Science and the scientific method provide interesting ways of describing the world and what happens around us. If you have a kid who is interested in learning more about the world through science, here are six simple science experiments you can do with them within the confines of your home.
The benefits of toothpaste
This science experiment aims to demonstrate why we brush with toothpaste.
Requirements: Four glasses, four eggs, four labels, toothpaste, and water.
- Find four glasses and label them Soda A, Soda B, Juice A, and Juice B.
- Fill the Soda glasses halfway with brown soda. Also, fill the Juice glasses halfway with lemon juice.
- Rub toothpaste on one egg until it is completely covered by the paste. Repeat with a second egg.
- Submerge one toothpaste-covered egg into the Soda A glass and the other one into the Juice A glass.
- Submerge the remaining eggs – the ones without toothpaste – into Soda B glass and Juice B glass.
- Allow the eggs to rest in the glasses for 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, remove the eggs from the Soda glasses. Rinse them with cool, clean water and dry them with a towel. Then, place them by the glass from which they were removed. Compare both eggs to see if their colors differ.
- Repeat step (7) with the Juice glasses. Feel the eggs to see if one feels softer than the other.
Result
- The egg in Soda B glass – the one without toothpaste – will become brown and discolored, while the egg in Soda A glass will maintain its original color.
- The egg in Juice B glass – the one without toothpaste – will become worn down and softer to the touch. Conversely, the egg in Juice A glass will retain its strength, preventing it from becoming worn.
Cleaning dirty pennies
Pennies are made with copper. Because they are in circulation for many years, they often get dirty and tarnished.
This experiment aims to see which liquid among soap, vinegar, soda, etc., cleans dirty copper pennies best.
Requirements: Dirty pennies, vinegar, dish soap, two paper cups, paper towel, other liquids like soda, lemon juice, etc.
- Place one dirty penny into each one of the paper cups.
- Add enough vinegar into the first paper cup to fully cover the penny.
- Add enough dish soap into the second paper cup to fully cover the penny.
- Wait for about ten minutes.
- Remove each penny from their cups and rinse them in water. Then, dry them with a paper towel.
- Compare both pennies to see which one is cleaner.
- Repeat the process with other liquids.
Result
- Vinegar contains acetic acid that dissolves the components that make pennies dull and dark. As a result, vinegar will clean your dirty pennies and have them look new and shiny.
- Dish soap is an effective cleaning agent. Unfortunately, it can’t clean copper pennies.
Static electricity hair
This experiment teaches kids about static electricity. It presents an opportunity to have a hair-raising experience with your kids.
Requirements: An inflated balloon and a piece of cloth.
- Rub the balloon with the cloth for about 40 seconds.
- Hold the balloon to your hair and the latter will stick to it.
Result
- Rubbing the balloon with the cloth transfers electrons from the latter to the former, making it negatively charged. Note that your hair is positively charged.
- Hence, the balloon and your hair will attract one another.
