Science, Curiosity and Life
We have come over a little healthy of late in the Science Wows household, the adults anyway! #Freefrom this and #freefrom that and of course caffeine is out. Which means herbal teas are in; and the best thing about herbal teas is that you can do this with the teabag…
Seriously, if you were only ever to do one experiment from this blog, make it this one!!!
Dr. Simple was explaining a little about DNA in the last post, so I thought I would share one of the first experiments my children ever asked me to do with them…. they wanted to see DNA, so we extracted it from a banana.
You will need…
… a banana, a fork, a bowl, washing up liquid, ice cold surgical spirits (or isopropanol – both available from a pharmacy), salt, a sieve, a glass jar.
What to do…
Remove the banana skin and mash the banana in the bowl, using the fork. Add two teaspoons of washing up liquid and stir slowly.
Add a teaspoon of salt and one to two tablespoons of water and stir carefully.
You want to avoid making bubbles.
Leave for five minutes then strain carefully through the sieve into the jar.
Tilt the glass jar and carefully pour the surgical spirits down the side of the jar, at least as thick as the banana layer. This will form a separate layer on top of the banana mixture.
Do not mix.
After five to ten minutes you will see a long, stringy substance appear in the top layer. This is the banana’s DNA.
You can use a tooth pick to lift and examine the DNA.
So what is happening?
The salt and washing up liquid break open the banana cells, releasing the DNA.
The DNA will not dissolve in the surgical spirits (or any alcohol) so it floats in this layer.
Here are a five fantastic facts about DNA…
The experiment described above is just a quick and simple method that I have used before but if you want something more scientific and a lot more fun… check out Cell Explorers! They do amazing school visits, for junior infants right up to secondary level students, which I am sure would be of interest to teacher or parents making suggestions in their own schools. Run by Dr. Muriel Grenon and her wonderful team of students and graduates these activities are really top class! Contact them by email at cellexplorers@nuigalway.ie
We can’t get enough of magnets in this house it seems! Last week we shared one of our favourite games and this week it is all about how the compass works, how to make one and another great game to try!
The ancient Greeks knew about lodestone, an iron rich rock that was naturally magnetic. The Chinese are credited with discovering that loadstone would always point towards North if suspended to allow it turn freely. A Chinese Scientist called Shen Kua described the first magnetic needle compass in 1088 AD; his experiments with suspended strips of magnetised iron showed how the strip always points North and how this could be used in navigation.
The arrival of the compass modernised navigation and travel, especially by sea. Before the compass, sailors relied on navigation by the stars but this was tricky on a cloudy night!
Did you know… sailors were forbidden to eat onion or garlic as their breath was thought to interfere with the compass needle?
You will need… a circle of paper, a needle, a magnet and a bowl of water.
You will need…. some non see through cups or bowls, some treats or treasure to find, a compass, a notepad and a pen.
Setting it up… this is an easy game but it does require a little setting up before you let the children loose! Place the cups (upturned) all around the garden, hiding a treat underneath a few of them. One treat per child.
Decide on a starting point. Map out a route for each child starting at that point and walking X steps North/South/East or West.
Map a different route for each child to a different cup containing the treasure, here is an example…
take 3 steps North
take 3 steps East
take 11 steps North
take 14 steps West
take 5 steps South
take 10 steps East
take 11 steps West
You can make is as long and winding as you like. Remember to get an idea of each child’s step length before you start! Once you have prepared a route for each child you can call them out and let the fun begin.
Each child starts at the same point and needs to follow the instructions given to them, using the compass for direction! Once the instructions run out the child lifts the nearest cup to (hopefully) reveal their prize.
The beauty of this game is that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you like, adjusting each set of instructions to a child’s age so children of different ages can get involved.
My children are ten, eight and four and they really loved this, we have plans to make it bigger and better next time!
This week’s Fun Friday post is a round up of all our favourite sound experiments and facts. Hear it, make it, feel it and even see it… guaranteed for a weekend full of fun!
We love this simple experiment to make a spooky sound cup… see what kind of sounds you can make with it.
Just click on this link to find out what to do…
All you need for this one is a balloon and a radio or other music player.
Blow up a balloon and tie it. Turn on the radio to a song with low base music. Hold the balloon between your two hands and hold it very
near the speaker of the radio.
What can you feel?
Change to a different radio station and see if the vibrations change.
This one never ceases to get a WOW from everyone, and for a change Dr. How is on the other side of the camera to show how it works … click on this link to check it out.
It is a simple and easy Fun Friday experiment today – how to make an ocean in a bottle
All you need for this experiment is…
What you do…
How does it work…
This is a good experiment to explain density. The oil is less dense than the water so it will sit on top of the water, creating two separate layers. The layer of oil keeps the water contained within the bottom half of the water and makes the movement of the water look like waves where the two liquids meet.
I have discussed density in more detail in this previous post as well as sharing lots more density experiments.
If you get bored of your ocean in a bottle, why not stand it upright again and add some Alka Seltzer tablets to instantly turn it into a lava lamp!
Enjoy!
(Apologies I am posting the Fun Friday blog a day late due to broadband difficulties yesterday )
We all thought we had been visited by a small tornado here in Galway yesterday, a photo of a waterspout just off Salthill was the talk of the town. Turns out it was just a hoax, but for any junior scientists that may be disappointed I thought I would share a great experiment with you explaining how to make your very own tornado in a bottle! There are plenty of fun and interesting tornado facts too.
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| photo credit: Niccolò Ubalducci Photographer via photopin cc |
A tornado is a rapid swirling column of air that stretches from a cloud (usually a thunder cloud) to the earth below.
A tornado that forms over water is often referred to as a waterspout.
If the column of air does not touch the earth it is referred to as a funnel cloud.
The formation of a tornado requires a combination of a number of specific weather features but usually tornadoes form when an area of warm, wet air meets and area of cool, dry air and alter the atmospheric conditions. When this causes the warm wet air to rise and cool rapidly thunder clouds are formed. Under the correct conditions of wind strength and speed the rising air starts to tilt and rotate and the tornado begins to form.
Most tornadoes have a wind speed of less that 160 km and hour (100 miles an hour), however, some extreme tornadoes can reach much greater speeds, up to 300 km an hour!
Did you know… the fastest recorded tornado was the Tri-State Tornado (Illinois, Missouri and Indiana) of 1925 had a forward speed of 117 km per hour (73 miles and hour)?
Tornadoes are detected using weather spotting and doppler radar. Tornado warnings may be issues for certain areas by observing the formation of developing weather patterns while radar can be used for more accurate forecasting once thunderclouds have developed.
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| Image credit: Wiki Commons; a category F5 tornado in Manitoba, Canada, 2007. |
It is not easy to determine Tornado strength and wind speed for two main reasons..
One of the devises used to measure wind speed within a tornado is called an anemometer. Doppler radar can also be used for this purpose. When these measurements are successful, wind speed will be expressed against the Beaufort wind scale, ranging from 0 -12 in wind speed.
In 1971 Dr. Tetsuya Fijita developed a scale to rank Tornadoes, this scale ranges from 0 to 5 and is expressed as F0, F1, F2, F3, F4 and F5. This ranking is retrospective, estimating wind speed and strength by examining the damage resulting from the Tornado. This scale has been further refined in the US leading to the Enhanced Fijita Scale.
There are certain places around the world that are “tornado hot spots” such as many central states in the US, South Africa, Canada and Bangladesh. However tornadoes can form almost anywhere and there are genuine cases of tornadoes in Ireland. If we do get visited by a tornado it is usually small and brief.
Did you know…the earliest recorded tornadoes in Europe occurred in Rosdalla, near Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, on April 30th 1054?
The only continent where tornadoes have not been recorded is the Antartic.
Did you know that the UK has the largest number of tornadoes per land mass? Usually these tornadoes are small.
What to do… Fill one 2 Litre bottle 2/3 full with water, add a few drops of food colouring and about a teaspoon of glitter, if using. Place the O-ring on top of the bottle and tape into place with the duct tape, ensuring that you do not cover the whole.
Place the second (empty) bottle upside-down on top of the first one and tape securely into place.
If using the Tonrado tube you just twist the tube onto the first bottle 2/3 full with water and then upturn the second bottle and twist it securely into place into the other end of the tornado tube!
Once you are confident that the bottle is taped well enough to prevent any leakage you can turn the bottles upside-down so the one containing the coloured water is on top. Turn the upper bottle in a circular motion about five times and then hold the bottles steady and see what happens. You should a mini tornado forming in the bottle as the water drains. if this does not work for you first time don’t worry, it make take a few attempts to get the knack of turning the bottle correctly.
So what is happening?… When we turn the bottle we get the water moving in a vertical, circular motion, just like the air in a tornado. Once we stop turning the bottle and hold it steady the momentum created causes the water to keep turning and form into a “twister” inside the bottle. The food colouring and glitter or only present to make the tornado more visible.
You can change this around a little by adding different things to the water in the bottle and compare how the tornado looks; Some suggestions include adding grains of pepper, small pieces of coloured paper or a squeeze of washing up liquid. You can also try the experiment by adding some coloured oil to the water.
You can change this into a fun challenge for your friends and family and help them learn about air pressure while too. Give your friend the bottles all set up and ask them how long they think it will take them to get the water from the top bottle to the lower bottle, without squeezing the bottle. Let them have a go and time it. You can then ask if anyone else thinks they can beat that time and give them a go. Everyone should get about the same time.
Now it is your turn, upturn the bottle and start the tornado and time how long the bottle takes to empty now! They should be impressed to find out you have beaten their time!
So what is happening?
The hole in the O-ring allows air to pass into the bottle, producing a funnel of air within the column of twisting water. The movement of air from one bottle to the other equalizes air pressure and allows the water escape into the lower bottle much more quickly.
Newton‛s 3rd Law of Motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction!
The first liquid propellant rocket was launched in 1926 by an American called Robert Goddard. He is considered the father of modern rocket science!
In 1969 Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first men on the moon.
You will need… an empty 2L plastic bottle, paper, insulation tape, a 1/2 inch PVC pipe, a length of rubber tubing;
I have shared this one with you before, but for those of you who have not seen it I thought it would be a nice addition here…. a double for the Bank Holiday Weekend ;0)
If you try any of the experiments or have any comments or questions, please let me know in the comments below!
I am pleased to be part of a Science and Nature theme at www.mykidstime.ie this week. If you check out the links you can find some fun and fact filled articles on Sound, Light and Pressure along with some suggested experiments on each topic.
For today’s #FunFriday post I have shared one of the experiments on Pressure….hope you like it!
Have a great weekend and remember to drop me a comment if you try it or have any suggestions or questions! I always love to hear from you!
It’s Friday so that can only mean one thing… another fun experiment to try, think you are going to like this one!
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| With this you insert the pin, load up with mentos, screw the devise onto the top of your bottle of coke and then pull the pin to release the mints into the coke. There is even a little ring of plastic that drops down and covers the pin holes so all the coke goes upwards only. |
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| This is the one the I use for kids parties and events and it goes down a treat. I don’t bother plugging the holes at the side so the coke fountains out the side as well as the top and it all adds to the effect! |
Fun, isn’t it, but I thought we could shake it up a little (pardon the pun) … so I added two seven year olds home from school with a temperature and needing a bit of a distraction…
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| The “R & D” Department |
Then I gave them these… and asked them to come up with something fun!
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| The Props |
And this is what they came up with…..(That’s two teddies tied to the front of the skate board!!)…
What do you think? Not bad for two boys who had a temps of 38.5 an hour before….Oh the wonders of Calpol!
If you really want to scale things up you might get some inspiration from these guys (I love this video ;0) )…
“Coke and mentos powered car“.
So, do you want the bit of science behind the fun?...
Firstly, this is not thought to be a chemical reaction between the coke and the mentos. It is most likely a physical reaction known as nucleation; The coke is full of carbon dioxide gas, to give it it’s fizz; the mentos are full of tiny little craters on the surface of the sweet, the carbon dioxide gas is able to form bubbles in these “craters” producings thousands of tiny bubbles all at once; these bubbles of gas are under a lot of pressure within the bottle of coke and so come shooting out the mouth of the bottle. If anyone knows anything about Newton and his laws they will know that every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction (Newton’s third law of motion)… so the coke comes shooting out of the bottle in one direction and the force of this propels the skate board forward in the opposite direction. PRETTY COOL!
Now it’s your turn to go off and try it out, if you come up with any of your own ideas and experiments I’d love to hear about it!
….HAVE FUN!
With all the excitement of the Easter bunny we forgot about our last egg- experiment…”the bouncy egg” so I thought it might be a fun one to start off this new blog spot… “Fun Friday”, where I will share a new experiment for you to try!
We left the eggs in the vinegar for two days and then removed them and gently washed them in a bowl of water … unfortunately, when I was washing the egg from the plain vinegar experiment, I burst it… Ooops!
No harm done as we substituted the other just to show you how the “bouncy” bit worked!
The vinegar is an acid (acetic acid); it reacts with the calcium in the egg shell (calcium carbonate) and breaks it down, producing a gas as it does so. You may have observed the gas as bubbles being formed, during the experiment. Effectively the vinegar (acid) eats away at the egg shell until it is all gone.
Then for a bit more fun I turned on a UV light! Ok, I know, most of you don’t have one of these lying around at home but as I’m a Mad Scientist I do ;0) …and I was curious to know what would happen if we left it sit in fluorescent vinegar.
The results were Fab!! A fluorescent egg… check it out! (I hope you can hear me in the video, sound is a bit low!)
So there you go, it worked better than I expected… the egg is completely fluorescent…. and bouncy, just for that extra bit of fun!
In case you are wondering “WHAT IS FLUORESCENCE?”….let me explain… it is the emission of light from an object after it has absorbed light (or electromagnetic energy)…. usually the light absorbed has a short wavelength (in this case the UV light) and the light emitted has a longer wavelength.
When I shone the UV light onto the egg it “glowed”, even in daylight it looks bright – just like a fluorescent pen!