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Science Activities
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Science Activities

  • Hands On Activity #1
  • Science Area: Chemistry                     Concept: Carbon dioxide gas/water displacement

  • Materials:

    1. Alka Seltzer tablets
    2. 2 baby food jars and covers, one with a hole in the kid
    3. small dishpan or 5 quart ice cream bucket
    4. water
    5. matches or lighter
    6. wooden splin

     

     

    Procedure:

    1.      Fill the pan halfway with water.  Submerge one baby food jar in the water until full.  Fill the other jar halfway with water.

    2.      Drop two Alka Seltzer tablets into the ½ filled jar of water and quickly attach the cover with the hole in the lid.

    3.      Place the jar with the Alka Seltzer upright on the bottom of the pan of water. Take the uncovered jar full of water and carefully place it upside down directly over the hole so that the gas produced form the Alka Seltzer will collect in the upper jar.  Continue to collect the gas until bubbles appear on the outside of the gas.

    4.      Slide the upper jar off the lower jar, keeping them both submerged, and place the solid cover on the jar with the colleted gas.  Hold the jar with the glass perpendicular to the bottom of the pan; do not tilt the jar until it has been covered.

    5.      Test for Co2 gas with a burning splint or match, by removing the cover and inserting the splint.

    Questions:

    1. What occurred when the two Alka Seltzer tablets were dropped into the water?
    2. What type of gas is causing the water to be displaced?
    3. What happened when the burning match was placed inside the inverted jar?
    4. Does the carbon dioxide gas give off an odor or have a color?

    Explanation:

    When the two Alka Seltzer tablets were dropped into the water fizzing or bubbling occurred, which indicates that a gas was produced by a chemical reaction taking place.  The gas produced displaces the water and the water moves out of the mouth and into the pan.  This causes the water level to rise and carbon dioxide was the cause.  The match goes out because fir requires oxygen and produces CO2. 

    Source:  http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?id=5117&external=http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/educatorsandstudents.html&original=http://www.proteacher.com/110052.shtml&title=Chemistry.org

Hands On Activity #2

Science Area: Physics                                                 Concept: Sound/Frequency

Straw Flute

Materials:

  1. Plastic straw
  2. Scissors
  3. Someone to blow forcefully into the straw

Procedure:

  1. Take the straw and scissors, and cut off the tip of the straw to a point, like the picture shown above.
  2. Gently chew on the straw to soften the tip and to get the edges pushed together. The two tips should be almost touching each other.
  3. The teacher puts the point end of the straw in their mouth and blows really hard. If done correctly they will produce a loud sound from the straw.

Questions:

  1. What causes the sound you hear when someone blows into the straw?
  2. What would happen if you cut the pointy end of the straw off?
  3. If you were to cut holes in the straw would you be able to play it like a real flute? Why or why not?

Explanation:

Blowing on the straw causes the two pieces of the tip to vibrate together.  This causes a vibration which produces the sound.  The vibration travels down the straw, and reflects from the end. Making holes in the straw, like a flute, lets the vibration bounce off from where the whole is, which also changes the pitch. 

Source:  http://littleshop.physics.colostate.edu/onlineexperiments/Straw.html

 

Hands On Activity #3

Science Area: Earth Science                                                      

Concept: Center of Gravity

The Plate Carousel

Materials:

  • A dinner plate
  • 4 forks
  • Two corks or a small raw potato
  • A corked bottle and a needle

Safety Considerations: Teacher should have the corks or potatoes pre-cut for the students.  Students need to be careful when inserting the needle into the cork. 

Discrepancy: Many students will not believe that the plate is able to balance on the needle.

Procedure:

1.      Insert the needle vertically into the cork of the bottle and place the bottle in the center of the table.

2.      Cut the two corks in half with a sharp knife or four pieces of potato.  Make sure the pieces are smooth. Note :( The teacher should have the corks pre-cut for their students.)

3.      Stick the four forks in the four half corks (or four chunks of potato) and hang them from the edge of the plate (refer to sketch).

4.      Balance the plate and forks on the head of the needle.

5.      Now gently blow against the forks (or tap against them) in a direction to initiate the rotation of the plate.

Questions:

            1.  What function if any do the forks perform?

            2.  What did the forks do to the center of gravity of the plate?

            3.  Where is the center of gravity located on the plate without the forks?

            4.  Does the size of the cork or potato pieces matter?

            5.  Where is the center of gravity located on the plate with the forks?

Explanation:

            The plate on its own would not be able to balance on the needle because its center of gravity would change.  The forks hanging from the edge of the plate allowed the center of gravity to be lowered.  It was lowered enough so that the pivot point became stable.  The system is more stable to more mass placed below the pivot point.  The corks would be better to use than the pieces of potato because they are lighter (less mass).  The bigger pieces of potato would make the system less stable, because more mass is place above the pivot point. (This is the top of the needle).

Source: Liem, Tik. Invitations to Science Inquiry. Science Inquiry Enterprises. Chino Hills, CA. 1992, p.324

 

 

Links are provided below, to assist and provide information about the concepts involved in the hands on science activities.

http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/whatis.html

http://www.scienceproject.com/projects/index/elementary.asp

http://littleshop.physics.colostate.edu/onlineexperiments/Straw.html

http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?id=5117&external=http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/educatorsandstudents.html&original=http://www.proteacher.com/110052.shtml&title=Chemistry.org

http://physics.usc.edu/ScienceFairs/

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_intro.html

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=878&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1

http://www.schoolofabraham.com/chemistryforkids.htm

http://pbskids.org/zoom/games/kitchenchemistry/

http://www.surfnetkids.com/chemistry.htm

 

 

This web page was designed by Ashley Flom specifically for ELED 305 Methods of Science Fall 2007.