Bed of Nails - Cool Science Experiment

Bed of Nails - Cool Science Experiment

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Float or Sink - Cool Science Experiment

Float or Sink - Cool Science Experiment

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Science Facts

• The safety match was invented by Gustaf Erik Pasch (in the year 1844). It was later improved by Johan Edvard Lundström.

• Cobalt-60 is an artificial radioactive isotope of cobalt used for sterilizing surgical        instruments.

• Photoelectric effect was discovered by Heinrich Hertz and Wilhelm Hallwachs in the year 1887.

• Sheep can recognize individual human and sheep faces, and remember them for years.

• Silumin is an alloy of aluminium and silicon used for casting purposes.

• Molten lava is up to 100,000 times as viscous as water.

• An acre of rich fertile farmland may contain up to 1,750,000 earthworms.

• The first colour photograph was created by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, with the help of the English photographer Thomas Sutton, in the year 1861.

• Capybara is the largest living rodent in the world.

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Microscopic Creatures in Water

Microscopic Creatures in Water



Water can be home to a lot of interesting creatures and microorganisms, especially if it's dirty water found in ponds or near plants. Take some samples, view them under a microscope and see what you can find. How clean is the water from your tap compared to the water found in a pond? Experiment and see what kind of microscopic creatures you can find!

What you'll need: A concave slide A dropper A microscope Different samples of water (tap water, pond water, muddy water etc). Near plants or in the mud are good places to take samples as they usually contain more microorganisms. Instructions: Set up you microscope, preferably using its highest setting. Use the dropper to take some water from one of your samples and put it on the concave slide. Focus the microscope, what can you see? Be patient if you can't see anything. If you still can't see anything and have checked that you are in focus, try a different water sample. Look at how the creatures move. After observing their movements you might like to record their behaviors and draw them. What are you looking at? Some of the creatures and microorganisms you might be able to see include: Euglenas - These are between a plant and an animal, they have a long tail called a flagellum which allows them to move. Protozoa - They have a flagella (tail) which can be hard to see, the difference between protozoa and algae is often hard to define. Amoebas - These microorganisms swim by wobbling. They also surround their food like a blob in order to eat it. Algae - Not considered to be plants by most scientists, these organisms might be colored yellowish, greenish or reddish. They may also be found by themselves or in chains. There might even my larger creatures such as worms or brine shrimp in your water samples, depending on where you took them from.

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Escaping Water

Escaping Water

Water can certainly move in mysterious ways, get the water from one cup to make its way up hill and back down into a second empty cup with the help of paper towels and an interesting scientific process.

What you'll need: A glass of water An empty glass Some paper towels Instructions: Twist a couple of pieces of paper towel together until it forms something that looks a little like a piece of rope, this will be the 'wick' that will absorb and transfer the water (a bit like the wick on a candle transferring the wax to the flame). Place one end of the paper towels into the glass filled with water and the other into the empty glass. Watch what happens (this experiment takes a little bit of patience). What's happening? Your paper towel rope (or wick) starts getting wet, after a few minutes you will notice that the empty glass is starting to fill with water, it keeps filling until there is an even amount of water in each glass, how does this happen? This process is called 'capillary action', the water uses this process to move along the tiny gaps in the fibre of the paper towels. It occurs due to the adhesive force between the water and the paper towel being stronger than the cohesive forces inside the water itself. This process can also be seen in plants where moisture travels from the roots to the rest of the plant.

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Plant Seeds & Watch Them Grow

Plant Seeds & Watch Them Grow Learn about seed germination with this fun science experiment for kids. Plant some seeds and follow the growth of the seedlings as they sprout from the soil while making sure to take proper care of them with just the right amount of light, heat and water. Have fun growing plants with this cool science project for children.

What you'll need: Fresh seeds of your choice such as pumpkins seeds, sunflower seeds, lima beans or pinto beans. Good quality soil (loose, aerated, lots of peat moss), if you don’t have any you can buy some potting soil at your local garden store. A container to hold the soil and your seeds. Water. Light and heat. Instructions: Fill the container with soil. Plant the seeds inside the soil. Place the container somewhere warm, sunlight is good but try to avoid too much direct sunlight, a window sill is a good spot. Keep the soil moist by watering it everyday (be careful not to use too much water). Record your observations as the seeds germinate and seedlings begin to sprout from the seeds. What's happening? Hopefully after a week of looking after them, your seedlings will be on their way. Germination is the process of a plant emerging from a seed and beginning to grow. For seedlings to grow properly from a seed they need the right conditions. Water and oxygen are required for seeds to germinate. Many seeds germinate at a temperature just above normal room temperature but others respond better to warmer temperatures, cooler temperatures or even changes in temperature. While light can be an important trigger for germination, some seeds actually need darkness to germinate, if you buy seeds it should mention the requirements for that specific type of seed in the instructions. Continue to look after your seedlings and monitor their growth. For further experiments you could compare the growth rates of different types of seeds or the effect of different conditions on their growth.

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Static Electricity Experiment

Static Electricity Experiment

What you'll need: 2 inflated balloons with string attached Your hair Aluminium can Woolen fabric Instructions: Rub the 2 balloons one by one against the woolen fabric, then try moving the balloons together, do they want to or are they unattracted to each other? Rub 1 of the balloons back and forth on your hair then slowly it pull it away, ask someone nearby what they can see or if there's nobody else around try looking in a mirror. Put the aluminium can on its side on a table, after rubbing the balloon on your hair again hold the balloon close to the can and watch as it rolls towards it, slowly move the balloon away from the can and it will follow. What's happening? Rubbing the balloons against the woolen fabric or your hair creates static electricity. This involves negatively charged particles (electrons) jumping to positively charged objects. When you rub the balloons against your hair or the fabric they become negatively charged, they have taken some of the electrons from the hair/fabric and left them positively charged. They say opposites attract and that is certainly the case in these experiments, your positively charged hair is attracted to the negatively charged balloon and starts to rise up to meet it. This is similar to the aluminium can which is drawn to the negatively charged balloon as the area near it becomes positively charged, once again opposites attract. In the first experiment both the balloons were negatively charged after rubbing them against the woolen fabric, because of this they were unattracted to each other.

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