DIY Lava Lamps

Oil, water, food coloring, and alka seltzer: Lava Lamps - Summer Fun -

Looks like a great idea to add to the science birthday party list.

Science Theme Birthday Party

So, I had another request today for details of the science experiment birthday party.

Some background: last year we put together a bunch of science experiments for kids to do for at my 10 year old daughter's party.  I traversed a lot of Internet searches to find some fun stuff that would engage the kids, be fun to do, and not have a high chance of actually harming anyone.  As usual there a plenty of sources for info, such as Steve Spangler, Science Bob, and of course the fountain fun from Eepybird.  I also found some help from Instructables and I am sure there are some other places I found.

After seeing how fun this party looked, my 12 year old daughter decided she wanted the same party, so we ended up doing one around lunch time and one in the afternoon.  That worked out well.  Then, when the twins saw how much fun everyone had, they wanted a science birthday party for their 7th birthday!

We used caution tape in place of streamers, and the party was in the driveway (don't do this inside).  The streamers were fastened to the table and the canopy with, of course, duct tape.

For party favors the kids too home their electromagnets, the Mentos/Diet Coke tube, bubble wands, and safety goggles.  I also put all of these instructions in a little booklet for them to take home.  Each booklet included a warning statement:

Remember, DON'T try these unless you have an adult's permission and supervision!

Take appropriate safety precautions, including goggles and gloves!

So, do any of this at your own risk.  Take this as an opportunity to practice and teach safety to the kids, while letting them have some fun.

Salt Trees

We did this first, then put off to the side for the rest of the party, that way the crystals had time to start forming.  The first year we did it I used ammonia, but left that off the second year (figuring that a younger crowd shouldn't use ammonia).  The crystals did not form without the ammonia.  Leave it in and have adults help do that part.

Supplies

• Piece of sponge or cardboard tube
• Distilled water
• Salt (iodine free pickling salt if available)
• Laundry Bluing (find Mrs. Stewart's brand on-line.  I found it at Lehman's)
• Ammonia (pure, not something mixed with cleaning)
• Plastic cup and spoon
• Plastic bowl
• Liquid food coloring

Activity

• Wear goggles and gloves and do this outside.  Ammonia puts out some fumes.
• Put the piece of sponge or tube in the bowl
• In the cup mix a couple spoons each of salt, ammonia, and bluing, add an equal amount of water
• Pour the mixture over the sponge or the base of the tube, try to keep it off the sides of the bowl
• Sprinkle 2 more spoonfuls of salt over the base
• Add a few drops of food coloring in a couple spots
• Let it sit, the crystals will grow as the liquid evaporates
• Try adding small amounts of water at the bottom over the next few days

Source

http://homechemistry.blogspot.com/2010/03/salt-crystal-trees.html

Electromagnet

The kids were really into this, much more than I had thought they would be.

Supplies

• Approximately 4 feet of insulated wire (14 gauge, 12 is too hard to bend in a coil)
  
• D-cell battery
  
• Iron nail or rod (if using a nail you may want to grind the point down to dull, prior to the part)
  
• Something small and metal, like a paper clip or safety pin
  
• Some electrical tape

Activity

• Strip the insulation (plastic wrapping) from the ends of the wire so about 1/4“ of bare wire is showing (you may want to do this as a pre-party preparation)
• Wrap the wire around the rod or nail in a tight coil, so it looks like a spring with the metal in the middle
• Touch ends of the wire to opposite ends of the battery
• Touch one end of the metal rod to the small metal item, it should pick it up!
• Remove the wires from the battery, the metal will lose its magnetic power
• We then taped the battery to the rod/coil, and one end of the wire was taped to a batter terminal.  That way the kids only had to move one end of the wire to make it work

Source

Not sure where I found this one, search around.

Air Cannon

I did the assembly of this prior to the party.  This came out at the end, when kids just wanted to goof around, since they had to take turns.

Supplies

• Medium sized plastic trash can (that can be cut up)
• Old shower curtain (that can be cut up too)
• Bungee cord that can go around the wide mouth of the trash can

Activity

• Lay the shower curtain flat and trace the wide part of the trash can
• Now draw a rough circle around that one, making the new circle about 6 inches bigger
• Cut out the big circle from the shower curtain
• On the bottom of the trash can cut a hole in the center, 6 to 8 inches in diameter
• Set the shower curtain on the large open end of the trash can, and secure it with the bungee cord
• Point the small end of the can at the target, then tap the center of the shower curtain; it should blow a puff of air strong enough to knock over the paper cup
• We filled the can with smoke from a fog machine so we could see the air moving.  Blows smoke rings, how cool!

Source

http://www.stevespanglerscience/experiment/00000076

Iodine Clock

This one is probably the hardest of the bunch.  We had all kinds of interesting results, not all successful.  Again, the kids really got into this one.

Supplies

• Wear gloves and goggles and work outside – iodine will stain
• 3 small clear plastic cups – label them A, B, and C with a marker
• 1000mg Vitamin C tablet
• 5 ml tincture of iodine (buy at a pharmacy - they limited how much we could buy at one time)
• 15 ml hydrogen peroxide 3% (first aid supplies from the pharmacy)
• 2.5 ml of liquid laundry starch (or ½ tsp of corn starch - we had better luck with corn starch)
• Water

Activity

• Wear gloves and goggles and work outside – iodine will stain
• Mash up the vitamin c tablet (try putting it in a plastic bag and crushing with a spoon or rolling pin)
• In cup A put the vitamin c and 60 ml warm water and stir
• Pour 5 ml of liquid A into cup B
• Add 60 ml of warm water and 5 ml of tincture of iodine to cup B
• In cup C mix 10 ml of warm water, 15 ml of hydrogen peroxide, 2.5 ml of liquid starch
• Pour all of cup B into cup C, then pour back to cup B, then back to cup C (to mix it up)
• Set down cup C and watch.  Don't blink, you might miss it (may take a minute...)

Source

http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/iodine_clock_reaction.php

Ziplock Pop

Supplies

• Take the ingredients outside – this should splash
• 1 qt size zipper closed freezer bags(sandwich bags are too weak for this experiment)
• 1 cup vinegar
• ½ cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ of a tissue

Activity

• Lay the tissue flat and pour the baking soda in the middle
• Fold the tissue around the baking soda so it won't fall out
• Add the water and vinegar to the bag
• Drop the tissue with baking soda into the bag
• Seal the zipper closure tightly and give the bag a few quick shakes
• Put the bag down and have everyone step back to a safe distance

Source

From the book The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments by Sean Connolly

Elephant Toothpaste

Wow, this was a major hit.  I had all of the kids prepare their mixtures, then dump the yeast in at the same time.  Foam covered the entire table.

Supplies

• Do this experiment outside where you can easily clean up the mess
• Empty 16oz. Soda bottle
• ½ cup hydrogen peroxide.  (The stuff used for first aid will work, but the higher the concentration the more reaction, get 20-volume (6%) from a beauty supply store)
• A few squirts of dish detergent 
• A few drops of food coloring
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 2 tablespoons warm water

Activity

• Put on gloves and goggles, hydrogen peroxide can be dangerous
• Pour the hydrogen peroxide into the bottle
• Add the soap to the bottle
• Add the food coloring to the bottle
• Swirl the contents to mix
• In the plastic cup mix the warm water and yeast, stir until the yeast is dissolved
• Pour the yeast mixture into the bottle
• If nothing happens right away, give the bottle another gentle swirl to mix

Source

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/elephants-toothpaste

Soda Fountain

Another hit.  Most of the kids had seen the video, but never had a chance to actually try this.

Supplies

• Do this experiment outside – if all goes well it will be messy!
• 2 liter bottle of diet cola (does not have to be Coke brand, get the cheapest diet soda you can find)
• 4 or 5 Mentos brand mints
• Mint dropping tube (ours are built from a bottle lid, PVC pipe, PVC cap, paper clip, string.  Check out this Instructable)

Activity

• Remove the paperclip from the tube
• Place mints into the tube
• Re-insert the paperclip through the small holes, should hold the mints in the tube
• Open the bottle of diet cola
• Attach the tube to the top of the bottle, be careful the mints don't drop out!
• Stand back and pull the string so the mints drop into the bottle

Source

http://www.eepybird.com/featured-video/make-your-own-geysers

Giant Bubbles

I set this out after all the experiments were complete, and cake had been consumed.  They kept making bubbles until we ran out (impressive since I mixed about 4 gallons of bubble juice)

Supplies

• Container that has a large mouth and holds more than 1 gallon
• 2/3 cup dish washing liquid (such as Joy) (actually, use more, I ended up using about 2 cups)
• 1 gallon water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of glycerin (get it from the pharmacy – or try using 2 teaspoons of sugar if you can't get glycerin)
• Giant bubble wand (ours are made from 2 sticks with a loop of string duct taped to the ends.  Other folks have posted how to build these over on Instructables)

Activity

• In the container gently mix the ingredients.  Don't stir too fast, bubble solution works best if it isn't foamy on top
• Let the mix sit for a while, overnight if you can wait
• Hold onto the ends of the sticks, dip the string into the solution
• Raise the sticks and separate, waving through the air to make a bubble
• Try to keep the solution from foaming too much while you blow bubbles

Source

http://bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html


Good luck with your endeavors, leave a comment to let me know how it goes for you!  Go Science!

Day 1 of assembley

We began launch pad assembly today with a trip to the local hardware store.  Our plan is to make 11 ground-level launch pads, and one overhead launch pad.  We had quite an interesting cart load of PVC fittings, with 44 end caps, 22 t-connectors, etc.  Unfortunately they did no have all of the female couplers, nor did they carry tire stem valves.  No project is complete without having to make multiple treks to the store.

Of 1/2 inch PVC we had plenty from a previous project where we built a kid's sprinkler.  We just had to plan our cuts to avoid the holes I had drilled in the PVC to make the fountains. (we will revisit that project probably this summer with some lessons learned from this version)

So, cut list for one ground level launch pad:
In 1/2 inch PVC pipe cut:

• 4 pcs 6" long (side legs)
• 2 pcs 4" long (middle legs)
• 1 pcs 1" long (bottom upright)
• 1 pcs 17" long (main upright)

You will need the following connectors for 1/2" PVC:

• 4 end caps
• 3 t-connectors
• 1 male coupling
• 1 female coupling
• PVC cement

The male/female threaded couplings are optional; I want to be able to break these down for easier transport.

When we get to the trigger portion you will need

• 8 zip ties
• duct tape
• hose clamp (to fit the 1/2 inch PVC)
• The center portion from a 2 liter bottle
• String
• A scrap piece of PVC for the string to go throug

Not sure exactly how much all of this would cost, as I have a few of these laying around (particularly the 1/2 inch pipe).  Looking at my receipt:

• 1/2" end caps: 4 @ $0.26
• 1/2" tee: 3 @ $0.30
• 1/2" Female adaptor: 1 @ $0.44
• 1/2" Male adaptor: 1 @ $0.31
• Hose clamp: 1@ $1.05

So, that much is about 3 bucks.  Under $10 for the entire launch pad and I have party favors for the LDRB birthday party!

Here are some shots of construction:

Not precision cuts, due both to the fact that there are random holes in our re-used PVC, and that it is hot as heck out there!

The new batch is shorter than the Mark 1 launcher we built as proof of concept.

LDRBs

29 May 2011

This past Christmas one of the kids received this book: Soda Pop Rockets.  After reading it and doing some experiments I found that the clothes hangar launcher method described in the book just did not work well, at least in the rock hard clay soil of our area.  I was also able to get some used inner tubes from a local bike store (free!), but still had problems with reliable launching.

In the mean time, my eldest asked if she could have a rocket birthday party.  When a young lady asks to have a rocket birthday for her 13th, how could I say no?  However, we had to solve the launcher issue.  Thank goodness for the Internet and helpful people like Slater Harrison who has some wonderful instructions on his web site, sciencetoymaker.org.  His method of heating and bending PVC, along with the launch release described there, is nothing short of genius.

I have successfully implemented my Mark 1 launch pad based on the picture he attributes to Tracy Bahr of Wisconsin.

We are able to reliably and repeatedly launch 2 liter bottles to an impressive height.

So, now we are on to the project of building 10 of these launchers.  These launchers will be the party favors the kids take home from the upcoming birthday party, or

Large Dangerous Rocket Bottles

Named, of course, after the show that was on the Science Channel, which was extremely popular at our house.  I'll try to post cut lists and pictures in the coming days.

So, let the countdown begin!