistors, resistors, chips and more – just what we’ll be talking about in this unit. So, let’s get started.


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Electronics Exercises

Sunday October 3, 2010

Note: Because there is so much overlap between the lessons in this unit, I’ve combined all the questions from Lessons 1-3 and put them all in one place – right here on this page.


Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


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Answers to Electronics Exercises

Sunday October 3, 2010

Note: Because there is so much overlap between the lessons, I’ve combined the questions and put them all in one place – right here on this page.


Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
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Learn How to Solder and Build a Police Siren

Sunday October 3, 2010

This project is for advanced students.


This is two projects in one.  No one starts out soldering well (I know I didn’t).  So, we’re going to start out by just practicing soldering parts onto a PCB that doesn’t do anything.  No point in making mistakes on a real project and possibly ruining it.


Once you have the hang of soldering, we’ll  make a working siren.  Just follow along with the steps in the video.  By the way, the siren circuit isn’t that different from the Audible Light Probe.  It makes sound in a similar way, and is just wired to make different frequencies take turns by charging capacitors at different rates.


To make this project, you’ll need to get a Police Siren Kit. You’ll also need a soldering iron with a stand and some basic tools (scissors, hot glue gun, drill, wire strippers, pliers, screwdriver). (Need a recommendation for a soldering iron? Click here.)


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Wireless FM Transmitter (the ‘Bug’)

Sunday October 3, 2010

fm-xmitterThis project is for advanced students. Make sure you’ve completed the Police Siren project first!


This is a really cool one.  You’re actually going to build a miniature radio station.  You can broadcast your voice or music to a regular FM radio.  It just has a very short range (about 100 feet, or 30 meters).


It’s just a bit more complicated than the siren, and it will need some “tuning” when you’re done with it.  Take your time with this one and have fun.


To make this project, you’ll need the Wireless FM Transmitter kit, your soldering equipment, and basic tools (pliers, wire strippers, scissors, etc.)


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Door Knob Touch Alarm

Sunday October 3, 2010

dooralarmThis project is for advanced students. Make sure you’ve completed the Police Siren project first!


This is my favorite burglar alarm because it’s innocent-looking, hair-triggered, and completely obnoxious. Here’s what happens: after you build this circuit, you hang the wire loop around a metal doorknob, add the battery, and stand back. When an unsuspecting thief comes into your room, the alarm sounds as soon as they touch the other side of the door knob… and presto! You caught your burglar.


This circuit uses an IC (integrated circuit) called the LM324, which is a quad op-amp (operational amplifier), which produces a voltage that many times larger than the voltage difference between the inputs.  Created in 1972, these low-power op-amps are actually four op-amps packaged into one. Although they are commonplace today in many electronic devices, they first started out in the 1940s as vacuum-tube devices at Bell Labs.


Are you ready to build a super-cool burglar alarm? To make this project, you’ll need to Door Knob Touch Alarm Kit, soldering equipment, and basic tools (scissors, hot glue gun, drill, wire strippers, pliers, screwdriver). (Don’t know how to solder yet? Click here for a lesson!)


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Rolling Clock

Sunday October 3, 2010

rollingclockThis project is for advanced students. Make sure you’ve completed the Police Siren project first!


This is a really cool project, because it uses a microcontroller chip.  This is a whole computer on a chip.  The chip already has software loaded on it.  It’s programmed to do just one thing: Keep time and make a clock go.  A new component in this circuit is a crystal.  This is the silver metal thing.  It has a piece of quartz crystal in it.  What’s cool about it is that if you apply voltage to it, it vibrates at a very precise frequency, which makes it ideal for keeping accurate time.  These are used in virtually every electronic clock you can find (and anything else that requires precise timing).


While this IC chip is programmed to be a clock, the same chip could be re-programmed to scroll a text message across the display.  If you really get into these types of circuits, you can learn to program microcontroller chips yourself from a regular computer (just like you do with a flash drive).  So, remember, someone programmed this chip to be a clock, but all it really does is take inputs (electrical signals going in from things like the buttons and crystal), “process” them, and then create outputs (light up the LEDs in a certain pattern) based on its calculations.


To make this project, check the shopping list for Unit 14.


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Temperature Exercises

Sunday September 5, 2010

Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


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Answers to Temperature Exercises

Sunday September 5, 2010

Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
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Heat Energy Exercises

Sunday September 5, 2010

Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


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Answers to Heat Energy Exercises

Sunday September 5, 2010

Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
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Fire-Water Balloon

Sunday September 5, 2010

If you’ve ever had a shot, you know how cold your arm feels when the nurse swipes it with a pad of alcohol. What happened there? Well, alcohol is a liquid with a fairly low boiling point. In other words, it goes from liquid to gas at a fairly low temperature. The heat from your body is more then enough to make the alcohol evaporate.


As the alcohol went from liquid to gas it sucked heat out of your body. For things to evaporate, they must suck in heat from their surroundings to change state. As the alcohol evaporated you felt cold where the alcohol was. This is because the alcohol was sucking the heat energy out of that part of your body (heat was being transferred by conduction) and causing that part of your body to decrease in temperature.


As things condense (go from gas to liquid state) the opposite happens. Things release heat as they change to a liquid state. The water gas that condenses on your mirror actually increases the temperature of that mirror. This is why steam can be quite dangerous. Not only is it hot to begin with, but if it condenses on your skin it releases even more heat which can give you severe burns. Objects absorb heat when they melt and evaporate/boil. Objects release heat when they freeze and condense.


Do you remember when I said that heat and temperature are two different things? Heat is energy – it is thermal energy. It can be transferred from one object to another by conduction, convection, and radiation. We’re now going to explore heat capacity and specific heat. Here’s what you do:


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Convection Currents

Sunday September 5, 2010

Every time I’m served a hot bowl of soup or a cup of coffee with cream I love to sit and watch the convection currents. You may look a little silly staring at your soup but give it a try sometime!


Convection is a little more difficult to understand than conduction. Heat is transferred by convection by moving currents of a gas or a liquid. Hot air rises and cold air sinks. It turns out, that hot liquid rises and cold liquid sinks as well.


Room heaters generally work by convection. The heater heats up the air next to it which makes the air rise. As the air rises it pulls more air in to take its place which then heats up that air and makes it rise as well. As the air get close to the ceiling it may cool. The cooler air sinks to the ground and gets pulled back near the heat source. There it heats up again and rises back up.


This movement of heating and cooling air is convection and it can eventually heat an entire room or a pot of soup. This experiment should allow you to see convection currents.


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Sensing Temperature

Sunday September 5, 2010

Temperature is a way of talking about, measuring, and comparing the thermal energy of objects.


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Balloon Gymnastics

Sunday September 5, 2010

Is it warmer upstairs or downstairs? If you’re thinking warm air rises, then it’s got to be upstairs, right? If you’ve ever stood on a ladder inside your house and compared it to the temperature under the table, you’ve probably felt a difference.


So why is it cold on the mountain and warm in the valley? Leave it to a science teacher to throw in a wrench just when you think you’ve got it figured out. Let’s take a look at whether hot air or cold air takes up more space. Here’s what you do:


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Homemade Thermostat

Sunday September 5, 2010

If you can remember thermostats before they went ‘digital’, then you may know about bi-metallic strips – a piece of material made from of two strips of different metals which expand at different rates as they are heated (usually steel and copper). The result is that the flat strip bends one way if heated, and in the opposite direction if cooled.


Normally, it takes serious skill and a red-hot torch to stick two different metals together, but here’s a homemade version of this concept that your kids can make using your freezer.  Here what you do:


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Ghost Coin

Sunday September 5, 2010

This spooky idea takes almost no time, requires a dime and a bottle, and has the potential for creating quite a stir in your next magic show.  The idea is basically this: when you place a coin on a bottle, it starts dancing around. But there’s more to this trick than meets the scientist’s eye.


Here’s how you do it:


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Solar Drinking Bird

Sunday September 5, 2010


The Drinking Bird is a classic science toy that dips its head up and down into a glass of water. It’s filled with a liquid called methylene chloride, and the head is covered with red felt that gets wet when it drinks. But how does it work? Is it perpetual motion?


Let’s take a look at what’s going on with the bird, why it works, and how we’re going to modify it so it can run on its own without using any water at all!


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Hero Engine

Sunday September 5, 2010

There are lots of different kids of heat engines, from stirling engines to big jet turbines to the engine in your car. They all use clever ways to convert a temperature difference into motion.


Remember that the molecules in steam move around a lot faster than in an ice cube. So when we stick hot steam in a container, we can blow off the lid (used with pistons in a steam engine). or we can put a fan blade in hot steam, and since the molecules move around a lot, they start bouncing off the blade and cause it to rotate (as in a turbine). Or we can seal up hot steam in a container and punch a tiny hole out one end (to get a rocket).


One of the first heat engines was dreamed up by Hero of Alexandria called the aeolipile. The steam is enclosed in a vessel and allowed to jet out two (or more) pipes. Although we’re not sure if his invention ever made it off the drawing board, we do know how to make one for pure educational (and entertainment) purposes.  Are you ready to have fun?


THIS EXPERIMENT USES FIRE AND STEAM…GET ADULT HELP BEFORE YOU OPERATE THE ENGINE.

Here’s what you do:


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Food Dye Currents

Sunday September 5, 2010

When something feels hot to you, the molecules in that something are moving very fast. When something feels cool to you, the molecules in that object aren’t moving quite so fast. Believe it or not, your body perceives how fast molecules are moving by how hot or cold something feels. Your body has a variety of antennae to detect energy. Your eyes perceive certain frequencies of electromagnetic waves as light. Your ears perceive certain frequencies of longitudinal waves as sound. Your skin, mouth and tongue can perceive thermal energy as hot or cold. What a magnificent energy sensing instrument you are!


Let’s find out how to watch the hot and cold currents in water. Here’s what you need to do:


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Making Clouds

Sunday September 5, 2010

Indoor Rain Clouds

Making indoor rain clouds demonstrates the idea of temperature, the measure of how hot or cold something is. Here’s how to do it:


Take two clear glasses that fit snugly together when stacked. (Cylindrical glasses with straight sides work well.)


Fill one glass half-full with ice water and the other half-full with very hot water (definitely an adult job – and take care not to shatter the glass with the hot water!). Be sure to leave enough air space for the clouds to form in the hot glass.


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Peanut Energy

Sunday September 5, 2010

This experiment is for advanced students. Did you know that eating a single peanut will power your brain for 30 minutes? The energy in a peanut also produces a large amount of energy when burned in a flame, which can be used to boil water and measure energy.


Peanuts are part of the bean family, and actually grows underground (not from trees like almonds or walnuts).  In addition to your lunchtime sandwich, peanuts are also used in woman’s cosmetics, certain plastics, paint dyes, and also when making nitroglycerin.


What makes up a peanut?  Inside you’ll find a lot of fats (most of them unsaturated) and  antioxidants (as much as found in berries).  And more than half of all the peanuts Americans eat are produced in Alabama. We’re going to learn how to release the energy inside a peanut and how to measure it.


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Boiling Room Temperature Water

Sunday September 5, 2010

The triple point is where a molecule can be in all three states of matter at the exact same time, all in equilibrium. Imagine having a glass of liquid water happily together with both ice cubes and steam bubbles inside, forever! The ice would never melt, the liquid water would remain the same temperature, and the steam would bubble up. In order to do this, you have to get the pressure and temperature just right, and it’s different for every molecule.


The triple point of mercury happens at -38oF and 0.000000029 psi. For carbon dioxide, it’s 75psi and -70oF. So this isn’t something you can do with a modified bike pump and a refrigerator.


However, the triple point of water is 32oF and 0.089psi. The only place we’ve found this happening naturally (without any lab equipment) is on the surface of Mars.


Because of these numbers, we can get water to boil here on Earth while it stays at room temperature by changing the pressure using everyday materials. (If you have a vacuum pump, you can have the water boil at the freezing point of 32oF.)


Here’s what you need to do:


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Stairstep Candles

Sunday September 5, 2010

Fire is a chemical reaction (combustion) involving hot gases and plasma. The three things you need for a flame are oxygen, fuel, and a spark. When the fuel (gaseous wax) and oxygen (from the air) combine in a flame, one of the gases produced is carbon dioxide.


Most people think of carbon dioxide as dry ice, and are fascinated to watch the solid chunk sublimate from solid straight to gas, skipping the liquid state altogether. You’ve seen the curls of dry ice vapor curl down and cover the floor in a thick, wispy fog. Is carbon dioxide always more dense than air, or can we get it to float?


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Soaking Up Rays

Sunday September 5, 2010

Heat is transferred by radiation through electromagnetic waves. Remember, when we talked about waves and energy? Well, heat can be transferred by electromagnetic waves. Energy is vibrating particles that can move by waves over distances right? Well, if those vibrating particles hit something and cause those particles to vibrate (causing them to move faster/increasing their temperature) then heat is being transferred by waves. The type of electromagnetic waves that transfer heat are infra-red waves. The Sun transfers heat to the Earth through radiation.


If you hold your hand near (not touching) an incandescent light bulb until you can feel heat on your hand, you’ll be able to understand how light can travel like a wave. This type of heat transfer is called radiation.


Now don’t panic. This is not a bad kind of radiation like you get from x-rays. It’s infra-red radiation. Heat was transferred from the light bulb to your hand. The energy from the light bulb resonated the molecules in your hand. (Remember resonance?) Since the molecules in your hand are now moving faster, they have increased in temperature. Heat has been transferred! In fact, an incandescent light bulb gives off more energy in heat then it does in light. They are not very energy efficient.


Now, if it’s a hot sunny day outside, are you better off wearing a black or white shirt if you want to stay cool? This experiment will help you figure this out:


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Liquid Crystals

Sunday September 5, 2010

If you’ve completed the Soaking Up Rays experiment, you might still be a bit baffled as to why there’s a difference between black and white. Here’s a great way to actually “see” radiation by using liquid crystal thermal sheets.


You’ll need to find a liquid crystal sheet that has a temperature range near body temperature (so it changes color when you warm it with your hands.)


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Heat Energy Video

Sunday September 5, 2010

In this lesson, we are going to learn what heat is and how it moves from place to place. You know how they say, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”? Well after this lesson you’ll know exactly what it is that you can’t stand!


Believe it or not, the concept of heat is really a bit tricky. What we call heat in common language, is really not what heat is as far as physics goes. Heat, in a way, doesn’t exist. Nothing has heat. Things can have a temperature. They can have a thermal energy but they can’t have heat. Heat is really the transfer of thermal energy. Or, in other words, the movement of thermal energy from one object to another. Let’s get started with this video:


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Temperature Video

Sunday September 5, 2010

“I’m too cold. Get me a sweater!”


“This soup’s too hot!”


“Phew, I’m sweating.”


“Yowtch, that pan handle burned me!”


If you’ve ever made any of the above comments, then you were talking about thermal energy. Very clever of you, don’t you think?   Thermal energy is basically the energy of the molecules moving inside something. The faster the molecules are moving, the more thermal energy that something has. The slower they are moving, the less thermal energy that something has.


I’m sure at some point you’ve said, “Wow, my internal thermal energy is way high! I need a liquid with a low thermal energy.” What…you’ve never said that?! Oh, wait. I bet it sounded like this when you said it, “Wow, I’m hot! I need a cool drink.” Whenever we talk about the temperature of something we are talking about its thermal energy. Let’s get started by watching this video:



Simple Microscope & Telescope

Wednesday September 1, 2010

Did you know you can create a compound microscope and a refractor telescope using the same materials? It’s all in how you use them to bend the light. These two experiments cover the fundamental basics of how two double-convex lenses can be used to make objects appear larger when right up close or farther away.


Things like lenses and mirrors can bend and bounce light to make interesting things, like compound microscopes and reflector telescopes. Telescopes magnify the appearance of some distant objects in the sky, including the moon and the planets. The number of stars that can be seen through telescopes is dramatically greater than can be seen by the unaided eye.


Materials


  • A window
  • Dollar bill
  • Penny
  • Two hand-held magnifying lenses
  • Ruler
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Microscope Shopping List

Saturday July 31, 2010

This lab is an introduction to the microscope. We're going to cover how to use a compound microscope, the basics of optics, slide preparation, and why we can see things that are invisible to the naked eye.

What's a compound microscope? Compound microscopes are basically two lenses put together to make things appear larger. If you've ever used magnifying glass, you've noticed how the lens makes words easier to read. If you were to look through two magnifiers (one stacked on top of the other with space in between), you've seen this effect multiply to create an even larger image. That's exactly what a compound microscope does. It uses stacked lenses to greatly increase the magnification.

I'll show you how to get the most out of your investment by learning how to operate a microscope and prepare specimen slides. Click here for a printer-friendly version of this page.

Selecting a Microscope

The first thing you need to do is select a compound microscope. Cheap microscopes are going to frustrate you beyond belief, so we've provided recommendations that will get last your kids through college.

It can be a daunting task to find high quality microscopes and accessories at affordable prices. Here are a couple of recommendations for microscope and equipment that will last your kids through college. You'll also need additional items like slides, coverslips, tweezers, and other basic equipment.

The microscope you select will last a long time. Expect to pay at least $100 for a decent microscope that will provide many years of use. Here are ones we recommend investing in...

Economy Model: The Kids Microscope is a great entry level microscope for under $110. It meets the optical requirements to do our microscope labs but has only single intermediate focusing. It is also available in a cordless LED model that you can use in the field. If your children are young, this may be a good scope to start out with.
Student Model: The Home Microscope is an excellent 5th - 12th grade level microscope with fluorescent lighting that will really meet all the microscope needs of most families. It is well built with very good optics and will stand up to many years of use. I recommend the additional mechanical stage, as stage clips can be frustrating when working at high power!
Advanced Model: There is a Serious Student Model that includes the mechanical stage, iris diaphragm for lighting control, extra 100x oil immersion objective for 1,000x magnification, and immersion oil. This one will take you far in your studies of the micro world. Using the 100x objective with immersion oil is more challenging but also very rewarding as your child is able to see more and develop advanced microscope skills.
All-the-Bells-and-Whistles Model: The Ultimate Home Microscope is really a great microscope (and very similar to the one I personally use with the teaching head attached). This is a university/lab level microscope that is built to withstand the rigors of daily use. This scope is heavier, sturdier, and has all the advanced features like 100x oil immersion objective, iris diaphragm lighting control and a mechanical stage with very easy to use controls. It is also available in a binocular model that is more comfortable to use.When your microscope arrives, keep it in its packaging until you watch the next video. I'll show you how to handle it, store it, and where not to touch.
No matter which microscope you select, you'll want to be sure it meets these criteria: at least three objectives (40X, 100X, 400X) and the optics are all glass to provide better quality images and the microscope frame construction is metal to provide the durability you want. Most microscopes include a dust cover and custom fit styrofoam box for safe storage. Optional additions include a mechanical stage (which we highly recommend), a fourth 100x objective lens (for 1,000x magnification), and adjustable iris diaphragm for better lighting/contrast control.
By the way, if you're considering the the fourth 100x lens, make sure you get the special “oil immersion” objective. Light tends to do weird things when you magnify it that much, and to avoid these kinds of problems, scientists use a drop of oil on the slide to connect the objective with the slide. However, you can't do this trick with just any objective lens - you need to have a special kind of lens that won't get mussed up when contacted with oil (hence the “oil immersion” type).

Where to Find Other Essentials

In addition to a microscope, you'll also need additional items like slides, cover slips, tweezers, and other basic equipment. Here's what you need to complete the labs in this section:

Supplemental Equipment:

These items are not required for this lab, however if your budget allows for these items in the future, they are very nice to have...

Prepared Slide Sets: Using our labs you will learn to make different kinds of microscope slide mounts and examine a variety of samples that you can easily collect. Prepared slides contain specimens that have been professionally stained and prepared so that you can expand your microscope studies to a great variety of plant and animal life that you would otherwise not have access to. The general slide set and the biology slide set are two sets that contain a great variety of specimens to expand your microscopic studies.
Microscope Case: While the dust cover and styrofoam box that come with your microscope provide a good degree of protection, you may want to consider a microscope case to provide greater protection and convenience in carrying and storing your microscope. These cases have the added advantage of also storing your microscope accessories with your microscope in one location.
Digital Microscope: This one is actually cheaper than most optical models listed above, and I've used it when teaching kids. The best part is, all kids can view at the same time, and you can take both pictures and video of your specimens while viewing. It's really a great deal for the price. The one I really like is the Celestron 44340 LCD.

Can’t afford a microscope?

I’ll show you how to build a very simple microscope using two handheld magnifying lenses! All you need is an afternoon, a few kids, and two magnifiers per kid. Now it doesn't come close to any of the microscopes above, but it will allow you to do some basic experimentation. (The magnifiers do not need to be the same magnification.) Gather up a few coins, dead bugs, and plant specimens and you’ll be all set for a microscope adventure.


Microwhat?

Saturday July 31, 2010

Welcome to our unit on microscopes! We’re going to learn how to use our microscope to make things appear larger so we can study them more easily. Think about all the things that are too small to study just with your naked eyeballs: how many can you name?


Let’s start from the inside out – before you haul out your own microscope, we’re going to have a look at what it can do. I’ve already prepared a set of slides for you below.  Take out a sheet of paper and jot down your guesses – here’s how you do it:


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Anatomy of the Microscope

Saturday July 31, 2010

Nose? Objective? Stage? What kind of class is this?  Well, some of the names may sound a bit odd, but this video will show you what they are and how they are used. As you watch the video, touch the corresponding part of your microscope to get a feel for how it works.


NOTE: Be very careful NOT to raise the stage too high or you’ll crack the objective lens!  Always leave a space between the stage and the lens!! Anytime you use the coarse adjustment knob, always look at the stage itself, NOT through the eyepiece (for this very reason). When you use the fine adjustment knob, that’s when you look through the eyepiece.




More questions to ask:

1. After you’ve learned the different parts of the microscope, swing around and teach it to a nearby grown-up to test your knowledge. See if you can find all these parts: eyepiece, base (legs), objective lens, eyepiece, diaphragm (or iris), stage, fine and coarse adjustment knobs, mirror/lamp, nose.


2. Show your grown-up which parts never to touch with your fingers.


3. What’s the proper way to use the coarse adjustment knob so you don’t crack the objective lens?


Care and Cleaning

1. Pick up the microscope with two hands. Always grab the arm with one hand and the legs (base) with the other.


2. Don’t touch the lenses with your fingers. The oil on your fingers will smudge and etch the lenses. Use an optical wipe if you must clean the lenses. Steer clear of toilet paper and paper towels – they will scratch your lenses.


3. When you’re done with your scope for the day, reset it so that it’s on the lowest power of magnification and lower the stage to the lowest position. Cover it with your dust cover or place it in its case.


Preparing a Dry Mount Slide

Saturday July 31, 2010

Make sure you’ve completed the How to Use a Microscope activity before you start here!


This is simplest form of slide preparation!  All  you need to do is place it on the slide, use a coverslip (and you don’t even have to do that if it’s too bumpy), and take a look through the eyepiece.  No water, stains, or glue required.


You know that this is the mount type you need when your specimen doesn’t require water to live. Good examples of things you can try are cloth fibers (the image here is of cotton thread at 40X magnification), wool, human hair, salt, and sugar. It’s especially fun to mix up salt and sugar first, and then look at it under the scope to see if you can tell the difference.


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Preparing a Wet Mount Slide

Saturday July 31, 2010

Make sure you’ve completed the How to Use a Microscope activity before you start here!


Anytime you have a specimen that needs water to live, you’ll need to prepare a wet mount slide. This is especially useful for looking at pond water (or scum), plants, protists (single-cell animals), mold, etc. When you keep your specimen alive in their environment, you not only get to observe it, but also how it eats, lives, breathes, and interacts in its environment.


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Slide Preparation: Staining

Saturday July 31, 2010

Make sure you’ve completed the How to Use a Microscope and also the Wet Mount activities before you start here!


If your critter is hard to see, you can use a dye to bring out the cell structure and make it easier to view.  There are lots of different types of stains, depending on what you’re looking at.


The procedure is simple, although kids will probably stain not only their specimens, but the table and their fingers, too.  Protect your surfaces with a plastic tablecloth and use gloves if you want to.


We’re going to use an iodine stain, which is used in chemistry as an indicator (it turns dark blue) for starch. This makes iodine a good choice when looking at plants. You can also use Lugol’s Stain, which also reacts with starch and will turn your specimen black to make the cell nuclei visible. Methylene blue is a good choice for looking at animal cells, blood, and tissues.


In addition to your specimen, you’ll need to get out your slides, microscope, cover slips, eye dropper, tweezers, iodine (you can use regular, non-clear iodine from the drug store), and a scrap of onion. If you can find an elodea leaf, add it to your pile (check with your local garden store). Here’s what you do:


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Slide Preparation: Heat Fixes

Saturday July 31, 2010

Make sure you’ve completed the How to Use a Microscope and also the Wet Mount and Staining activities before you start here!


If you tried looking at animal cells already, you know that they wiggle and squirm all over the place. And if you tried looking when using the staining technique, you know it only makes things worse.


The heat fix technique is the one you want to use to nail your specimen to the slide and also stain it to bring out the cell structure and nuclei. This is the way scientists can look at things like bacteria.


You’re going to need your microscope, slides, cover slips, eyedropper, toothpicks or tweezers, candle and matches (with adult help), stain (you can use regular iodine or Lugol’s Stain), sugar, yeast, and a container to mix your specimen in. Here’s what you do:


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Football Ice Cream

Wednesday June 30, 2010

Is it hot where you live in the summer? What if I gave you a recipe for making ice cream that doesn’t require an expensive ice cream maker, hours of churning, and can be made to any flavor you can dream up? (Even dairy-free if needed?)


If you’ve got a backyard full of busy kids that seem to constantly be in motion, then this is the project for you.  The best part is, you don’t have to do any of the churning work… the kids will handle it all for you!


This experiment is simple to set up (it only requires a trip to the grocery store), quick to implement, and all you need to do guard the back door armed with a hose to douse the kids before they tramp back into the house afterward.


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Colored Campfires and Rainbows

Wednesday June 30, 2010

Always have a FIRE EXTINGUISHER and ADULT HELP handy when performing fire experiments. NO EXCEPTIONS.

This video will show you how to transform the color of your flames. For a campfire, simply sprinkle the solids into your flames (make sure they are ground into a fine powder first) and you’ll see a color change. DO NOT do this experiment inside your house – the fumes given off by the chemicals are not something you want in your home!


One of the tricks to fire safety is to limit your fuel. The three elements you need for a flame are: oxygen, spark, and fuel.  To extinguish your flames, you’ll have to either wait for the fuel to run out or smother the flames to cut off the oxygen. When you limit your fuel, you add an extra level of safety to your activities and a higher rate of success to your eyebrows.


Here’s what we’re going to do: first, make your spectrometer: you can make the simple spectrometer or the more-advanced calibrated spectrometer. Next, get your chemicals together and build your campfire. Finally, use your spectrometer to view your flames.


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Water Purification

Wednesday June 30, 2010

Ever wonder how the water draining down your sink gets clean again? Think about it: The water you use to clean your dishes is the same water that runs through the toilet.  There is only one water pipe to the house, and that source provides water for the dishwasher, tub, sink, washing machine, toilet, fish tank, and water filter on the front of your fridge.  And there’s only one drain from your house, too!  How can you be sure what’s in the water you’re using?


This experiment will help you turn not only your coffee back into clear water, but the swamp muck from the back yard as well.  Let’s get started.
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Calibrated Spectrometer

Wednesday June 30, 2010

Ever play with a prism? When sunlight strikes the prism, it gets split into a rainbow of colors. Prisms un-mix the light into its different wavelengths (which you see as different colors). Diffraction gratings are tiny prisms stacked together.

When light passes through a diffraction grating, it splits (diffracts) the light into several beams traveling at different directions. If you’ve ever seen the ‘iridescence’ of a soap bubble, an insect shell, or on a pearl, you’ve seen nature’s diffraction gratings.

Scientist use these things to split incoming light so they can figure out what fuels a distant star is burning. When hydrogen burns, it gives off light, but not in all the colors of the rainbow, only very specific colors in red and blue. It’s like hydrogen’s own personal fingerprint, or light signature.

While this spectrometer isn't powerful enough to split starlight, it's perfect for using with the lights in your house, and even with an outdoor campfire.  Next time you're out on the town after dark, bring this with you to peek different types of lights - you'll be amazed how different they really are. You can use this spectrometer with your Colored Campfire Experiment also.

SPECIAL NOTE: This instrument is NOT for looking at the sun. Do NOT look directly at the sun. But you can point the tube at a sheet of paper that has the the sun’s reflected light on it.

Here's what you do:

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Pinhole Solar Projector

Wednesday June 30, 2010

You might be curious about how to observe the sun safely without losing your eyeballs. There are many different ways to observe the sun without damaging your eyesight. In fact, the quickest and simplest way to do this is to build a super-easy pinhole camera that projects an image of the sun onto an index card for you to view.


CAUTION: DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH ANYTHING WITH LENSES!!


This simple activity requires only these materials:


  • tack
  • 2 index cards (any size)
  • sunlight
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Current Positions of Jupiter’s Moons

Wednesday June 30, 2010

Once you’ve looked at Jupiter through your binoculars, you might be wondering which moon is which. Here’s how you can tell the positions of the four moons.


Can’t find Jupiter? Use this star chart to help locate Jupiter in the night sky:  You can try using an interactive Sky Map if you’re at the computer and want to plan out what you’re going to see tonight and familiarize yourself with the night sky ahead of time, or use the paper Sky Map which is the same one I personally use (it’s free) so you can print it out and take outside with you.


Streaming Water

Tuesday June 1, 2010

Fill the bathtub and climb in. Grab your water bottle and tack and poke several holes into the lower half the water bottle. Fill the bottle with water and cap it. Lift the bottle above the water level in the tub and untwist the cap. Water should come streaming out. Close the cap and the water streams should stop. Open the cap and when the water streams out again, can you “pinch” two streams together using your fingers?


Materials: A tack, and a plastic water bottle with cap, and bathtub


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Sneaky Bottles

Tuesday June 1, 2010

This experiment illustrates that air really does take up space! You can’t inflate the balloon inside the bottle without the holes, because it’s already full of air. When you blow into the bottle with the holes, air is allowed to leak out making room for the balloon to inflate. With the intact bottle, you run into trouble because there’s nowhere for the air already inside the bottle to go when you attempt to inflate the balloon.


You’ll need to get two balloons, one tack, and two empty water bottles.


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Squished Balloon

Tuesday June 1, 2010

Fire eats air, or in more scientific terms, the air gets used up by the flame and lowers the air pressure inside the jar. The surrounding air outside the jar is now at a higher pressure than the air inside the jar and it pushes the balloon into the jar. Remember: Higher pressure pushes!


Materials: a balloon, one empty glass jar, scrap of paper towel , matches with an adult


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Fountain Bottle

Tuesday June 1, 2010

As you blow air into the bottle, the air pressure increases inside the bottle. This higher pressure pushes on the water, which gets forced up and out the straw (and up your nose!).


Materials: small lump of clay, water, a straw, and one empty 2-liter soda bottle.


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Propeller Car

Monday May 31, 2010

The great news is that many of the problematic airplane troubles were figured out a long time ago by two amazing people: the Wright brothers.


The Wright brothers also took an airfoil (a fancy word for “airplane wing”), turned it sideways, and rotated it around quickly to produce the first real propeller that could generate an efficient amount of thrust to fly an aircraft.


Before the Wright brothers perfected the airfoil, people had been using the same “screw” design created by Archimedes in 250 BC. This twist in the propeller was such a superior design that modern propellers are only 5% more efficient than those created a hundred years ago by the two brilliant Wright brothers.


We’re going to use a propeller on our basic race car chassis (frame) to see how much thrust we’d need to make it move. If you don’t want to make the fancy triangle-shaped body frame, you can substitute a foam block or two (which will make your car able to go in water, too!)


Are you ready?
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