Activities | Science Buddies Blog (Page 12)

July 27, 2016 12:32 PM

In this family STEM activity, students can use ordinary table sugar to test the accuracy of their oven. Does the temperature inside the oven really match the temperature it shows? Find out with a kitchen science experiment! The Melting Point of SugarWhen following a recipe, you are typically given both a temperature for the oven and an amount of time that the food should cook. If you have ever pulled out a tray of brownies, a cake, muffins, or cookies only to find they aren't done when the… Read more

Water Treatment Center Science

July 21, 2016 11:45 AM

In this family STEM activity, kids model the process a water treatment plant uses to turn murky water into clear water. Water Treatment Science Clear water doesn't necessarily mean safe-to-drink water, but you definitely don't want to drink water that looks dirty, murky, or otherwise has things visibly floating in it. Water that is collected in water treatment plants, however, may be exactly like that in the beginning, turbid water full of floating… Read more

Toothbrush Robots at Home

July 14, 2016 11:00 AM

You won't even need batteries to do this family-friendly robotics activity with your kids. Explore robotics design with a fun low-tech setup! How does the slant of toothbrush bristles affect the way a bristlebot-style robot moves? Simple Robot for Kids Robots are fun for kids of all ages. With a few electronics parts, kids can make and explore simple robots like Bristlebots and Art Bots that skitter around on toothbrush, brush, or even magic marker legs. Projects like these make excellent… Read more

Binocular Vision Eye Science

July 7, 2016 11:00 AM

In this family STEM activity, put your eyes to the test... alone and as a working unit! How do your eyes work together to help you see? Eye Science Your eyes help you see what is in front of you, but have you ever thought about how your eyes work together (with your brain) to make sense of what you see? We have two eyes, but together our brain processes a single image. How does this work? When you look through a pair of binoculars, you place each eye in front of one of the eye pieces.… Read more

Make Your Own Kazoo

June 30, 2016 8:00 AM

In this family STEM activity, perfect timed for summer parades, kids make kazoos and experiment to find out what gives a kazoo its sound. Kazoo Science With just a few household and craft materials, kids can make their own kazoos and explore the physics behind this classic noisemaker. A kazoo resembles a flute or clarinet, but your kids may be surprised to learn that a kazoo is more closely related to a drum! Following the steps of this week's family… Read more

Simple Machines and Potato Holes

June 23, 2016 9:00 AM

In this family STEM activity, kids are challenged to find the easiest way to drill holes in a raw potato. There is a "simple machine" key to this challenge! Simple Machine Power A raw potato can be pretty firm, and trying to punch or drill holes into it can be more difficult than you might expect. Science, however, holds the key to making it easy! In this week's family-friendly science activity, students experiment with pencils and straws to find the… Read more

Sweet and Sour Tasty Kitchen Science

June 21, 2016 5:00 AM

Family STEM experiment invites sweet and sour taste test fun. What balance of vinegar and sweetener will taste best to your kitchen scientists? Kitchen Mixing Some foods are specifically created to be sour, or even very, very, tongue-wrinkling sour, and others are designed to appeal to our sense of sweet. Many tasty foods even combine ingredients with qualities of sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and savory. Cooks and other food scientists work hard to create amazing and mouthwatering foods… Read more

DIY Family Circuit Science

June 16, 2016 9:00 AM

Take apart a simple flashlight and reassemble parts to explore basic circuits in this home science activity. What materials make good conductors of electricity? Find out when you test household materials to "close" a homemade circuit. Exploring Circuits and Conductors In this week's family-friendly science activity, kids learn about electricity by taking apart a small flashlight and using the parts to create a simple circuit. With a few wires that might be salvaged from a household junk… Read more

Clean Water and Aquifer Science

June 9, 2016 10:00 AM

Is rainwater that seeps into the ground and passes through layers of soil clean or dirty? In this week's family science spotlight, kids explore how the passage of water through underground layers can result in storages of groundwater that are surprisingly clean! Above: students can explore aquifers and filtration with simulated "dirty water" and model collection bins. Natural Water Filtering In this week's family-friendly science activity, students experiment to see how the process of… Read more

Spot the Dot Eye Science

June 2, 2016 10:00 AM

Can you make things seem to disappear by taking advantage of how your brain and eyes work together? Put it to the test in this week's family science activity! In the image above, can you see all three colored dots? Is one harder to see than the others? What will happen if you lift the wax paper off of the background paper, keeping it between your eyes and the dots and gradually increasing the distance between the dots and the wax paper? In this week's family-friendly science activity,… Read more

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