First Grade Science Experiments (Page 135)

A Box Office Disappointment: Why the Book is Always Better than the Movie

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The author of this project hypothesized that movies often disappoint readers because book-based movies tend to "dumb down" the works on which they are based (Fuhrman, 2002). Naturally, selective compression is necessary when telling a story as a movie, or no one would sit through it. (Hey, maybe there's an idea for a different experiment!) Selective compression is not necessarily the same, however, as simplification. There are ways to objectively measure the complexity of written language with… Read more

A Magnifying Discovery

STEM Activity

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Have you ever looked through a magnifying lens? Why does an object look different when you look at it through the magnifying lens? Even though the object appears to get larger or smaller, it really stays the same size. Each lens has its own unique power of magnification; how powerful is your lens? Read more

A Prescription for Success: Drugs & Your Genetics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever known someone who had a bad reaction to a prescription drug? Although pharmaceutical companies test new drugs on a large number of people to make sure the drug works the way it is supposed to, often a small percentage of people respond differently to the drug. A person's genetics plays a large role in determining his or her response to a given drug. Our genes are made up of hundreds to millions of nucleotides of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the genetic code. If just a single… Read more

A Really Long Straw

STEM Activity

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Have you ever used a crazy straw? Some spiral their way up. Others have fancy colors or decorations. Some are thin and others are wide. But just about all of them leave you sipping your drink from about the same distance. Why? Wouldn't it be fun to poke your head out of an upstairs window and secretly take a sip from a drink way below? Would it even be possible? With this activity, you'll see if you can set your own record for the longest working straw! Read more

A Soluble Separation Solution

STEM Activity

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Have you ever mixed sand and salt together and wondered how you could separate them again? If you had to separate them, would you have nightmares of tiny tweezers, a magnifying glass and hours spent picking grains of salt and sand apart? Don't be afraid, there is another way! Using the differences in solubility between salt and sand, you can find the simple "solution" to this problem. Read more

A STEM Videos Breather: Doing Fun Science at Home during School Closures (Activity #24)

Blog Post

Follow along with a Science Buddies parent who is using family STEM activities to keep her kids learning at home during the COVID-19 school shutdown. New posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today's adventure... some family time with STEM videos. Family Time with STEM Videos By now, it's a theme we all know: juggling work, family, a parent's role in remote learning, and the very real anxieties of the COVID-19 pandemic... it's a lot. This past… Read more

A Sweet Earthquake Shake on Landfill

STEM Activity

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Have you ever thought about what type of ground buildings are constructed on? Rock, gravel, sand, soil and many others—there are lots of different types of "ground." And this issue becomes especially important in areas that are likely to get earthquakes. In this activity you will build a sweet building on a homemade shake table and find out how an earthquake impacts buildings constructed on landfill. How will your structure perform in a pretend earthquake? Read more

Abracadabra! Levitating with Eddy Currents!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that not all trains run on tracks? Some of the world's fastest trains are magnetic levitation trains (maglev). This means that the carriage of the train is suspended over the rails with no support, but only with magnetic fields! There is a physical explanation for magnetic levitation, and if you would like to learn more about magnetism and current, this is a science fair project that you must try! Read more

Aerodynamics and Ice Hockey

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Does the force of drag have an effect on the distance the puck will travel? Think of a way to launch the puck with a reproducible force, and examine the effect of launching the puck in different orientations on the distance it travels. For more information on the physics, see Haché, 2002. Read more

Aerodynamics of Air Hockey

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you have an air hockey table, you know that the puck floats on a thin cushion of air when the table is turned on. With little friction, the puck can travel very fast. How much lift force is created by the air? Add small amounts of weight to the puck and see when it no longer floats to measure the lift force. How many air holes (on average) support the puck? How much force is generated by each air hole? Will a puck with a larger surface area, supported by more air holes (on average),… Read more

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