We had such a fun outing watching the Perseids Meteor Showers. We traveled out to a country school where a number of people from an Astronomy Club were gathering. We put blankets on the ground and our family plus my brother lay under the stars until late that night. We saw quite a few "shooting stars" and the kids were so amazed! One very bright one looked as if it was burning up as it made its way across the entire night sky. Rose fell asleep as she hummed under the stars. The boys laughed and talked as they searched for meteors. It was definitely a memory to cherish always. (picture from public domain on National Geographic News website)
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Perseids Meteor Shower
We had such a fun outing watching the Perseids Meteor Showers. We traveled out to a country school where a number of people from an Astronomy Club were gathering. We put blankets on the ground and our family plus my brother lay under the stars until late that night. We saw quite a few "shooting stars" and the kids were so amazed! One very bright one looked as if it was burning up as it made its way across the entire night sky. Rose fell asleep as she hummed under the stars. The boys laughed and talked as they searched for meteors. It was definitely a memory to cherish always. (picture from public domain on National Geographic News website)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Volcano Eruption Experiment
We made our own volcanic eruption yesterday!
Here are the items that you need to make your own volcano erupt: Baking Soda, Vinegar, Food Coloring, Liquid Soap, 2 Empty Water Bottles, Funnel, a teaspoon, a Tablespoon, Large Paper or Cardboard that is cut and shaped into a cone (it should fit right over one of the water bottles).
Take one empty water bottle and fill 1/3 with vinegar. Use the funnel to help you. Add some food coloring to give the "lava" some color. Add 1 TBSP of liquid soap. Take the other empty water bottle and put 3 tsp. of baking soda in it. Place the cone over the bottle with the baking soda. Put your volcano on a tray or plate, because this will be messy!
Using the funnel, quickly pour the vinegar mixture into the water bottle that is under the cone. Immediately, the mixture will react and you will have "lava" coming out of your volcano!
What's happening? The mixture of vinegar and baking soda creates carbon dioxide gas. The gas creates bubbles in the liquid soap and the mixture expands until it ends up overflowing out of the bottle. 
After this experiment we decided to play around with the vinegar and baking soda and the resulting gas it creates. We put some baking soda inside an empty balloon. Then we put vinegar in a water bottle. We put the balloon around the mouth of the water bottle and then let the baking soda fall into it. The carbon dioxide gas then began expanding (gases always expand to fill available space) and this filled up the balloon! The boys started screaming as the balloon expanded, thinking it would pop! Here they are running to take cover! FYI: It didn't fill that much - no popping occurred!
It was a fun science afternoon learning about reaactions and gas expansion as the rain poured down outside. (Science ideas from the book "My Big Science Book" by Simon Mugford)
Here are the items that you need to make your own volcano erupt: Baking Soda, Vinegar, Food Coloring, Liquid Soap, 2 Empty Water Bottles, Funnel, a teaspoon, a Tablespoon, Large Paper or Cardboard that is cut and shaped into a cone (it should fit right over one of the water bottles).
Take one empty water bottle and fill 1/3 with vinegar. Use the funnel to help you. Add some food coloring to give the "lava" some color. Add 1 TBSP of liquid soap. Take the other empty water bottle and put 3 tsp. of baking soda in it. Place the cone over the bottle with the baking soda. Put your volcano on a tray or plate, because this will be messy! Using the funnel, quickly pour the vinegar mixture into the water bottle that is under the cone. Immediately, the mixture will react and you will have "lava" coming out of your volcano! What's happening? The mixture of vinegar and baking soda creates carbon dioxide gas. The gas creates bubbles in the liquid soap and the mixture expands until it ends up overflowing out of the bottle. After this experiment we decided to play around with the vinegar and baking soda and the resulting gas it creates. We put some baking soda inside an empty balloon. Then we put vinegar in a water bottle. We put the balloon around the mouth of the water bottle and then let the baking soda fall into it. The carbon dioxide gas then began expanding (gases always expand to fill available space) and this filled up the balloon! The boys started screaming as the balloon expanded, thinking it would pop! Here they are running to take cover! FYI: It didn't fill that much - no popping occurred! It was a fun science afternoon learning about reaactions and gas expansion as the rain poured down outside. (Science ideas from the book "My Big Science Book" by Simon Mugford)
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