My girls and I don’t like to hand out the standard paper Valentines from the store. Those are just boring. So each year we look for a different and unique Valentine to hand out. Since I’m known as the Science Mom at my girls’ school, it’s only fitting that we hand out something sciencey for the day of love. My 2nd grader and I have already created a stack of Test Tube Valentines for her class.
My fifth grader and I began a search for a creative science Valentine. We decided on Fortune Telling Fish. This is no ordinary sticker, tattoo or candy Valentine. Oh no. This Valentine can predict the future; detect love or indifference in every single hormonal fifth grader.
There are some crushes and some cooties that still get passed around in fifth grade, so why not make them more giddy when they put a Fortune Fish in their hand and test their love?
We began with a lot of paper and shaped but settled on a rectangle where we attached the
Water floats and ice sinks, right? Frozen water is heavier and denser than when it is in its liquid state. Or is it? This activity is all about experimenting with different liquids and their densities.
In one of our most popular experiments, the 9-Layer Density Column, each liquid is stacked up on the next and do not separate because of their density. Objects sink to different levels based on their density.
Taking a lesson from the 9-Layer Density tower, we tried a new experiment with food coloring, water, an ice cube, baby oil and a mystery liquid. Watch the Sick Science! video and try to guess the mystery liquid before reading further.
Did you figure out the mysterious liquid? It was vegetable oil.
The basis of the Light Ice, Heavy Water experiment relies on density. Density = mass ÷ volume, which essentially equates to how many atoms are within a certain space. It is tough to see, but when you add baby oil to the vegetable
I am not incredibly crafty, although I enjoy breaking the paper Valentine mold each year and finding something new and different. This year, my second grader and I are breaking out and making Valentines with test tubes. They are super easy, super fun and super unique. What could be better than a little love, a little science and an activity all wrapped up into one?
Valentines stickers, ribbon or anything you want to use for decoration on the outside.
Experiment print out
Experiment materials
Start out filling the test tubes with Valentines candy. Add the stickers to the outside of the tube to include to and from. Then choose an experiment to include with the test tube. It can be something really simple or something a little more advanced. You can even mix up the experiments and share several. I have included a few test tube experiments that you can add inside the test tube…
What a great start to 2013! From Pop Rocks, mystery liquids, folding eggs and even a VIRAL video showing how to remove iron from your breakfast cereal, to newspaper trees, dirty cell phones, and instantly freezing water. Our Sick Science! Video Team works hard to create and develop the best science experiment how to’s every month. Hope you enjoyed this month as much as we did!
Young children are always experimenting! If you give your child a cup and a bowl of water, he will fill and pour, push the cup under the surface and watch the water rush in, and investigate why his sleeves get wet when he dips them in.
New theoretical ideas and empirical research show that very young children’s learning and thinking are strikingly similar to learning and thinking in science. (source)
I say that almost all young kids have the fundamental skills of becoming a good scientist!
They Play.
They Explore.
They OBSERVE.
They are CURIOUS.
They want to DISCOVER new things.
They want to know WHY certain things happen.
Every age contributes in its own way of becoming young alchemists.
Explore & Play
During the Baby age (0 to 1) a child explores & plays with what is suitable for its age (click here to see how babies can play). Babies learn about the world through their senses and use their whole body for that investagation. On the picture you see baby girl explore a homemade babypaint (cornstarch, water, food colors).
