Submit Your Experiment!
We hope you get lots of ideas from our new blog, but we especially hope it will inspire you to share your own experiences. All of these experiments are submitted by teachers and parents from all over the world who have actually tried these activities, so you know that they work. You probably have a science activity that would be great to share as well. To submit your idea, just click below. Just like you, we especially like submissions that include pictures or videos to help our visitors see your experiment in action. . _
Teaching about insects with a Floating Paperclip.
Ellen Kahue, a teacher in South Carolina cleverly used our Floating Paperclip experiment (link below) to teach how water strider insects are able to move across the surface of water without sinking. Understanding surface tension can be a bit tricky, but once you see a paperclip "float" on water, the concept begins to make sense. Students were challenged to get the paperclip to float on their own. If you've ever tried this, you know it can be very difficult...unless you know the secret. Ellen used the lesson to show how water striders take advantage of surface tension. These insects ...
“Shocking” results from a Leyden jar experiment.
> This is a clip from a show that highlighted some of Ben Franklin's science experiments. The host is actor/comedian Kevin Pollak. Here we are demonstrating one of Franklin's favorite gadgets called a Leyden jar. It was invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek and it became an important invention for studying electricity. A Leyden jar is able to store large amounts of static electricity. The more it is charged with static, the stronger the voltage becomes in the jar. In this clip, actor Marc Evan Jackson is really getting shocked by the Leyden jar, and his reaction is quite real. While the ...
Students in The UK use balloons to explore the scientific method.
Students at the Blanford St. Mary's School in the UK put the Scientific Method to work. A morning with balloons flying across your room is always a great way to start the day. This is why year 2 students at the Blanford St. Mary's School in The United Kingdom were challenged by their teachers Rosemary Rees and Sarah Thornton to answer a science question that was part of our Balloon Rocket experiment. (see link below) They were asked, "Does the shape of the balloon affect the distance the rocket travels?" This became a great way to bring the SCIENTIFIC METHOD ...
New Zealand students study density with Blobs In a Bottle.
Ian Stewart, a teacher at the St. Andrews School in Hamilton, New Zealand was looking for a way to make learning about density a hands-on experience. Then he stumbled across our Blobs In a Bottle lava lamp experiment (link below) at sciencebob.com. The students got to work creating their own blobs in bottles as they explored molecular polarity and liquid density. They used different shaped bottles to see if it changed the effect, and they added different colors as well. Ian reports the experiment was a success and the students were able to bring their experiment home to keep the ...
Featured Posts
Oreo Cookie Moon Phases
I’ve always been a fan of science activities that you can eat. One of my favorites that I have been using for years is the Oreo Cookie Moon Phases activity. It’s almost as if Oreo cookies were made for this lesson, and it’s a great way to see how well students can match a moon phase...
Science On The Set of Little Fockers
Daisy Tahan and Colin Baiocchi in Little Fockers One of the best parts of sharing experiments on this website is hearing back from people that get to try them out. I was happy to recently find out that the young actors that appear in the movie, The Little Fockers were fans of sciencebob.com. Even famous...
Medical Myths from Dr. Oz Explained
Was Everything Your Mother Told You Wrong? The Dr. Oz Show recently took on the topic of whether or not the common guidance that your mother gave you was actually wrapped in myth. You can check out the segment HERE. I was happy to get the call to try to add some visual demonstrations to bring home the...
A Density Experiment You Can Drink!
Density is a fascinating and sometimes tricky idea to understand. This Drink of Density will help bring home the idea of density in liquids, not to mention it looks cool when your all done, it’s tasty, and it’s even good for you – what more could you ask for in a science activity! You...
Purple Brew: An Acid-Base Indicator
Next time kids say they don’t like vegetables, try out an experiment that will bring out the fun side of our leafy friends. Mom and Kiddo of the blog What Did We Do All Day? shows us how to play with color in this demonstration that uses an acid, a base, and a vegetable. She suggests keeping...
Eggshell Geode Crystals
Print This Post This project comes to us from Melissa Howard who is a Mom, Blogger, and photographer. This project nicely demonstrates how real-life geodes are formed in igneous and sedimentary rock. It also demonstrates super-saturated solutions and shows a nice variety of crystal shapes and...
Lemon Chemistry: An Acid-Base Experiment
Kari Wilcher runs a great blog. She was looking to teach her pre-school children about the Scientific Method while trying out some kitchen chemistry at the same time. Her plan was to show a dramatic acid-base reaction using lemons, baking soda, and a little dish soap. She writes: “I firmly believe...
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