Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I came upon this project on the forum but i need more explaination.....

1) buy 2 diffrent soaps
2)Have 2 cotten balls with alcohol on them
3)get 2 Zip lock bags
4)Have your child play in the dirt
5)wash hands with 1 soap (count to 50)
6)wipe cotten ball over hands and place it in the zip lock bag
7) repeat 4-6
Which Soap Works Best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how do i know which soap works best????????

Hi AAD,

This sounds like a good start to an interesting project. You have to decide how you are going to measure the action of the soap. You could set up a scale (1 thru 5) for how dirty the cotton balls are in your ziploc bags. 5 would be very dirty and 1 would be completely clean. Then after you complete the experiment you would look at each cotton ball and rate it according to your scale. Then you can compare the ratings for the different soaps.

Also check out our project guide, there is a lot of great information to get you started.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... l?From=Tab

Let me know if you have any more questions.

-Kierstyn

Thanks for ur answer

I am wondering on the procedure of the project. I mean I wash my hands with soap A and then rub the alchohol cotton on my hand but wo'nt it be clean since i washed my hand with soap and water so how will the cotton ball pick the dirt????????

Hi AAD,

You raise a great question. If both of the soaps you choose are good you may not be able to see anything on your cotton balls. There is a similar project on our web page that looks at hand washing. Instead of looking for dirt left behind you look for germs (bacteria, viruses, and fungi).


https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p018.shtml


In this project you use a gel (glogerm) on your hands that makes the germs on your hands glow under a UV light. There is a kit you can purchase that provides the gel and the UV light. So you can have volunteers wash their hands and then look to see where the germs are after they wash their hands. The link I listed above has all the background information and a very good procedure. Take a look at it and let me know if you have any more questions.

-Kierstyn

Thanks for the link

thats another project i have planned for my other son (ok i have triplets in K so i need 3 project ideas) , the first one was the one i asked on "which soap works best" , next " will the crackers in the box break or the one in ziplog" (can you suggest the theme on this project??????????????) and last one is one you mentioned "how germs spread" (I plan to do with glitters)...

Hi AAD,

It is wonderful that all of your kids are getting into science! I am unfamiliar with a project on crackers. If you post the link where you got this project idea I can take a look at it and answer your questions. I found a related project on our web page that looks at the amount of grease in potato chips or crackers. You smash the crackers onto a piece of graph paper and then count the number of squares that are stained with grease. You can compare a few different types of crackers. Here is the link:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p048.shtml

Let me know what you think,

Kierstyn

here's the video link to the experiment on crackers in box ...its simple for K so i wanted to do it. but donno whats the name of the project should be??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R26hu8SchaY

Hello AAD,

I think it is great that you are undertaking so many science projects with your children.
For the name of the crackers science project, what about "Study of the protecting properties of different packaging"?

Heloise

Hi AAD,

The crackers project you posted looks really interesting. The best part is the kids can eat the results at the end! Heloise suggested a really great title. You want to make sure it describes what the project is about. Another possibility is: "Box vs. Bag: Which package will protect the crackers?"

Kierstyn

Thanks everyone....

you can see by looking at the hands or photographic documentation , you take a picture and compare two pictures or write down notes for it.it's best not to use brands , [ too commercial ] , so compare the ingredient and quantities , so you can find the best soap mix.
hope it helps

I was surfing to find some interesting stuff for kids at the Phoenix kindergarten where I have been teaching since last 5 years. Soap project appears easy and interesting to me. I am surely going to try it out with kids. Thanks for sharing!