I'm a Valentine's Day Scrooge. I like hearts. I like pink (I really don't like red despite my Stanford background). I like chocolates and candies. I hate the hype of Valentine's Day and feeling obligated to show love and appreciation on that specific day.
Well, J liked the idea of Valentine's treats, but sharing time with the theme of LOVE came a day after Valentine's Day. This morning, when we asked J what he'd like to share for V Day, he answered, "Valentine's Day is OVER!" It's true. I avoided mentioning that also means cheaper candies! I was quite excited for his matter-of-fact statement solely for that reason.
We explained the theme and asked what he loves. He answered, "Mommy!" (awww) I explained that I couldn't be at share time today. He then shouted SCIENCE! (nerd! yes!) I also explained that it would be hard to share science with his limited share time, space, and attention given during share time (though he did wear one of his science shirts). He settled on dinosaurs. He loves dinosaurs and brought dinosaurs for his Valentine's Love Themed Share Time. Sigh.
Also, when we got home, he wanted me to write "science" over and over on his magna doodle. I pointed out his science shirt said "Science." He was so excited. I love my little scientist!
Everyday science for families with young children.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Homemade Squeeze Rocket Launchers
Tada - homemade squeeze rocket launcher:
Materials:
Small water bottle
Small straw (comes in a pack of 50-100 for ~$1 in most grocery stores)
Bigger straw (recycled from a McD's soda)
Small sticker
Launcher Assembly:
*Drill a hole, with similar size diameter as your straw, into the cap of the water bottle.
*Cut the small straw down to ~3 inches.
*Insert straw into newly made hole.
*Glue the straw into place (optional).
Rockets:
*Various size straws closed off completely on one end with a small sticker. (You can vary length/diameter, but the diameter of the rocket needs to be large enough to easily come off of the smaller straw with a squeeze of the bottle).
*Nerf-ish rockets (these too are fairly cheap - we found a pack at Fry's around Christmas that we've been using with our other rocket launchers too).
Notes:
*The launcher works better with one quick hard squeeze.
*Plastic water bottles are poor quality plastic and deform really easily.
*You can blow into the straw to quickly reform the bottle (demonstrated in video below).
*I don't recommend gluing the cap onto the bottle since you might want to stick a long skinny to recover the bottle shape.
*Ultimately it takes 2 minutes to put together, so it's not worth getting frustrated over the bottle.
Variations:
*Alter the length and diameters of the straw rockets being launched. Note the differences between the rockets.
*Decorate the straws being launched.
*Give the straws fins and wings. How does that change the flight of the rocket?
*Aim for a target.
*How high can you launch the rocket to the sky?
Here's a video of Big and Little J launching the rockets. It's hard to capture the flight of the rocket. The first launch was the Nerf-like rocket and the second was the straw:
Materials:
Small water bottle
Small straw (comes in a pack of 50-100 for ~$1 in most grocery stores)
Bigger straw (recycled from a McD's soda)
Small sticker
Launcher Assembly:
*Drill a hole, with similar size diameter as your straw, into the cap of the water bottle.
*Cut the small straw down to ~3 inches.
*Insert straw into newly made hole.
*Glue the straw into place (optional).
Rockets:
*Various size straws closed off completely on one end with a small sticker. (You can vary length/diameter, but the diameter of the rocket needs to be large enough to easily come off of the smaller straw with a squeeze of the bottle).
*Nerf-ish rockets (these too are fairly cheap - we found a pack at Fry's around Christmas that we've been using with our other rocket launchers too).
Notes:
*The launcher works better with one quick hard squeeze.
*Plastic water bottles are poor quality plastic and deform really easily.
*You can blow into the straw to quickly reform the bottle (demonstrated in video below).
*I don't recommend gluing the cap onto the bottle since you might want to stick a long skinny to recover the bottle shape.
*Ultimately it takes 2 minutes to put together, so it's not worth getting frustrated over the bottle.
Variations:
*Alter the length and diameters of the straw rockets being launched. Note the differences between the rockets.
*Decorate the straws being launched.
*Give the straws fins and wings. How does that change the flight of the rocket?
*Aim for a target.
*How high can you launch the rocket to the sky?
Here's a video of Big and Little J launching the rockets. It's hard to capture the flight of the rocket. The first launch was the Nerf-like rocket and the second was the straw:
Thursday, February 9, 2012
You know when...
you're a nerd, when your child refers to you as Teacher Mommy (totally J's name for me at the moment).
you're raising a nerd, when threatening to take away science works better to turn around naughty behavior than threatening to take away desserts.
you're raising a nerd, when threatening to take away science works better to turn around naughty behavior than threatening to take away desserts.
Banana Balloon Update
Following my last post about the banana blowing up a balloon, I decided to place the bottle on the stove (out of hands of curious little scientist). After a few days of thinking the experiment was over, with no real noticeable change, the experiment became more exciting! The balloon inflated more! On 2/9/12, it measured 6 cm in circumference.
I'll report back any new changes and the results of mashing up 3 bananas and repeating the experiment.
I'll report back any new changes and the results of mashing up 3 bananas and repeating the experiment.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Bananas and balloons
J goes on banana kicks. He loves them, and then he won't eat them for weeks. He's doing the latter at the moment.
So, we decided to make an experiment from one of our rotting bananas.
I took the idea from the book, The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book, which happens to be my favorite Christmas present I received this year. Don't worry, I have a review in the works to give some opinions on this book and twists to toddlers and preschoolers (it's geared for 8+). I hope to finish this review in the near future.
Anyways, it's a fairly easy set-up. You mash up a very ripe (think brown) banana, stick it in a bottle (we used one of our many 20oz soda bottles), pop a balloon over the top of the bottle, and document the process. The book recommends putting it outside in a sunny place to expedite the process. However, we live in an apartment complex with a lot of boys who have potential of screwing up well planned science experiments...and it's not really "warm" outside, mid-60s at best. Our apartment has been ~70 deg during the day, but the balloon hasn't been exposed to sun.
We documented through pictures and also by measuring tape once the balloon inflated enough to measure:
Monday 1/30: Set-up the experiment
Tuesday 1/31: no noticeable change in balloon
But, there's some icky changes going on with the banana (there was some bubbly action)
Wednesday 2/1: balloon is a little more full, but still sad looking
Thursday 2/2: Balloon stands up! J is excited that science is working.
And take a look at that gross banana mush.
Friday, 2/3: Began balloon measuring - 5 cm
More bubbly grossness in the banana mush:
Saturday 2/4: 5.2 cm
Sunday 2/5: 5.2 cm (no change, no new pic)
I'll leave the bottle alone for a week and report back next weekend.
What's going on? As the banana decomposes/decays, it's releasing gas which wants to escape the bottle but is trapped by the balloon. It puts pressure on the balloon, causing it to inflate.
Our Personal Extensions:
Trying this experiment during the summer inside and out (assuming we find a safe "sunny" location). We'll compare them to each other and to the growth of the balloon during the winter inside. Maybe we'll try one at the same time in the fridge too. Stay tuned for another banana and balloons post over the summer.
We'll also try a smaller bottle and/or more bananas for hopefully a more dramatic response.
So, we decided to make an experiment from one of our rotting bananas.
I took the idea from the book, The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book, which happens to be my favorite Christmas present I received this year. Don't worry, I have a review in the works to give some opinions on this book and twists to toddlers and preschoolers (it's geared for 8+). I hope to finish this review in the near future.
Anyways, it's a fairly easy set-up. You mash up a very ripe (think brown) banana, stick it in a bottle (we used one of our many 20oz soda bottles), pop a balloon over the top of the bottle, and document the process. The book recommends putting it outside in a sunny place to expedite the process. However, we live in an apartment complex with a lot of boys who have potential of screwing up well planned science experiments...and it's not really "warm" outside, mid-60s at best. Our apartment has been ~70 deg during the day, but the balloon hasn't been exposed to sun.
 |
| Peeling the bananas |
 |
| Mashing it up with a spoon |
We documented through pictures and also by measuring tape once the balloon inflated enough to measure:
Monday 1/30: Set-up the experiment
Tuesday 1/31: no noticeable change in balloon
But, there's some icky changes going on with the banana (there was some bubbly action)
Wednesday 2/1: balloon is a little more full, but still sad looking
Thursday 2/2: Balloon stands up! J is excited that science is working.
And take a look at that gross banana mush.
Friday, 2/3: Began balloon measuring - 5 cm
More bubbly grossness in the banana mush:
Saturday 2/4: 5.2 cm
Sunday 2/5: 5.2 cm (no change, no new pic)
I'll leave the bottle alone for a week and report back next weekend.
What's going on? As the banana decomposes/decays, it's releasing gas which wants to escape the bottle but is trapped by the balloon. It puts pressure on the balloon, causing it to inflate.
Our Personal Extensions:
Trying this experiment during the summer inside and out (assuming we find a safe "sunny" location). We'll compare them to each other and to the growth of the balloon during the winter inside. Maybe we'll try one at the same time in the fridge too. Stay tuned for another banana and balloons post over the summer.
We'll also try a smaller bottle and/or more bananas for hopefully a more dramatic response.
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