Thomas

Saturday 25 February 2017

Science Play~Dancing Popcorn

I'm always looking for simple, fast and fun science experiments we can work on.

Here's one we have done recently and had tons of fun with.

For dancing popcorn, you need:
un popped popcorn kernels,
baking soda,
water,
White vinegar
A clear container such as a drinking glass or an old bar from the recycling bin.

What we did:

We added water to the clear container, added some baking soda and stirred it until the baking soda was disolved.

We then placed about 20 popcorn kernels into 2 glasses. Then we added some vinegar.
 At first nothing happened, so we talked about waiting to see, or adding more vinegar. We decided to add more vinegar to one and more baking soda to the other and waited.

Within a couple of minutes the kernels were moving from the top of the glass to the bottom, going up and down.

The popcorn "danced" for several hours, and although we left the project after awhile, we went back to see how much they were still moving every few minutes.

Have you ever tried this, or an experiment similar to this? I've read about doing this same idea using bits of uncooked spaghetti noodles.

Peace, joy and love until next time!

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Snow Fort

Winter's here!

Although our snow didn't fall until December this year, when it started it didn't stop. And what else to do with all that snow? Build things with it of course.


My idea started before snow hit, and I attempted to build a small hill to slide down in the backyard. With some wood as the start of my sides, I started piling up the snow. I dug out paths and built up the walls, with some help of course from my little helpers. Most of the time they were more interested in trying to climb while I threw the snow up, but we all had fun.

As I made the hill higher, a second idea hit me. Why Not build a fort the slide could go into?


I started more walls, and with that a second hill, this time to dig out a shelter similar to a quinzee (winter snow shelter).

By the end, we had a snow shelter, a tunnel, a hill to slide down and another snow "room" with just walls.

Unfortunately, it's beauty didn't last because we had a warm spell (+3 Celsius in mid January?!) but the fort still stands.

What keeps you busy during cold, snowy months?

Peace and love until next time.