Sunday, August 2, 2009

I'm a scientist too!

So not really. I bought my son a science experiment book at the Target Dollar Spot (I LOVE TARGET!) hoping to help relieve some of his summer boredom while doing school work. We've read, and done math (he LOVES Math) and done some writing too (he hates writing) but I thought some science experiments would be fun. I told him we would do the experiments last week, then he turned on the TV and I haven't seen him since (well, OK, I've seen him, he just hadn't been interested in the science book until today). We did two fun experiments this afternoon, and he said I could take pictures and blog about them (he is usually the one kid in the pic sticking his tongue out instead of smiling). Experiment #1: Blue Goo Ingredients: 1 cup corn starch 1/2 cup water few drops blue food coloring Directions: Mix ingredients together with your hands! It makes a goo that is "hard" when you are stirring it, but as you pull your fingers up it becomes watery and stringy. The science part: This mixture is called a colloid which means the cornstarch particles are heavier than the water particles which suspends the cornstarch in the water (do I sound smart or what!?) Other colloids include Jello (gelatin suspended in water) Milk (milk fats suspended in liquid) and Oil Paint (particles of pigment suspended in an oily liquid). Here are a few pics: Experiment #2: Growing Gummy Bear (overnight experiment) Ingredients: water gummy bear (you can eat the leftovers, we did!) ruler Directions: Measure your gummy bear and write the measurement down. Place the gummy bear in a glass and cover with water. Set the glass aside and wait overnight to see if your gummy bear grows, gets smaller, or stays the same. The science part: this experiment explains the process of osmosis. The gummy bear is "dry" so to balance the "wet" with the "dry" the gummy bear soaks up the water and grows bigger the more water it absorbs. Here are more pics! Doing these experiments were a lot of fun, and it didn't take too much time. Colin enjoyed doing them and learning a little more about science. Now if he'd only practice his handwriting a little more, so he could learn to like that too. (Sorry there are no captions under the pics. It took me too damn long to get them where I wanted them within the post. I guess next time I upload pics, then write. Maybe it will be faster!)

5 Comments:

Carl and Steph said...

Man, we should have stopped by for some gummy bears! I want to see how much the bear grew overnight. Did Colin just LOVE getting messy?

Shannon said...

That looks like a lot of fun!

Barbi said...

Looks fun!! I also was hoping to see the "grown" gummy bear! :D

Cindy said...

That is so fun! Just don't blow anything up, LOL.

Allison and Ben said...

That's great, I was planning on the cornstarch one the other day when I figured I just cleaned the floor so why not. But haven't gotten there, I'm glad that other people still use that one. The gummy bear would have been great to see.