All Charged Up: Wiggly WaterYOU WILL NEED A comb A water faucetHERES HOWComb your hair on a dry day. Hold the comb near a thin trickle of water from the faucet. The water should bend toward the comb.WHY?Running a comb through your hair creates friction that moves electrons from your hair to the comb, charging the comb with static electricity. The comb now has a negative charge. When you move the comb near the water, its negative charge pushes away some of the negative charge in the water, leaving the water with a positive charge. Positive and negative charges attract, so the water bends toward the comb.Magnetic Pick UpYOU WILL NEED A piece of paper A paper clip Thread Clear tape Scissors A strong magnetHERE'S HOWCut a paper kite shape about three inches long and attach a paper clip to one corner. To the opposite corner, tape a piece of thread about eight inches long. Tape the other end of the thread to a flat surface. Use a strong magnet to pick up the paper clip and extend the string to full length. Hold the kite between your fingers and slowly move the magnet away from the paper clip. When you release the kite, it flies, unattached to the magnet.WHY?Magnets have a magnetic field, an invisible force that attracts some kinds of metal. Metal objects within the magnetic field do not have to touch a magnet to be pulled by magnetism

Eggs-Periments: Squishy EggYOU WILL NEED One raw egg Vinegar Large bowlHERE'S HOW1. Put a raw egg (in its shell) into a bowl and cover it completely with vinegar. 2. Wait two days, and then drain off the vinegar. When you touch the egg, it will feel rubbery. Be careful not to break the membrane, and wash your hands after you touch the egg. (Throw it away after a few days.) WHY?Vinegar, an acid, dissolves the calcium in the eggshell. It's calcium that makes the shell hard. But a thin, flexible membrane just under the shell still holds the egg's shapeEggs-Periments: Balancing EggYOU WILL NEED One raw egg SaltHERES HOW1. Take the raw egg and try to balance it on a hard surface (you will have a difficult time keeping the egg balanced).2. Now, make a tiny mound of salt on a hard, smooth surface.3. Very carefully balance the egg on top of the salt, then gently blow the excess salt away. With patience and a steady hand, you should succeed.4. Note: Try this experiment without the salt about March 20, on the spring equinox, or about September 23, on the autumn equinox. During the equinoxes the sun appears directly overhead at the Equator, and the length of night and day are nearly equal worldwide. Carefully balance the egg on a hard smooth surface. If it doesn't balance, then try the experiment with some salt.WHY?Some people believe that the gravitational pull of the sun that occurs on the equinoxes can help keep an egg standing on its end. This idea is unproven, but it's interesting to test it. Another way to stand an egg upon any dayis to use salt. The salt crystals are almost perfect cubes, and they help form a pedestal that supports the egg.Eggs-Periments: Bottled EggYOU WILL NEED One peeled, hard-boiled egg Plastic or glass bottle with an opening slightly smaller than the egg Large bowl of hot water Large bowl of ice waterHERES HOW1. Put the bottle in the bowl of hot water for about five minutes.2. Move the bottle to the bowl of ice water. Wet the egg and place it pointed side down in the bottle opening. As the air inside the bottle cools, the egg will slowly move into the bottle.3. To remove the egg, hold the bottle upside down so the egg is near the opening. Blow hard into the bottle with your mouth tight against the opening. Point the bottle away from you: The egg flies out!

WHY?Hot air expands. Cold air contracts. When the air inside the bottle is heated, the molecules, or tiny air particles, inside the bottle spread out, increasing air pressure. As the air in the bottle cools, the air pressure decreases. The greater outside air pressure pushes the egg into the bottle. Blowing into the bottle raises the air pressure again. The air and the egg rush out of the bottle.Star AttractionYOU WILL NEED A dark, solid-colored umbrella Star-shaped stickers A friend

HERE'S HOW

Stick star-shaped stickers on the inside of a dark, solid-colored umbrella in the shape of the Big Dipper (see illustration). Place a sticker to represent Polaris, the North Star, in the center of the umbrella. Have a friend hold the umbrella above you. Stand under Polaris and slowly turn yourself counterclockwise. Polaris appears to stay still as the other stars circle it.

WHY?

Your turning represents the Earths rotation. Most stars appear to move as the Earth turns. But Polaris is almost exactly above the North Pole and the Earths axis. Polaris seems to stay still while the other stars seem to be whirling around it.Rock On--Fizzy FunYOU WILL NEED Vinegar Glass Small chunk of limestone rock Several different rock typesHERE'S HOWPour a half cup of vinegar into a glass. Add a small chunk of limestone rock. (Find limestone outside using a rock identification book or buy a piece at a hobby shop). Watch closely. After a few minutes the rock will start to fizz. Now try the same test with other rocks and minerals. You may not see any bubbles.WHY?Vinegar, an acid, dissolves bits of a material called calcium carbonate in the limestone. This releases carbon dioxide, a gas that rises to the surface as a stream of bubbles. Rocks that don't contain calcium carbonate won't fizz.

Create a Motion OceanHOW DOES IT WORK?Water is denser than oil. Plus, the two liquids never mix. So when the water moves, it pushes the oil around, making shapes like waves.YOU WILL NEED Clear jar with lid Water Blue food coloring Glitter Baby oil Plastic floating toys1. Fill the jar halfway with water.2. Add drops of food coloring until you like the color you see. Shake in a little glitter.3. Pour in baby oil until the jar is three-quarters full.4. Place a floating toy on top of the oil, then screw on the lid tightly.5. Shake the jar gently to set your ocean in motion.Magic Mixture--Apple DunkYOU WILL NEED An apple Half of a lemon Shallow bowl Water Knife (ask a parent for help)HERE'S HOWPeel and slice an apple. Cover one slice with water in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle a second slice with the juice of half a lemon. Leave another slice exposed to the air. Wait about an hour, then compare. The slice with nothing on it turns brown.WHY?When an apple is cut open, chemicals inside the apple combine with oxygen from the air to form a brown coating. The coating keeps oxygen from getting deeper into the apple. Water protects the first slice from oxygen in the air so it stays white. Vitamin C in the lemon juice binds with oxygen, keeping oxygen away from the second slice, so it stays white the longest.Make a Groovy Lava LampHOW DOES IT WORK?The secret behind the lamps lava is science. Oil is lighter, or less dense, than water, so it rises to the surface. Salt is heavier, or more dense, than water, and sinks to the bottom. When you add the salt, blobs of oil attach to the grains and sink. Then the salt dissolves, and the oil returns to the top. The result? A liquid show for the eyes.

YOU WILL NEED Clear jar with lid Water Food coloring Glitter Vegetable oil Salt FlashlightFill the jar three-quarters full of water. Add drops of food coloring until you like the color you see. A few drops go a long way! Sprinkle in glitter for extra sparkle. Fill the jar almost to the top with vegetable oil and let the mixture separate. Pour salt into the jar until you see the cool lava lamp effect. When the bubbles stop, add more salt to see it again. Shine a flashlight behind the jar to watch your lava lamp really glow!

What Absorbs More Heat?What you'll need: 2 identical drinking glasses or jars Water Thermometer 2 elastic bands or some sellotape White paper Black paper Instructions:1. Wrap the white paper around one of the glasses using an elastic band or sellotape to hold it on.2. Do the same with the black paper and the other glass.3. Fill the glasses with the exact same amount of water.4. Leave the glasses out in the sun for a couple of hours before returning to measure the temperature of the water in each. What's happening?Dark surfaces such as the black paper absorb more light and heat than the lighter ones such as the white paper. After measuring the temperatures of the water, the glass with the black paper around it should be hotter than the other. Lighter surfaces reflect more light, that's why people where lighter colored clothes in the summer, it keeps them cooler.

What is Your Lung Volume?What you'll need: Clean plastic tubing A large plastic bottle Water Kitchen sink or large water basinInstructions:1. Make sure the plastic tubing is clean2. Put about 10cm of water into your kitchen sink.3. Fill the plastic bottle right to the top with water.4. Put your hand over the top of the bottle to stop water escaping when you turn it upside down.5. Turn the bottle upside down. Place the top of the bottle under the water in the sink before removing your hand.6. Push one end of the plastic tube into the bottle.7. Take a big breath in.8. Breathe out as much air as you can through the tube.9. Measure the volume of air your lungs had in them.10. Make sure you clean up the area to finish.What's happening?As you breathe out through the tube, the air from your lungs takes the place of the water in the bottle. If you made sure you took a big breath in and breathed out fully then the resulting volume of water you pushed out is equivalent to how much air your lungs can hold. Having a big air capacity in your lungs means you can distribute oxygen around your body at a faster rate. The air capacity of lungs (or VO2 max) increases naturally as children grow up but can also be increased with regular exercise.

Baking Soda & Vinegar VolcanoWhat you'll need: Baking Soda (make sure it's not baking powder) Vinegar A container to hold everything and avoid a big mess! Paper towels or a cloth (just in case) Instructions:1. Place some of the baking soda into your container. 2. Pour in some of the vinegar 3. Watch as the reaction takes place! What's happening?The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base while the vinegar (acetic acid) is an acid. When they react together they form carbonic acid which is very unstable, it instantly breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide, which creates all the fizzing as it escapes the solution.For extra effect you can make a realistic looking volcano. It takes some craft skills but it will make your vinegar and baking soda eruptions will look even more impressive.

Amazing melting properties of saltTest #1:1. Take 2 cups of water.2. Place about a tablespoon of salt in one of the cups.3. Place both cups in the freezer.4. Check each cup about every 10 minutes. Can you guess which one will freeze first?Test #2:1. Now grab a ice cube out of the freezer.2. Place the ice cube on a plate and begin sprinkling salt on the ice cube. Melt Down! Now you can understand why people put salt on their icy driveways.Salt lowers the freezing point of water. Normally, water freezes when the temperature reaches about 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). When you mix salt with water you actually lower this freezing point. Salty water will still freeze but the temperature has to be colder than it would for normal water. How much colder? That depends upon how much salt you put in the water. The more salt you add the colder it must get before the water freezes.Homemade Clouds in a Bottle1. Put a small amount of water into the jar. Just enough to cover the bottom.2. Place the glove into the jar with the fingers pointing down. Stretch the mouth of the glove over the top of the jar.3. Carefully insert your hand into the glove being careful not to break the seal. Pull your hand (with the glove still on it) outward quickly. Make sure you don't break the seal.4. Now remove the glove and drop a lit match into the jar. Quickly put the glove back into the jar and seal it again.5. Put your hand back into the glove and quickly pull it outward again.Surprised! The clouds form when you pull the glove outward and disappear when you put your hand back into the jar.

Make an Electromagnet

A large iron nail (about 3 inches) About 3 feet of THIN COATED copper wire A fresh D size battery Some paper clips or other small magnetic object

1. Leave about 8 inches of wire loose at one end and wrap most of the rest of the wire around the nail. Try not to overlap the wires. 2. Cut the wire (if needed) so that there is about another 8 inches loose at the other end too. 3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. See picture below. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery - be careful though, the wire could get very hot!) 4. Now you have an ELECTROMAGNET! Put the point of the nail near a few paper clips and it should pick them up! NOTE: Making an electromagnet uses up the battery somewhat quickly which is why the battery may get warm, so disconnect the wires when you are done exploring.

Magnetic attraction experimentWhat you need: modelling clay sharp pencil with an eraser horseshoe magnetActivity:Roll the modelling clay into a fist-size ball.Flatten it to make a cone shape.Push the eraser end of the pencil into the clay so it stands upright.Balance the horseshoe magnet on the pencil lead.The magnet will slowly move itself in a north-south direction.