When Homeschooling more than one child, I am always looking for subjects that can be taught at the same time for different grade levels. I chose My Father’s World suggested Science Curriculum, Dr. Jay L. Wile’s Science In The Beginning.

Here are 15 easy homeschool family science experiments that can be taught to different grade levels at the same time. These 15 science experiments are in videos, so you can just watch them and talk about them, or you can watch the video and do the experiment with your children.

I will provide a list of what you will need and step by step instructions for each homeschool school science experiment here and in the video. We had so much fun doing these experiments. I hope you and your family will too! All of these experiments come from Science In The Beginning by Dr. Jay L. Wile.

1. Air Has Weight Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A broom
• Two surfaces (like the backs of chairs or counters) that are separated from each other but are roughly the same height.
• A ruler
• A penny
• A balloon
• Tape
• A pin or something else that can be used to op the balloon.

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, place the broom so it span the distance between the tow surfaces.
2. Next, tape the penny to one end of the ruler.
3. Then, blow up the balloon and tie it off so it stays inflated.
4. Then, tape the balloon to the other end of the ruler.
5. Balance the ruler on the broom. You should be able to get it to stay balanced without hold it. This will take a few mins, but if you concentrate on making small adjustment, you will be able to get it done.
6. Have an adult hold the ruler to the broom so it does not move.
7. Then, use the pin to pop the balloon while the adult is holding the ruler.
8. Finally the adult will let go of the ruler.
9. Does the ruler stay balanced? If not, which way does it tilt before falling off the broom?
10. Take the tape and the penny off the ruler.
11. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What did you see in the experiment? if you did it right, the ruler should have tiled down on the side that had the penny and then fallen off the broom handle. Whey did that happen? At the beginning of the experiment you created a balance. The ruler stayed balanced because the weight on on side of the ruler was equal to the weight on the other side of the ruler. Well, one side had the balloon filled with air, and the other side had the penny. When you popped the balloon, the air went out of he balloon. Since the ruler then tipped down on the side of the penny, what does that tell you? The ruler suddenly weighed more on the penny side than on the balloon side, even though they were equal in weight before you popped the balloon.

What as the difference between before you popped the balloon and after? Assuming you collected all the bits that fell on the floor and put them back on the ruler, the only difference was the air. Before you popped the balloon, it was full of air. After you popped the balloon, there was no air. What does this tell us? Air has weight.“

https://youtu.be/R6Brf5tDFWU

2. Air Takes Up Space Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A sink
• A cork or some other small object that floats
• A glass

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, plug the sink and fill it a little over half way with water.
2. While you are waiting for the sink to fill, look at the glass and ask yourself: “Is the glass empty?”
3. After the sink is filled, put the cork or small object in the water and watch it float.
4. Next, turn the glass upside down and hot it over the cork or small object. Make sure the glass is vertical and not tiled or this will not work.
5. Then, push the glass straight down so it traps the cork or small object.
6. Keep pushing the glass until it hit s the bottom of the sink.
7. Look at the cork or small object now and notice where it is.
8. Pull the glass back out of the water.
9. Look at the cork or small object again and notice where it is.
10. Clean up and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What happened in the experiment: You should have noticed that when the glass was pushed to the bottom of the water, the cork was also pushed down. Did the cork sink? No. After all you already know why a cork floats. It weighs a lot less than the equal volume of water. In order for the cork to sink, then it would have to suddenly gain a lot of wight. The cork continued to float, but it was pushed to the bottom of the sink because the water it was floating on was also pushed to the bottom of the sink.

The important question for you to consider is, “What pushed the water and the cork down?” The answer, of course is the air that was trapped in the glass. Even though you might have thought the glass was empty, it wan’t really empty. It was full of air. When you turned it upside down and pushed it into the water the air was still there in the glass. Because the opening of the glass was under water, however there was nowhere for the air to go. It had to stay in the glass.

As you pushed down the glass, then you weren’t just pushing on the glass. you were also pushing on the air in the glass. you might have expected water to fill the glass as you pushed it down, but that couldn’t happen, because air was trapped in the glass. Since the air couldn’t escape from the glass, there was not much room for water in the glass. As you pushed down on the glass, then, the air that was trapped in the glass pushed down on the water. That made the water inside the opening of the glass go down, which made the cork go down as well.”

https://youtu.be/AhoMSCYnFCI

3. Destroying Water Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A measuring cup that measures one cup
• A measuring 1/4 cup
• A measuring 1/4 teaspoon
• 2 spoons for stirring
• 3 Glasses (like juice glasses) that hold a bit more than one cup of liquid
• Epsom salt
• Water
• A 9-volt battery
• A large glass baking pan

Step by Step Directions:

1. Measure out a cup of water and pour it into the fist glass. Repeat this for the other two glasses, until all three glasses have one cup of water in them.
2. Line the glasses in a row. Next in the middle glass add 1/4 teaspoon of Epsom salt into the water.
3. Then add 3/4 teaspoon of Epsom salt in the glass on the far right. Now your first glass only has water in it, the second glass has 1/4 teaspoon of Epsom salt, and the third glass has 3/4 teaspoon of Epsom salt.
4. Use one of the spoons to stir the water in the middle cup until the Epsom salt is not longer visible in the water. This may take some time, but you will make the Epsom salt dissolve.
5. Use the other spoon to stir the water in the glass on the far right until the Epsom salt is not longer visible in the water. This may take some time, but you will make the Epsom Salt dissolve.
6. Next, stand the 9-volt battery in the glass on the left. This will be the glass that has only water. It should be fully submerged in water. Note what happens, if anything.
7. Now, take the battery out of the water only glass and put in the middle glass that has water and 1/4 teaspoon Epsom salt. Make sure the battery is standing up in the middle of the glass and fully submerged. Note what happens, if anything.
8. Finally, take the batter out of the middle glass and put in the far right glass that has water and 3/4 teaspoon Epsom salt. Make sure the battery is standing up in the middle of the glass and fully submerged. Note what happens, if anything.
9. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“So, what is water? It is a collection of tiny molecules that you cannot see. Those molecules are made from two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom linked together with chemical bonds. When electrical energy destroys those molecules, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are formed. The bubbles you saw in your experiment were bubbles of hydrogen gas and oxygen gas.”

https://youtu.be/T9ctbusL4Kc

4. Jet Propulsion Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A few balloons
• A bathtub

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, go to the bathtub and fill it will sever inches of water. The water should be deep enough so that a water-filled balloon will completely sink and be totally covered with water.
2. Next, use the bathroom faucet to fill a balloon with water. You want the balloon to be as full as possible without it popping.
3. Then, do not tie off the end of the balloon. Just pink the end of the balloon between your fingers and thumb so the water doesn’t come out.
4. Holding the body of the balloon in one hand and continuing to pinch the end of the balloon with the other, lower it so that it is at the bottom e of the bathtub.
5. Finally, release the balloon with bother hand and see what happens.
6. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“The balloons moved around underwater really well, didn’t they? What caused them to move around like that? When you filled the balloon really well, didn’t they? What caused them to move around like that? When you filled the balloon with water, it squeezed down on the water that was inside it. If you hadn’t kept your finger and thumb on the end of the balloon, the water would have come shooting out of the end, right? Well, that’s what happened underwater. When you released the balloon, the water inside the balloon came shooting out the other end. That pushed the balloon in the opposite direction, which made it move easily underwater.

This is actually called jet propulsion. When something like water or air pushes out of one end of a container, it produces a push in the opposite direction. In you balloon, water came out the opening of the balloon. This pushed the balloon so that it moved in the other direction. It turns out that there are many marine invertebrates that us this method of motion. An octopus can actually crawl along the bottom of the ocean with it eight tentacles, but that’s not its main way of moving around. It can move very quickly in the water by taking water into it s body and then shooting it out in a stream. This causes the octopus to move in the direction opposite of where it is shooting the stream of water.”

https://youtu.be/bKfvJCzyJdA

5. Air Pressure Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A small glass, like a juice glass
• Water
• An index card or cardstock that completely covers the top of the glass. Be sure the card is not glossy or laminated. It needs to have the same basic feel as an index card.
• A pan to catch water if it spills

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, fill the glass 3/4 of the way with water.
2. Put the index card on top of the glass and hold it there with the palm of your hand.
3. Keeping the glass above the sink, turn it and the card over so the glass in now upside down. Press hard with your hand so that the index card seals against the top of the glass.
4. Then, remove your palm fro the card so that there is not longer anything holding the card to the glass?
5. What happened?
6. Keeping the glass above the sink or over a pan, pull the corner of the card.
7. What happened?
8. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What happened in the experiment? Hopefully, the card did not move when you removed your hand from it. Instead, the card seemed to be stuck to the glass. It wan’t really stuck there, though, because when you pulled on the corner of the card, it moved, and the water came rushing out. so, why didn’t the water come rushing out until after you pulled on the corner of the card? It’s because of the air around the glass and card.

Now, think about the experiment you just did. The glass had air and water in it. When you turned it over, you pressed the index card onto the glass. Some water soaked into the index card, forming an airtight seal with the glass. As a result, air could not get into the glass anymore. When you let go of the card, your hand was no longer pressing on it, but what was still pressing on it? The air around it was pressing on the card. The water and air inside the glass was pushing down on the card, and the air under the card was pushing up on the card. Because the weight of the air and water in the glass was less than the force with which the air was pushing up on the card, the card did not fall. The force of the water and air inside the glass was just not strong enough to overcome the force with which air was pressing up on the card.

https://youtu.be/cNQSxzaABzM

6. Solar Eclipse Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A large ball
• Another ball that is much smaller than the large ball
• A flashlight
• Someone to help you
• A large, dim room

Step by Step Directions:

1. Place the large ball in a clear area of the room. If it tends to roll away, use books to hold in it place.
2. Have your helper hold the flashlight and turn it on.
3. Darken the room as much as possible.
4. Have your helper stand a few feet away from the large ball and shine the flashlight on it. About half of the large ball should be lit.
5. Kneel down by the large ball and hold the small ball in your hand.
6. Hold the ball so that it is directly in between the flashlight and the large ball. Half of the small ball should now be lit.
7. Look at the large ball. Do you see a shadow on the large ball? You should. the small ball is blocking some of the light from the flashlight, which results in a shadow. Part of your hand and arm might be casting a shadow, too, but ignore that. Notice tow things about the shadow coming from the small ball. First, it covers only a small part of the large ball, right? Second, you should see that the shadow has tow parts. There should be a very dark part of the shadow that is in the center, and a less dark circle around that very dark part of the shadow.
8. Slowly lift the small ball straight up so that eventually, it no longer blocks the light form the flashlight. As you do that, watch the shadow on the large ball. How does it change?
9. Move the small ball so that it is still above the large ball but the large ball is between the small ball and the flashlight. Since the small ball is above the large ball, however the small ball should be lit by the flashlight.
10. Slowly lower the small ball until the large ball is directly between the small ball and the flashlight. Notice how the small ball get very dark once the large ball blocks the light from the flashlight.
11. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“In this activity, the flashlight represented the sun, the large ball represented the earth, and the small ball represented the moon. The first thing you did was simulate the moon blocking the sun’s light. This is called a solar eclipse, and it happens when the moon comes directly between the sun and the earth. This makes the earth get very dark, even during the daytime. However, it doesn’t make the entire earth get dark. Remember that the small ball cast a shadow only on park of the large ball. In the same way, the moon casts its shadow only on park of the earth. Because of this only part of the earth expresses a solar eclipse. For one park of the earth, it might be really sunny, but for another park of the earth, the moon is blocking out the sun for a brief time.”

https://youtu.be/nJ0d_UeFYTE

7. In and Out Rubber Egg Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• An Egg (I recommend doing 2 or 3)
• White vinegar
• Four bowls
• Blue food coloring
• A spoon
• Water

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, fill one bow with vinegar
2. Next, put the egg in the bowl.
3. Then, let it sit overnight. Make sure the egg is complete covered with vinegar.
4. By morning, the shell should be mostly gone from the egg. If, not leave the egg to soak longer.
5. Then, carefully pull the egg out of the vinegar with you hand, rise it off with water. If there are still some parts of the shell clinging to the egg, gently rub the area of the egg while the water is running to see if it will come off. If a lot of the eggshell is slinging to the egg, put it back in the vinegar for a while.
6. After all of this, you should have an egg with not shell. It may feel very squishy in your and, and if you hold it up to the light, you should easily see the yellow yolk floating in the middle. The yolk is surrounded by “egg white,” which is actually pretty clear until you cook the egg.
7. Put some blue food coloring in another bowl. Use a lot, because you want to make some water that is dark blue.
8. Add water until the bowl is mostly full, and use the spoon to stir the food coloring into the water.
9. Put the egg in the dark blue water and let it sit for three hours.
10. Fill the third bowl with water
11. Once the egg has been sitting in the dark blue water for three hours, pull it out and look at it. They egg should be very blue, because it has absorbed the blue coloring in the water.
12. Rinse the egg thoroughly to remove any water that might still be on the outside of the egg.
13. Put the egg in the bowl that has just water in it.
14. Let the egg sit in the bowl for an hour. Letting it sit longer is fine.
15. Pull the egg out of the water. Notice the color of the water now.
16. Put the egg in the last bowl, which should be empty.
17. Finally, use the handle of the spoon to poke the egg until the thing layer that is holding it together breaks. Notice the color of the “egg white.”
18. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What happened in the experiment? First, the vinegar “ate away” the eggshell because vinegar is what chemists call an acid. While some acids can be very dangerous,other can be very good for you. Orange juice, for example, contains a lot of acid, and it is quite healthy. The most important thing to know about acids is that they react with bases, which are different chemicals. Well, it turns out that the shell of an egg is made from a base. So, the acid in the vinegar reacts with the base in the eggshell to make water, carbon dioxide, and a calcium salt that dissolved in the water. If you saw bubbles coming off the eggshell, that was the carbon dioxide being made. In the end, then you had an egg with no shell.

Instead of falling apart, the egg kept its shape because under the shell, there is a thin layer of tissue. In science, we call that a membrane. This membrane is strong enough to hold the contents of the egg inside, even without the shell. However, it is semipermeable. It does not allow most substances to pass through, but water and some solutes can pass though. one solute that can pass though it is the dye in food coloring. So, when the egg was put in the blue water, osmosis pulled the water into the egg. In addition, so blue food coloring traveled into the egg. You saw that when you broke the membrane, because the “egg white” was blue, wasn’t it?

But what happened when you took the egg, cleaned it and put in in the plane water that had nothing dissolved in it? The water turned a bit blue, didn’t it? That’s because some blue food coloring went out of the egg and into the water. Why did the egg absorb the blue when it was in blue water and release it when it was in clear water? Because the blue food coloring was forced to leave the egg when it was put in clear water.”

https://youtu.be/1fVQmpesB-k

8. Diet Coke Fountain Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke that has been refrigerated long enough to be cold throughout the entire bottle (off brands do not work as well)
• A 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke that has been at room temperature (off brands do not work as well)
• One pack of Mentos chewy mints (must use the chewy mints)
• An open space out doors
• Safety glasses

Step by Step Directions:

1. Take both bottles of Diet Coke outside.
2. Open the room temperature bottle and place it on a flat spot on the ground or use an level table outside.
3. Get four Mentos chewy mints out of the pack.
4. Stack the mints in your hand, one on top of the other.
5. Very quickly drop the stack of mints into the bottle and then get back quickly.
6. Make note of what happens.
7. Next, Open the cold Diet Coke and place it on a flat spot on the ground or use a level table outside.
8. Get four Mentos chewy mints out of the pack.
9. Stack the mins in your hand, one on top of the other.
10. Very quickly drop the stack of mints into the bottle and then get back quickly.
11. Make a note of what happens.
12. After all the actions is over taste a small amount of the Diet Coke from the room temperature bottle and the cold bottle. Make a note of what you do or do not taste. Please understand that you should never put something from an experiment in your mouth unless your book, parent or teacher tells you that it is ok! It could be harmful and dangerous!
13. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“Why is carbon dioxide gas dissolved in solutions? Because it gives Diet Coke (and any other soda pop) its pleasant “fizz.” When you opened the bottle of Diet coke, you might have heard a short “whoosh.” That sound comes from some of the carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the Diet Coke escaping the solution and traveling into the air.

What did the Diet Coke taste like after you made the fountain? It tasted flat, didn’t it? What does that tell you? It tells you that after you made the fountain, there wasn’t much carbon dioxide in the Diet Coke. That’s because the Mentos helped it to escape. Chewy Mentos mins have tiny pits across their surface. You can see them if you look at a Mentos mint with a powerful magnifying glass. Those pits attract carbon dioxide, which allows the carbon dioxide to form bubbles. Those can rise out of the Diet Coke.

The other thing you need to learn about gases acting as solutes comes from the second part of the experiment. What was the difference between the fountain made with the room-temperature Diet Coke and the cold Diet Coke? You should have noticed that in the case of the cold Diet Coke, the fountain wasn’t nearly as impressive. That’s because cold water can actually dissolve a lot more gas than warm water. In other world, water can keep a gas dissolved better the colder it is. So, in the case of the cold Diet coke, not as much carbon dioxide could escape, even with the help of the Mentos. As a result, the fountain was smaller.”

https://youtu.be/k-U-9BFC2A0

9. Difference Between Saltwater and Freshwater Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• Salt
• Water
• Two paper, plastic, or Styrofoam cups
• A measuring tablespoon
• A spoon for stirring
• A measuring cup
• A freezer
• A marker or crayon

Step by Step Directions:

1. Measure out two tablespoon of salt and put them both in one of the cups.
2. Add on coup of water to each cup.
3. Stir the salt and water in the one cup thoroughly.
4. Write with the marker “saltwater” on the outside of the cup that has saltwater init.
5. Put both cups into the same freezer.
6. Make sure the freeze is not set on the coldest setting.
7. Allow the cups to sit in the freezer overnight.
8. The next morning, removed the cups form the freezer. Do you notice any difference between what is in the cups?
9. Use a spoon to poke around inside the cups. Once again, notice the difference between the two.
10. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What was the difference between the two cups? If you freezer wasn’t on too low temperature setting, you should have noticed the ice in the cup labeled “saltwater” was slushy. On the other hand, the freshwater in the other cup should have been frozen solid. The slushy ice in the saltwater cup was probably very easy to stir, but the ice in the cup that had freshwater in it could not be broken, much less stirred.

Why din’t the saltwater freeze well? It turns out that when you dissolve a solute in a solvent, the resulting solution always freezes at a lower temperature than the solvent by itself. So, when you dissolved salt in water, you lowered the temperate at which the resulting solution would freeze. Freshwater freezes at 32° F, and since your freezer has a temperature lower than that, the freshwater froze solid. Since saltwater has solute in it, its freezing temperature is lower. As a result, the freezer just wasn’t cold enough to freeze the saltwater solid. The best it could do was freeze a bit of the saltwater, making a slushy mixture of ice and saltwater.”

https://youtu.be/4esLI9DnLg8

10. Melting Ice Science Experiement

You Will Need:

• Salt
• Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon
• A saucer
• Three ice cubes

Step by Step Directions:

1. Put the three ice cubes on the saucer with a space between them.
2. Put 1/4 teaspoon of salt on top of one of the ice cubes. It will work better if you form a pile on top of the ice cube.
3. Put 1/4 teaspoon of sugar on top of one of the ice cubes. It will work better if you for a pile on top of the ice cube.
4. Wait five minutes.
5. Come back and look at each ice cube. What do you see? What are the differences between the ice cubes?
6. Scrap away any salt or sugar that is still on the ice cube with the measuring spoon.
7. What do you see? What are the differences between the ice cubes?
8. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What happened in the experiment? If all went well, you should have seen that the piles of salt and sugar were quite different from when you originally put them on the ice cube. They might not have been there at all, or they were at least a bit slushy compared to what they originally looked like. Also when you scraped away any remaining solid, you should have noticed that where the solid was touching the ice cube, a lot of the ice cube was melted, especially compared to the third ice cube that had not solid touching it at all.

What explains the effects you saw in the experiment? Well, let’s start with the salt. The salt should have melted the ice everywhere it touched the ice. Now, if you live in a part of the wold that gets snow in the winter, that shouldn’t have surprised you. You probably already know that salt “melts” ice. Your parents might spread salt on the sidewalk or driveway to get rid of ice that has formed there. Your city probably puts salt on the roads to make them less slick when ice is a problem. So, you probably already know that salt “melts” ice.

However, you should have noticed that sugar didn’t do nearly as well as salt. The salt ended up appearing to melt a lot more ice than an equal amount of sugar, didn’t? That because salt in made up of two ions. When it dissolves, it splits up into those two ions. Sugar, however, is not made of ions. Its molecules don’t split up when they dissolve. So every time a molecule of sugar dissolved, only on thing entered the solution – the molecule of sugar. Salt, on the other hand, is made up of two ions. Every time a molecule of salt dissolved, two ions entered into solution. Two thing can upset the equilibrium twice as much as one thing, so salt was much more effective at “melting” ice.”

https://youtu.be/fkqjxCBaxG0

11. Making Wind Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A few tea bags (You need only one, but it is best to have a few, since the effect is not always as dramatic as it could be. Also, it is best to have a few different brand, since the material the bag is mat of matters.
• Matches
• A plate made out of something that will not catch on fire
• Scissors
• An adult to help you

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, cut the bag top of the tea bag.
2. Unfold the teabag.
3. Empty the tea out of the bag.
4. Put the plate on a surface that is far from anything else that can burn. A stove is a perfect place to put it.
5. Form the bag into a tube that stand up on its own, and stand it up on the plate.
6. Find the seam on the tea bag.
7. Have an adult light the match and use it to light the tea bag on top of the seam.
8. Watch the tea bag burn all the way to the bottom of the plate.
9. You should see something interesting happen when the bag is very nearly burned to the bottom.
10. If you don’t see something interesting, try again with another tea bag, preferably from a different barn of tea. Do it a few time and you will see a nice effect.
11. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What did you see in the experiment? If it went well, you should have seen the last remains of the tea bag launch into the air and float away once the bag was nearly burned out. As I stated in the experiment, sometimes the effect is not dramatic if you don’t have the right kind of tea bag, but generally you’ll see some part of the bag lift off the plate and into the air. What causes this effect?

Remember, air is composed of may molecules that are in constant motion. When you lit the tea bag, however, air near the flame heated up. Now remember, hot air expands, making it weigh less than an equal volume of cold air. So, what does that mean? It means that hot air floats. So, the air that was heated up by the flame floated up and away from the tea bag. Now, think about what that mean in term of air pressure. A lot of air molecules rose from where they normally were. Do you thing that air pressure changed in that are? Of course. It had to. If there are fewer air molecules, they cannot push with as much pressure. S, the place where the air was before it rose away because an are of lower pressure.”

https://youtu.be/jcbXU3Hq0I4

12. Overwhelming Light Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A flashlight
• A small box
• Tape Scissors
• A pen
• A dark room

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, tape down the top of the box so it will stay closed.
2. Next, find the two side of the box that are the farthest apart from each other.
3. Then, on one of those side, use the scissors to cut a hole that is just slightly bigger than the face of the flashlight.
4. Then, on the other side, use the pen to punch a few small holes in the box. You can make a pattern or just punch random holes.
5. Go into a room with lights on and put the flashlight into the hole so that it shines inside the box.
6. Turn the flashlight on and the lights off. You should now see the holes in your box shinning like little stars.
7. Turn the room lights back on. How does that change the “stars” on your wall?
8. Take the box and flashlight outside (during the day) and set it back up. Make sure the flashlight in the box is still on.
9. What do the “stars” on your box look like now?
10. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“In your experiment, you should have seen that the “stars” on your box were very easy to see in the dark room. Once you turned the lights on in the room, however, they should have gotten harder to see. Even though the flashlight and the box hadn’t changed, the addition of light in the room made the stars appear to be much dimmer. When you took the box outside, you really shouldn’t have been able to see your “stars” at all anymore. You saw the holes that made the stars, but they didn’t really appear to shine anymore. Why? Because the light from the sun was overwhelming the light from the flashlight. So, even though your “stars” glowed brightly in the dark room, they couldn’t even be seen glowing outside.

That’s what happens to the stars in the sky. Unlike the sun, the stars don’t go away because the part of the earth you are on is not longer facing them. No matter which way your park of the world is facing, there are starts to see. However, because their apparent brightness is much less than that of the sun, once your part of the earth starts to face the sun again, the sun’s light overwhelms the light coming from the stars. They are still there, but like the “stars” on your box, you just cannot see them anymore due to the brightness of the light coming from the sun.”

https://youtu.be/4iGRp946J1c

13. Hot Air Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• A balloon
• A 2-liter bottle
• A pan or boiler (A deep one works best, because you can put more of the bottle in it.)
• Oven mitts or gloves to protect you hands
• A stove
• An adult to hope you.
• A sink with a water tap

Step by Step Directions:

1. First, fill the pan or boiler 3/4 full of water.
2. Next, put the pan or boiler on the stove and turn the burner on high. You want to get the water boiling.
3. Then, remove the lid from the 2-liter bottle.
4. Blow up the balloon as big as you can without popping it and then release the air. Do this twice. This makes the balloon easier to stretch later.
5. Put the balloon over the opening of the bottle.
6. When the water is boiling, have the adult put on the oven mitts.
7. The adult will hold the bottle at the opening with his or her hand that has the oven mitt. The adult’s hand needs to be as high as possible on the bottle.
8. Have the adult push the bottle down into the boiling water.
9. What what happens to the balloon.
10. Have the adult hold the bottle in the boiling water for three minutes.
11. Then have the adult remove the bottle from the boiling water and hand it to you. Be sure to trip the bottle near the top, because the lower pars of the bottle are hot from the boiling water.
12. Next go to the sink and run cold water over the bottle.
13. What what happens to the balloon.
14. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What happened in this experiment? You should have seen the balloon inflate as soon as the adult put the bottle in the boiling water. As the adult held the bottle in the boiling water, the balloon should have gotten larger. Then, when you poured cold water over the bottle, the balloon should have gotten noticeably smaller. If you put the bottle back in the boiling water later, you should have seen it get bigger again.

What explains the results of the experiment? Well remember that even thought the bottle looked like it was empty, it really wasn’t. There was air in the bottle. It turns out that air (and most things in creation) actually takes up more space the hotter it gets. This is actually a very important thing to remember: When most things war up, they expand.

https://youtu.be/ym92SdCpjYk

14. Rock Cycle Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• Two crayons of different colors
• A cheese grater
• Two paper plates
• A saucer that can hold something hot
• A small amount of heavy-duty aluminum foil
• A hammer
• A candle that can stand on its own or a candle in a holder.
• Something an adult can use to light the candle
• Kitchen tongs
• An adult to help you

Step by Step Directions:

1. Peel any paper labels off the crayons so that they aren’t covered in anything.
2. Carefully use the cheese grater to grate one of the crayons onto one of the paper plates. Your goal is to turn the crayon completely into shaving and collect those shaving on the plate.
3. Do the same thing with the other crayon and other paper plate.
4. Cut out a rectangle of aluminum foil that will hold the shavings with lots of room to spare.
5. Curl up each paper place and use it to dump the crayon shavings into the aluminum foil rectangle.
6. Fold the aluminum foil so that it completely covers the shavings.
7. Hammer the aluminum foil gently. Be sure to hammer the entire area to the aluminum foil a few time so all the shavings have been hit with the hammer.
8. Carefully unfold the aluminium foil. What do you have? Peel what the shavings have turned into out of the aluminum and hold it to get an idea of how it feels. How does it feel compared to the original crayons?
9. Put it back in the aluminum foil. If it broke while you were handling it, that’s no problems. Just put all the pieces back into the foil
10. Fold the foil up like before.
11. Have an adult light the candle.
12. Have an adult help you grab one side of the foil rectangle with the tongs and hold it over the flame to heat it. Slowly over the foil so that all pars of the foil get heated by the flame, and hold the foil level so that none of the melted crayon leaks out. Do that for 60 seconds.
13. Place the foil on the saucer and wait for it to cool.
14. Unwrap the foil once again and see what you have now. Once again, take it out and get a feel for it. How does it compare to a crayon? How does it compare to what you had in step 8?
15. Clean up your mess and put everything away. Ask your parents to help you clean the cheese grater.

What we learned from this experiment:

“What was the point of destroying two perfectly good crayons? Well, what you did was a simulations of the rock cycle. When you shaved the crayons into little bits, you were “weathering” the crayons, just like rocks are weathered into tiny bits. Thus, your plates contained “soil” made from the “weathered” crayons.

When you poured the crayon shavings into the foil, folded the foil, and hammered the foil, you were making those shavings stick together. When you unwrapped the foil, you had something that was not longer a pile of shavings. Instead, you had something that was thinner and harder. It wasn’t as hard as the crayons, but it was still harder than the shavings, right? That’s like one kind of rock. It’s called sedimentary rock. Basically, when small bits of rock stick together to make a hard substance, that hard substance is called sedimentary rock. So the hard stuff that came out of the hammered foil was like sedimentary rock – it was formed from bits of crayon sticking together to make something hard.

While lots of rocks are sedimentary rocks, there are two other basic types of rocks as well: igneous rock and metamorphic rock. You simulated the formations of igneous rock in the experiment. When you heated the foil over the candle, you actually melted the crayon material that was in the foil. When you took it off the candle, the foil and crayon material cooled down, and the crayon material froze again. Remember, as you learned already, you don’t need a freezer for things to freeze. When a liquid becomes a solid, it freezes, regardless of the temperature. So, the liquid crayon froze, making solid crayon again.

There is one more type of rock, called metamorphic rock. It forms when either sedimentary or igneous rock is changed by lots of heat and pressure. You couldn’t really simulate that in a safe way, so there was not part of what you did that relates to metamorphic rock. However, if you had been able to apply a lot more heat and pressure to either your sedimentary rock crayon or igneous rock crayon, you would have made a metamorphic rock crayon.

https://youtu.be/wrw1_-rnmTE

15. Which Melts Ice More Quickly Science Experiment

You Will Need:

• Salt
• A teaspoon
• A spoon for stirring
• A measuring cup
• Two Styrofoam cups
• Hot water from the tap
• Two Ice cubes
• A marker or crayon

Step by Step Directions:

1. Add a teaspoon of salt to one of the Styrofoam cups
2. Write “Saltwater” on the cup that you just put the salt in.
3. Measure one cup of hot water from the faucet and pour into one of the Styrofoam cups. You may need to let the faucet run for a few minutes to let the water get really hot.
4. Measure another cup of hot water from the faucet and pour into the other Styrofoam cup.
5. Stir the salt and water using a spoon until all the salt dissolves.
6. At the same time, put one ice cube in each cup of hot water.
7. Watch both ice cubes. They should get small pretty fast.
8. Note which one completely melts first.
9. Clean up your mess and put everything away.

What we learned from this experiment:

“Which ice cube melted first? The one in freshwater should have been the one that melted first. Is that what you thought would happen? If you are like most students, you probably though the salt water would melt the ice cube more quickly. After all, you know that salt causes ice to melt. You also know from experience that hot water causes ice to melt. Thus, it only makes sense that hot water and salt should melt ice faster than just hot water, right? Nevertheless, the experiment should have told you otherwise.

Let’s start with the freshwater. Remember that cold freshwater is just a bit heavier than an equal volume of warm freshwater. What does that tell you? It tells you that cold freshwater sinks in warm freshwater. Well, as the ice cube melted, the water that was formed by the melting process was still pretty cold. Thus, it sank in the hot water, getting out of the way. This allowed the warm freshwater around the ice cube to stay very warm, which kept melting the ice cube.

What happened in the saltwater was completely different story, however. Remember that freshwater floats on saltwater. This effect is so strong that cold freshwater floats in hot saltwater. So, in the end, when the ice cube started to melt, the cold freshwater that was formed from the melting ice cube floated on the top of the saltwater, along with the ice. It din’t sink like it did in the cup that hand the freshwater in it. For ice cube to continue to melt, then, the hot saltwater had to heat up the newly formed freshwater than floated on the surface. That took time, and as a result, the ice cube melted a bit more slowly.”

https://youtu.be/k1JmcZBwR0o

When had so much fun doing these experiments. I hope you and your family enjoy them as well!

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