Nowadays, we have clocks and watches that tell us when to wake up and leave for work. Before the invention of clocks, how did people tell what time it was? Sundials have a long history of being used to tell time. As far back as 1500 B.C., ancient Egyptians used a sundial or “shadow clock”. …
Friction Experiment This experiment is about friction. Friction allows us to walk on the road instead of sliding on it. It also lets us pick up a piece of paper or a glass of milk. You can also pick up rice grains using a pair of chopsticks all because of friction. In this experiment, you …
What do you do when there is an oversupply of candies in the house, like the day after Halloween? (yeah, right.) Candy science experiment, of course! This experiment is really spectacular to watch, but the science behind is pretty complicated… actually, I haven’t found a definitive scientific explanation agreed by all authoritative scientists yet. But …
Did you know that oil and water are not the same density? That is why oil and water don’t mix. However, they will add up to something that’s even more fun. It’s a lava lamp! All you need are a few simple household items and a tall clear glass. Density is the amount of matter …
Water science experiment is always a hit for the kids. One of the coolest summer activities for kids is building a paddle boat. Building a paddle boat is so easy and so much fun. The boat makes a great toy. You can use it on a pond, in a pool or even in a bathtub. …
How do fish float and sink? This classic experiment is called Cartesian Diver, named after French scientist, mathematician and philosopher scientist, René Descartes. It demonstrates the principles of buoyancy and density and explains how fish dive or rise in water. Buoyancy: the force of buoyancy on an object is equal to the weight of the water displaced by that object. Density: if an object …
Do grapes sink or float? Grapes can do both. Whether a grape sinks or floats depends on its density relative to the water it’s in. An object’s buoyancy is determined by its density compared with the density of the surrounding water. Density of water can be changed by adding salt. Let’s try this experiment to …
Have you ever wondered why water sticks to your skin? When you jump into a ball pool and come out, none of the balls will be stuck on you. However, when you come out of a pool full of water, all the water doesn’t leave your skin immediately. Instead, it drips and you stay wet …
Did you know that water can play tricks on your eyes? This experiment is incredibly simple and requires only a glass, water and a coin of your choice. It demonstrates a special property of water, called light refraction. If you put a coin inside a glass of water, you will be able to see that …
Surface tension is a force that pulls together the outermost molecules of a liquid. It makes water form tiny beads on a leaf and hold a raindrop in the air. It is also why bubbles can form and then burst. Here’s a STEM challenge. This challenge is to see how many drops of water will …
Even though there is a severe drought in the area where we live, thunderstorms are still a common spring occurrence. I have shown my kid how rain was created before. Now she’s curious how thunderstorms form and what causes them. So what is a thunderstorm? A thunderstorms is a storm with lightnings and thunders. What causes …
Toothpicks are made of dry wood. Using the absorbing property of wood and the surface tension property of water, you can create a fun trick to impress your kids (or friends). In this simple experiment, we will turn broken toothpicks into an expanding star. Before you start, be sure to watch the video below. The …
Refraction Of Light Have you ever noticed if you look through a glass of water, the image behind the glass sometimes looks funny or distorted? It’s like the glass of water is playing tricks on your eyes. The trick is actually created by the refraction of light. Light travels at different speed through different materials. …
Have you noticed that things look a little funny when you see them through a glass of water? Some of the aberrations are caused by the imperfection in the glass production. But there is more to it. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one transparent medium into another1. This bending by …
Propulsion And Newton’s Third Law How do airplanes fly in the sky, ships move in the water and rockets take off into the space? These movements all have one thing in common — thrust. Newton’s Third Law of action and reaction states that for every action, there is an equal and opposition reaction. For every force, …
Have you ever wondered why the string of roller coaster cars is pulled up to the crest of the tallest point on the roller coaster before rolling downhill to the loop? Why do the cars not fall off even when they are upside down inside the loop? The roller coaster is a great demonstration of the law …
Why do people put salt in snow? That’s because salt can make ice melt faster. Ice melts at a specific temperature called the melting point. Salt makes snow melt faster by changing ice’s melting point. Here is an experiment showing how salt achieves that. Using salt, you can pick up a piece of ice with …
Do you know that flowers can drink up water and change their own colors into the color of the water they drink? Flowers and plants drink water through their roots. In cut flowers, since there are no roots, water travels from the cut directly into the stems and travels to the petals and other parts …
How Are Rainbows Formed? Sunlight or white light is a mixture of all the rainbow colors. The different rainbow colors are essentially mixed together to result in a white color. You may wonder why when you mix all the different colors of paint together result in black instead of light. That is because light mixing …
The Blue Sky On a clear day, the sky is nothing more than the air in the atmosphere. The air itself or the sunlight doesn’t seem to contain any color. So why is the sky blue if sunlight is colorless? The sky is blue due to the scattering of light by tiny particles in the …
