Building a bridge out of spaghetti to develop some engineering skills.
Then mixing samples of the colors to see what color is produced.
| Program |
Demo Mostly |
Covered in this Program |
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| acids and bases | test various liquids, neutralize them, secret writing | * |
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| air and air pressure | use air pressure, explain a straw, crush a metal container, fire an air canon | ||
| astronomy | make some instruments: planisphere, astrolabe, use a telescope and sextant | * |
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| ballistics | measure a projectile's speed and trajectory | ||
| blueprint chemistry | make light sensitive paper and use it to make a picture | ||
| bubbles | go inside one, they count and calculate | ||
| Cartesian diver | control a diver inside a closed container | * |
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| caves and karst | * | why we have caves near here, cave animals | |
| circuits | build simple circuits with batteries, switches and motors (we have been doing this in 6th grade 4H) | ||
| counting big numbers | figure out how long it would take you to count to a trillion | * |
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| cryogenics | * | temperature units, effects: expansion, contraction, state
change, physical properties, weather, testing of hypotheses (4th grade field day) | * |
| density | handle samples of various densities, wood that sinks and rocks that float | ||
| discover light | do an experiment to discover the law of how light changes with distance | ||
| DNA extraction | from plant or human samples | ||
| eclipses | * | how they work and where they will or have happened near you | |
| electrical safety | how to wire an electric light and what may happen if it isn't done right (6th grade 4H) | ||
| electrostatics | build an electroscope, light a bulb with a balloon, pie
tin, and a straw, Franklin's bells | ||
| elemental spectra | view electrically and chemically produced spectra, what element was first discovered on the sun | ||
| energy | solar, wind, water, potential and kinetic | ||
| engineer a bridge | build a bridge and test it under load | * |
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| engineer a package | package an egg and drop test your package | ||
| engineer a tower | build a tower and crush it. | ||
| engineer an impact | make something that will catch a falling object without damage | ||
| entomology | catch and identify local insects | ||
| force | investigate mechanical advantage with levers, pulleys and measure the force to crush an egg | ||
| forensic analysis | identify several common powders by their physical and chemical properties | ||
| fossils | examine fossils from local streams as well as from around the world including a dinosaur footprint | ||
| frog eggs to tadpoles | raise frog eggs to see how they develop into tadpoles then grow legs then release them | * |
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| fuel cells | * | make hydrogen and oxygen using electrical power then recombine them to power a toy car and lights | |
| geology and our fault | examine the Little Sandy Fault Line where it can be seen in a road cut near Sandy Hook | * |
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| gyroscopes | feel the forces that a gyroscope produces and discuss how they are used in space | ||
| hot air balloons | build and fly a hot air balloon and discuss the history | ||
| human traits | make a "chromosome" that represents a few of your traits, hair and eye color, blood type, what can you taste | ||
| ionizing radiation | Geiger counters, natural and manmade radiation sources and how they are used | ||
| it came from outer space | meteorites and tektites | ||
| juggling | make a set of juggling balls and learn how to juggle them | ||
| light | color, speed, power | ||
| magic, how to | learn some magic tricks that show how magicians and others use simple devices to convince you of things that are not true | ||
| magnetism | magnets, compasses, magnetic and non magnetic materials | ||
| make music | create "beautiful" music using fish line, straws, and a cup of water | * |
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| measure electricity | use a multimeter to measure voltage, resistance and current and build a battery from pennies, paper and salt water (some of this in 6th grade 4H) | ||
| measuring the universe | investigate parallax and learn how it is used to measure the distance to planets and stars | ||
| minerals and crystals | grow crystals and examine ones that occur in nature | ||
| mixing colors | make a range of colors by mixing others together | * |
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| motion | how fast are you moving when you are standing still | ||
| motors | motors, batteries, and how they work (6th grade 4H) | ||
| optical illusions | how the eye and mind work together to fool us | ||
| periodic table | why do we call it periodic? Mendeleev's big discovery | ||
| pinhole photography | build a camera and use it to take a picture then develop it | ||
| plate tectonics | * | how the earth's surface rearranges itself over time | |
| puzzles | mechanical, mathematical, logical, and visual puzzles | ||
| rockets | build and fly a rocket and measure how high it goes. Use one to carry a payload | ||
| root words | built into most lessons, we point out common components of words mean about the same thing | ||
| scale of time | pick some dates and what technology was like then to get a feel for history | ||
| science fair | * | the best projects are ones that the student is honestly puzzled about not found on a web page | |
| senses | hearing, sight, taste, smell, touch, kinesthetic | ||
| slime and its chemistry | what is going on with the atoms when the two liquids react | * |
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| soil chemistry | measure the nutrients in a soil sample | ||
| solar energy | make a solar collector and use it to warm some food | ||
| solar system to scale | make drawings of the planets to scale and a separate diagram of their relative positions in space | * |
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| sound | vibration, tone, amplitude, dB scale, resonance, how loud are your earphones/buds | ||
| sprouting seeds | clear plastic cup, paper towel, corn, bean, radish, flower, etc. seed. Can you kill them with kindness (too much fertilizer) | * |
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| stream chemistry/life | test water quality and see what insects live there | ||
| strength of an egg | measure the strength of an egg by having several students stand on it at the same time | ||
| telegraphy | build a telegraph and send a message across the room or the continent | ||
| temperature | scales, what happens at various temperatures, how it is
measured (4th grade field day) | ||
| thermite | * | a reaction between iron oxide and aluminum that produces light heat and molten iron | |
| toothpick construction | build a structure to specification using toothpicks or spagheti and mini marshmallows | ||
| vacuum | its effect on: sound, electricity, marshmallows, deflated balloons | ||
| weather events | * | rain, frost, snow, hail wind, tornados, hurricanes, and how they result from energy flow in the atmosphere. | |
| weather measurement | build a barometer, thermometer, anemometer, rain gage and hail pad | * |
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| ancient Egypt | we have presentations on these places that we have visited, most have things for the students to examine | ||
| ancient Greece | |||
| Africa | |||
| Galapagos | |||
| Mongolia | |||
| Antarctica | |||
| Laurel gorge history | If a field trip to the gorge is planned we can discuss one or more of these topics. | ||
| Laurel gorge geology | |||
| Laurel gorge ecology |
| Working on a problem that can be used to teach math or critical thinking. | Reviewing one of the free magazines they can request that have science activities students can do at home. |
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Building a bridge out of spaghetti to develop some engineering skills. |
Doing real, understandable chemistry with borax and PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) to make colored slime. Then mixing samples of the colors to see what color is produced. |
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