Summer of Science

This summer we've been all about science experiments.  As I mentioned in this Dental Health post we've been watching Sid the Science Kid and the show has really inspired us to do the experiments and also add in some of our own.

Flowers

L cut two white tulips from the garden.  We added about ten drops of blue food coloring to a glass and put the tulip into it.  After a couple hours we could already see blue dots along the edges of the petals.  This picture is after one day.  We also tried different colors but the blue was the most effective.

Exercise

We saw this one on Sid the Science Kid.  Learning about how exercise is important and how you can feel your heart beat faster once you've done some exercise.  First L and I thought about different ways you can exercise your body and then we tried them.  Below she has drawn her observations in her science journal.  We tried out biking, hula hooping, running, soccer and dancing.

Does it Dissolve?

I saw this experiment over at The Picky Apple .   We first talked about the definition of dissolve.  We got five different substances, coffee, sugar, lentils, flour and oats.  L poured water into the glasses and then made  predictions on what she thought would dissolve and what wouldn't.

She then poured the substances into the water glasses one by one and stirred them up.  She was able to easily see if they dissolved or not.  I made up labels for Dissolved and Didn't Dissolve and she put the substance labels under the correct headings.

Here are her observations in her science journal.  Sometimes she will write things as well or ask me to write if there are too many words.

Heat

This one was also from Sid the Science Kid and it was really cool.  L learned about how heat changes things.  We demonstrated this by cutting up some apples and putting them in a pot with some cinnamon.  L tried to mash them up but they were way too hard.  We added some water and put them on the stove for about 20 minutes, stirring them constantly. 

L tried to mash them again and they were super soft.  We enjoyed some yummy apple sauce and talked about how this was an irreversible change.  We also talked about what other food gets softer when we cook it such as spaghetti and potatoes and what foods get harder such as pancakes and eggs.

Here are her observations.

We have many more experiments lined up for the following weeks.  I really love the idea of keeping a record in her science journal that we can look back in to remember all of the different experiments.  Thanks Sid the Science Kid!