mess fest - the franklin institute fest.pdf · 2018-04-12 · mess fest theme: polymers mix it up...

Mess FestTheme:

Polymers Mix It Up Cool and Colorful Biology Bubbles

9:00 Book: Dirty Gert, Tedd Arnold

Book: Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Dr. Seuss

Book: A Day with No Crayons, Elizabeth Rusch

Book: Giant Squid, Candace Fleming

Book: Bubble Homes & Fish Farts, Fiona Bayrock

9:30 What is a Polymer game / Slime Lava Lamps Color Mixing Squid Dissection Bubble Solution

10:00Snack Snack Snack Snack Snack

10:30Floam Oil Spill Clean Up Messy Mud Shirts:

prep shirts / mix dye / dye shirts

Rinse / Hang Shirts

Squ-inking Elephant Toothpaste

11:00 Polyurethane Foam Milkshakes Rebel (Soap) Scum Glowing Organisms Milk Soap Fireworks

11:30Gel Crystal Hydroponics Alka-Seltzer Rockets

Chromatography Butterfly Cow Eye Dissection

Alka-Seltzer Rockets (Test Variables)

12:15

Lunch / Recreational Activities





1:30Instamorph Structures Best Oobleck Recipe

Alka-Seltzer Rockets - Exploding Art Hands-On Digestion Kablooey Tag

2:00 Paint Milkshakes / Instamorph Giant Oobleck Pit

Alka-Seltzer Color Change Watermelon Blast Bubble Wands

2:30 Wrap up/ Clean up Wrap up/ Clean up Wrap up/ Clean up Wrap up/ Clean up Wrap up/ Clean up

3:00 Pickup Pickup Pickup Pickup Pickup

Mess FestBig Messy idea: Science is messy, but those messes have a lot to teach us.

Day Theme Why?

Monday Polymers Polymers are everywhere and have interesting, predictable properties that can make them very useful for making things.

Tuesday Mix It Up Messes require teamwork to make, understand, and/or clean up.

WednesdayCool and Colorful

Messes can help us be creative, scientists need to be very creative to help them solve problems with new procedures or materials and to come up with new solutions to test.

Thursday BiologyHuman and animal bodies can be quite icky, but that ickiness helps us know how life forms

work in fascintating ways.

Friday BubblesMesses can be surprising and unexpected which can ignite your curiosity to figure out what

happened and how you can make it happen again.

Big Chemistry ideas:

Chemistry is about the properties of materials and the reactions that can change them.

- Materials behave in different ways when combined.

- Materials may combine to form new substances.

- The physical properties of a material can change in different ways as conditions change.

Table of Contents Mess Fest

Theme Activity Name

Polymers What is a Polymer?

Slime

Floam

Polyurethane Milkshakes

Gel Crystal Hydroponics

Instamorph Structures

Mix It Up Lava Lamps

Oil Spill Cleanup

Rebel (Soap) Scum

Alka-Seltzer Rockets

Oobleck

Cool and Colorful Color Mixing

Messy Mud Shirts

Chromatography Butterfly

Alka-Seltzer Color Change

Biology Squid Dissection

Squ-inking

Glowing Organisms

Cow's Eye Dissection

Hands-on Digestion

Watermelon Blast

Bubbles Bubbles and Bubble wands

Elephant Toothpaste

Milk Soap Fireworks

Kablooey Tag

WHAT IS A POLYMER?

ACTIVITY TYPE: Active game and demonstration AUDIENCE: K - 4th grade TIME FRAME: 15 - 20 minutes

SUMMARY: Campers will learn more about what polymers are and how they behave.

MATERIALS: Materials for Polymer Race

● Stopwatch

● Large hallway or other defined space, approximately the width of 3 - 4 campers

standing with arms outstretched

Materials cross-linking demonstration

● Bag of white Velcro strips (representing polymer chains)

● Black Velcro discs (representing cross-linking agent)

SAFETY: Children will be running around; provide enough space for free movement and remove

tripping hazards.

ENGAGE: ● What do you know about polymers?

● What is a polymer?

● What are examples of things that are polymers?

● These activities will help us figure out what polymers are and some of the ways

they can behave.

PROCEDURE: Polymer Race

1. Ask for one or two volunteers to demonstrate how fast they can run across the

space. Time them and record the times.

created by THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

2. Now ask the remaining campers to form “polymer molecules” by linking hands in

groups of three and filling up the space. They may move only if pushed by a

runner and should not let their handholds be broken.

3. Have the original volunteers run through the space again, and record the times.

4. Experiment with different approaches – which works better: weaving slowly

around the “polymer” strings or crashing headlong into them?

5. Rotate the “runners” with the “polymers” as needed if others want to try different

roles.

6. (Optional) Now tell the “polymers” that they are a new kind of polymer which can

catch the runners by surrounding them or sandwiching them between two

“molecules.” How does that change what happens to the runners?

Cross-Linking Demonstration

1. Use the large-scale demonstration to explain how cross-linking changes the way

polymers behave. Have children create several small polymer chains by snapping

the white Velcro strips together. Put the chains into the plastic bag.

2. Ask a child to reach into the bag and pull out a black Velcro strip; they will only

pull out one. Explain that the polymer chains start out separate and can easily

move around each other--until a second chemical comes along and joins them

together.

3. Throw in the white Velcro discs, shake the bag, and have the volunteer try to pull

out a strip again. Practically the whole bag will come out in a tangled mess. The

Velcro circles act as cross-linking agents, connecting the polymer chains together.

4. (Optional) Have the group demonstrate crosslinking in a similar way to the

polymer race: Link children in chains of 3 - 4 and ask them to move around and

past each other (without dropping hands). Then identify several campers as

“crosslinkers,” and have them hold on to one chain with one hand and a different

chain with the other hand. Ask the chains to try moving again; how is it different?


WHAT’S THE SCIENCE?

Polymers are large molecules consisting of repeating identical structural units

(monomers) connected by covalent chemical bonds. (Poly- means "many" and -mer

means "part" or "segment". Mono- means "one".) So, polymers are made up of many

smaller molecules all attached together to form very long chains.

Polymers can be naturally occurring or manmade. Proteins, DNA, starches, and rubber

are all naturally occurring polymers. Man-made polymers include plastics like nylon,

polyester, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Polymers are sort of like strings. In substances like silly putty or oobleck, long polymer

strings cause them to behave as non-Newtonian fluids—meaning they have some of the

properties of a liquid, and some of the properties of a solid. When struck hard, the

strings do not have time to move out of the way and behave like a solid (hard, doesn’t let

things through). When pushed slowly, the strands do have time to move past each other

and behave like a liquid (oozes, allows things through). But if pulled with great enough

force, the strings may break suddenly.

Hydrophilic (“water-loving”) polymers like sodium polyacrylate (SPA) can link together

around water molecules, holding them like a net. This allows them to absorb large

amounts of water, so they are used in disposable diapers, and as additives to potting soil.

Cross-linking occurs when a chemical reaction causes polymer chains to bond together at

different points along the chain. The chains can no longer slide past each other as easily,

making the substance more rigid. The more cross-linking that occurs, the harder the

polymer becomes.


SLIME ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: K - 6th grades TIME FRAME: 20 - 30 minutes

SUMMARY: Campers will explore polymers by creating

their own slime to take home.

MATERIALS: ● Small plastic cups, 5-8 oz. (1 per child)

● Craft sticks (1 per child)

● Plastic zipper bags, snack or sandwich size (1 per child)

● Plastic spoons (1 per child)

● White glue (~ ¼-cup per child)

● Water

● Green food coloring (optional)

● Borax (~ ¼ cup per class)

● Bottles or containers for Borax solution

PREPARE AHEAD: Create a saturated Borax (sodium tetraborate) solution by mixing ¼ cup of Borax with 1

quart of hot tap water and stirring well. Keep adding Borax until no more will dissolve.

Allow the mixture to cool before doing the experiment. A large batch may be made in

advance.

ENGAGE: Have you played with slime before? What does slime feel like? What can you do with it?

What other things can you think of that are like slime?

PROCEDURE: 1. Instruct children to measure 3 overflowing spoonfuls of glue into their cups.

2. Next, invite them to add 3 spoonfuls of water to the cup and a drop of food

coloring and then mix well with the craft stick until it is a consistent color.

3. Add one spoonful of the Borax solution to the glue mixture. Have children stir


again; it should begin to stick to the craft stick. Add more Borax solution if needed,

a little at a time, to get more “slime”.

4. Pull up the craft stick with all the slime stuck to it. Hold open a plastic zipper bag

and invite children to place the craft stick with slime into the bag. Then pinch the

bag together while pulling out the craft stick to get the all the slime off the craft

stick and into the bag.

5. Children may take the slime home; remind them to store it in the sealed zipper

bag to keep it from drying out.

ADAPTATIONS: For younger groups (PreK - K), you can always make one big batch all together in a large

bowl and divide it up, to allow kids to play with more slime at once.

TAKE IT FURTHER: Try different “recipes” for slime by altering the proportions of ingredients. Invite

children to choose one variable to test and explore how it changes the consistency of the

slime. What happens if there is more glue? More Borax? More food coloring? Test

different properties and write them up: stretchiness, bounciness, goopiness, etc. Rate

them on a scale of 1 - 5.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Polymers are large molecules consisting of repeating identical structural units

(monomers) connected by covalent chemical bonds. (Poly- means "many" and -mer

means "part" or "segment". Mono- means "one".) So, polymers are made up of many

smaller molecules all attached together to form very long chains. Polymers can be

naturally occurring or manmade. Proteins, DNA, starches, and rubber are all naturally

occurring polymers. Man-made polymers include plastics like nylon, polyester, and

polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Jell-O, rubber bands, plastic soda bottles, sneaker soles, even

gum are all forms of polymers.

The glue and water mixture contains long chains of a polymer called polyvinyl acetate.

When you add the borax solution, it links the long polymer chains together, changing the

liquid into a slimy glob. This is an example of a crosslinked polymer. The long polymer

chains present in the glue are linked together by the borax, creating a stiffer, more

elastic polymer.


FLOAM

ACTIVITY TYPE: Make-and-take AUDIENCE: K - 6th grades TIME FRAME: 30 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will get messy making a slimy polymer

filled with foam beads.

MATERIALS: ● ¼ cup Borax

● Hot water

● Squeeze bottles (2 - 3 per class)

● White school glue (2 - 4 oz per child)

● Polystyrene beads, 2 - 4 mm size (~½ cup per child)

● Spoons (1 per child)

● Food coloring

● Plastic cups (1 per child)

● Craft sticks (1 per child)

● Zipper sandwich bags (1 per child)

PREPARE AHEAD: Create a saturated Borax (sodium tetraborate) solution by mixing ¼ cup of Borax with 1

quart of hot tap water and stirring well. Mix in more Borax if needed. Keep adding Borax

until no more will dissolve. Allow the mixture to cool before doing the experiment. A

large batch can be made far in advance. Divide the solution into squeeze bottles.

SAFETY NOTES: Borax is a powdered detergent. Inhaling the powder or getting the solution in your eyes

can be irritating, but no more than other soap powders.

ENGAGE: What do you like about slime? What kind of things does slime do when you play with it?

Slime is a kind of polymer. What are some other polymers? What might happen if we

mixed two different polymers together?


PROCEDURE: 1. Have children measure 4 large spoonfuls of glue into their cups. The key is to get

large, overflowing spoonfuls.

2. Instruct children to add 4 spoonfuls of water to the cup and 2 - 3 drops of desired

food coloring. Mix well with the craft stick until the color is uniform throughout.

3. Ask children to carefully pour the glue mixture into a zipper bag. Add about ½ cup

of polystyrene beads to the bag. Close the bag and mix well, covering the beads as

fully as possible with the glue.

4. Have children open the bag back up and add 2 spoonfuls of the Borax solution.

Close the bag back up and mix well. If the floam mixture is still liquid, add more

Borax solution until a thick, slimy consistency is reached.

5. Invite children to compare the floam to other slime mixtures they have seen. How

is it similar or different?


● Polymers are large molecules consisting of repeating identical structural units

(monomers) connected by covalent chemical bonds. (Poly- means "many" and

-mer means "part" or "segment". Mono- means "one".) So, polymers are made up

of many smaller molecules all attached together to form very long chains.

Polymers can be naturally occurring or manmade. Proteins, DNA, starches, and

rubber are all naturally occurring polymers. Man-made polymers include plastics

like nylon, polyester, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

● Slime is an excellent example of a crosslinked polymer. Long polymer chains in

the glue are linked together by the borax, creating a stiffer, more elastic polymer.

● The foam beads are made of a man-made plastic called polystyrene. Tiny gas

bubbles blown into the polystyrene create a foam—Styrofoam—which is squishy

and can be molded into tiny beads or shaped into cups and other containers.

● These two polymers don’t chemically change or react with one another when

combined into floam—they just create a mixture with a very interesting texture!


POLYURETHANE FOAM MILKSHAKES

ACTIVITY TYPE: Make-and-take AUDIENCE: 2nd - 8th grades TIME FRAME: 20 - 30 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will create a polymer “milkshake”

using a thermoset polymer.

MATERIALS: ● 7 - 9 oz. plastic drinking cup (1 per child)

● Wooden craft sticks for stirring (1 per child)

● Paper towels

● Disposable gloves (1 pair per child)

● Soda straws (1 per child)

● Craft paint

● Paint brushes (1 per child)

● Polyurethane foam system from Flinn Scientific (1 system per class)

● Small graduated cylinders, 10 mL or 25 mL (2 per class)

● Safety goggles (1 per child)

SAFETY NOTES: Wear safety goggles or glasses and disposable gloves while performing this experiment.

Make sure the room has adequate ventilation. Avoid breathing the vapor, and keep the

containers tightly closed when not in use.

Polyurethane foam system Part A contains a poly ether polyol, a tertiary amine, and a

silicone surfactant; this material may be an irritant to the skin and eyes. Polyurethane

foam system Part B contains polyfunctional isocyanates. This material may be an irritant

to the skin and eyes and may cause an allergic response.


ENGAGE: What are some of the polymers we’ve explored today? What did we do with them? How

were they the same and different? We are going to use another type of polymer, called a

thermoset polymer to create a plastic milkshake—and make a big foamy mess!

Review the safety precautions of wearing gloves and goggles for this experiment. Be

clear that although this mixture will look like an overflowing milkshake, it is not safe to

drink!

PROCEDURE: 1. Ask children to put on gloves and goggles. Distribute cups, popsicle sticks, and

straws.

2. For each child, measure 10 mL of polyurethane foam system Part A and pour into

the plastic cup.

3. Measure 10 mL of polyurethane foam system Part B for each camper and add it into

the cup containing Part A.

4. Instruct children to spread a paper towel flat on the table and place the cup of

liquid in the center of the towel. Invite them to stir the liquid thoroughly until the

mixture is uniform in color.

5. Once it is well-mixed, they should remove the popsicle stick and observe the

reaction. What happens? Ask them to feel the side of the cup and notice its

temperature.

6. When the mixture has risen about halfway up the cup, add the soda straw.

(Remember, this is for decoration only!)

7. Caution children not to touch the foam. It is very sticky and may contain some

unreacted material. It will take about 5-10 minutes for the surface to set and 24

hours to cure completely.

8. Optional: Once the polymer is set, allow campers to paint or decorate their

creations.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS Food coloring can be used to dye Part A of the polyurethane system to create colored

foam. Don’t use too much food dye as it can weaken the reaction.



Polyurethane foam is a type of thermoset polymer. These are different from

thermoplastics like InstaMorph. Thermoplastics have no, or only limited, crosslinking.

When these materials are re-heated, they will soften and eventually melt. Thermoset

polymers like the one in this activity have a high amount of crosslinking, and they form

new chemical bonds that cannot be reversed. Once they have been heated, they are “set”

and cannot be remolded. Thermosets are durable and heat-resistant and are used for

things like computer chips, dental fillings, and eyeglass lenses.

Polyurethane foam is made from a two-part liquid material. Part A consists of a polymer

called a poly ether polyol, as well as a catalyst which speeds up the reaction and a

surfactant which helps keep the components mixed together. Part B contains a second

polymer, a polyisocyanate. When A and B are mixed, the two polymers react (with the

help of the catalyst) to create a new, highly crosslinked polymer. This happens in three

directions at once, leading to a large, net-like molecule that has a stiff, three-dimensional

structure. The reaction is exothermic—it generates heat; this heat also helps to “set” the

polymer.

During the polymerization reaction, a small amount of water reacts with some of the

diisocyanate and produces carbon dioxide gas which causes the solution to foam and to

expand in volume. As the polymer hardens, the gas bubbles are trapped inside, creating

a honeycomb-like structure.

Depending on the process used to create it, polyurethane foam can be either hard, like

the milkshake, or softer and more flexible. Because of this, it is used for many things,

including packaging, insulation, furniture cushions and mattresses, flotation devices, and

as sealant to plug holes in building walls.


GEL CRYSTAL HYDROPONICS

ACTIVITY TYPE: Make-and-take AUDIENCE: 2nd - 6th grades TIME FRAME: 30 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will explore the

water-absorbing power of a

polymer as a medium for

growing plants.

MATERIALS: ● Water-absorbing gel crystals (12 - 16

oz bag per class)

● Water

● Bins or bowls (3 per class)

● Food coloring (red, blue, yellow)

● Grass seed (~1 tsp per camper)

● Clear cups with lids (1 per camper)

● Liquid plant food (1 small bottle)

● Markers and/or stickers to decorate

PREPARE AHEAD: Dye pitchers of water to desired color and dissolve nutrients or plant food into the water.

Only 10 - 20 drops of liquid plant food is needed per quart of water.

Make large batches of gel crystal mixture in bins using the water mixture. Add one

teaspoon of gel crystals to every 1.5 cups of water. Ideally, make three separate

containers, one in each of the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.


SAFETY: The liquid plant food should be handled by an adult, or with adult supervision. Gel

crystals are non-toxic but should not be consumed.

ENGAGE: What do plants need to survive and grow? Plants need sunlight, water, and nutrients.

They do not need soil itself, but rather the nutrients found in soil. Today we are going to

plant seeds in a substance different from soil.

PROCEDURE: 1. Show the group some dry gel crystals. Invite them to make predictions about what

will happen if you add water to them.

2. Add water to the crystals, a little at a time. Ask children to make observations about

what happens. How much water will the crystals absorb? How could these crystals

be used in place of soil?

3. Give each child a cup and a lid. Pass out permanent markers for children to put

their names on their cups.

4. Invite children to fill their cups ¾ full with gel crystal mixture. If more than one

color is available, allow them to be creative and mix or layer the colors.

5. Once children have their cups filled with gel crystals, pass out seeds for them to

plant. Each child can have a large pinch of grass seed. The seeds may simply be

sprinkled on top of the gel, but children may also press them slightly into the gel as

they would with soil.

6. Put the lids on top and set aside in a sunny place to grow!

TAKE IT FURTHER: Invite children to further investigate the properties of the absorbent polymer. How much

water can one spoonful of crystals absorb? What happens if the crystals are left out in an

uncovered container instead of a covered one?

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: As campers take turns waiting to fill their cups with the gel crystals, let them decorate

their cups with sharpies and stickers to minimize waiting time.

If this activity is done at the beginning of the week, children can observe their seeds

sprouting throughout the week and take their plants home on Friday.


WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Soil does not make plants grow. It is merely a medium that supports the plants’ roots. It

is the water and nutrients within the soil, as well as photosynthesis from sunlight, which

make the plants grow. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, by

providing all nutrients to the plants through a nutrient and water solution, and

supporting the roots through the use of a medium.

The crystals used as a medium in this activity are made from a super-absorbent

polyacrylamide polymer. The strands of the polymer link together around water

molecules, holding them like a net. Each crystal can hold up to 300 times its weight in

water, making them useful for many industrial purposes, including gardening and

agriculture (and even disposable diapers!) Gardeners can mix these crystals into their

soil to help hold water for their plants. Over time the water is either used by the plants or

evaporates, and the crystals shrink back to their original size. The children will see this

with their plants over a few weeks. Adding water to the container will cause the crystals

to swell again.


INSTAMORPH STRUCTURES

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: 2nd - 8th grades TIME FRAME: 45 minutes

SUMMARY: Campers will explore the properties of a

polymer that can be melted and molded into

new shapes.

MATERIALS: ● InstaMorph (1 - 2 oz per child)

● Hotplate (or stove/microwave as backup)

● Glass measuring cups or beakers (1 per 3 - 4 children)

● Thermometer

● Tongs (1 per 2 - 3 children)

● Bowl of ice water

● (Optional) Small toys to add features to (LEGO people, plastic dinosaurs,

animal figures)

SAFETY NOTES: Use caution when heating water, using stove, or using a hotplate. Heating InstaMorph

above 150°F may lead to InstaMorph sticking to more things and increasing likelihood of

heat-related injuries.

ENGAGE: Have you ever wanted to change and modify your own toys? How do you think those

toys are made in the first place? Using a kind of polymer called a thermoplastic that we

can mold into any shape we want, we can make our own toy adaptations!

PROCEDURE: 1. Heat water to between 150°-160°F, enough for each group of 3 - 4 children to have 2-

3 cups. Water can be heated up on a stovetop or in a microwave. If possible, heat

the water in glass containers. Remember: water boils at 212°F; if the water is

boiling, it is too hot.


2. Pour InstaMorph pellets into the water. Use about 1-2 tablespoons of InstaMorph

per child. Wait approximately two minutes or until the white InstaMorph pellets

turn clear and stick together.

3. Carefully take the InstaMorph out of the water using tongs, taking care to gently

squeeze out any water and merging the pellets together.

4. Once removed from the water, the InstaMorph

should be cool enough to mold by hand. Use

caution, especially with younger children, to be

sure it is not too hot for them to handle. Allow to

cool further if necessary.

5. Encourage children to use the InstaMorph to

make shapes and/or mold it onto their toy. Let

them give their toy new features such as horns,

hats, wings, or fins.

6. The InstaMorph sets rather quickly as it is being

worked with. It can be submerged into the hot

water again to bring back its pliability. This can

be done as many times as needed.

7. Once the campers have finished their creations, let them cool to room temperature.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: ● Making adaptations to the toys work best if the addition is fully wrapped around

the object, such as over a head or hand. The plastic doesn’t bond like glue, so the

InstaMorph creation can fall off easily.

● Keep a container of the hot water and tongs for each group of campers at a table

so they can soften and reform the InstaMorph as needed.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? InstaMorph is a type of thermoplastic, or thermosoftening plastic. These are polymers

that become pliable or moldable above a specific temperature and solidify again when

cooled. This change is reversible, meaning that the material can be repeatedly softened

and re-hardened with changes in temperature. Most thermoplastics have a high

molecular weight (meaning the polymer chains are very long), and they have no, or only

limited, crosslinking. The polymer chains are held together through the weaker bonds of

intermolecular forces, which break more easily with heating and allow the polymer to

become a viscous liquid.


Thermoplastics are often used to produce toys, machine parts, and other objects by

injection molding—the process of injecting a liquid into a shaped mold and allowing it to

cool and harden. Because thermoplastics can be reheated and reformed, objects made

from them can often be recycled (depending on what other additives were added to the

plastic). Some examples of everyday thermoplastics are polyethylene (shampoo bottles,

plastic grocery bags), polystyrene (CD cases, plastic cups, Styrofoam), and poly vinyl

chloride or PVC (plumbing pipes, hoses, inflatable toys).

Thermosoftening plastics are different from thermoset plastics. Thermosetting polymers

have a high amount of crosslinking, and they form new chemical bonds when heated

that cannot be reversed. Once they have been heated, they are “set” and cannot be

remolded. Thermosets are durable and heat-resistant and are used for things like

computer chips, dental fillings, and eyeglass lenses, but because the setting process is

irreversible, they are more difficult to recycle.


LAVA LAMP

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: K - 6th grades TIME FRAME: 30 minutes

SUMMARY: As a group, campers will create a lava lamp to

explore the physical properties of some

common liquids.

MATERIALS ● Empty 8 - 12 oz plastic water bottles (1

per child)

● Vegetable oil (6 - 9 oz per child)

● Water

● Color fizz bath tablets, or food coloring

and Alka-Seltzer tablets (1 per child)

● (Optional) flashlight

ENGAGE: We are going to make a lava lamp! Who has seen one before? What do you think the

blobs inside the lava lamp are? How do they move? Let’s see if we can find out.

PROCEDURE: 1. Invite children to create a lava lamp using the steps below:

2. Fill the plastic bottle ¼ full of water.

3. Fill it the rest of the way with vegetable oil, leaving about an inch of space at the

top.

4. Tilt or swirl the bottle gently.

● What do you observe about the oil and water? Do they mix together?

5. Open the lid and drop in one color fizz tablet. (DO NOT put the lid back on--the

pressure from the gas created might pop the lid off or cause the bottle to explode!)

● What do you notice happening?

● How is it different from putting a fizz tablet in just water?

6. Try putting a flashlight under the bottle to see what the lava lamp looks like now!


7. Watch the reaction over time. How does it change? If children want to create the

reaction again, they can use a piece of an Alka-Seltzer tablet or another color fizz

tablet to restart the reaction.

8. Note: If campers make individual lava lamps to take home, leave them sitting with

the lids off until the end of the day. Even after the visible bubbling has stopped,

small amounts of gas continue to be produced and can build up pressure if the lids are

on.

TAKE IT FURTHER: Ask campers what parts of the experiment they could change. What effects do they think

those changes might have? Choose one or two ideas and test them, such as

● Amounts of oil and water: just oil, just water, different ratios, etc.

● Amounts of fizz tablets or Alka-Seltzer

● Color of fizz tablets or food coloring

● Size or shape of container

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? This lava lamp depends on differences in the properties of water and vegetable oil. The

first property is polarity. Polarity refers to how electrical charges are spread out over

the molecules in a substance. Polar substances have an uneven distribution of charge, so

each molecule has a positively charged end and a negatively charged end. Nonpolar

substances have evenly distributed charges, and therefore no positive or negative ends.

Polar substances tend to only mix with other polar substances; nonpolar substances only

mix with other nonpolar substances. Water is polar and oil is nonpolar—this is why

oil and water don’t mix! They will each mix well with other things like themselves, but

will separate from each other.

The second property is density. Density is defined as the amount of mass in a given

volume of the substance—in other words how much “stuff” is in a certain amount of

space. An object that is less dense than its surroundings will float and an object that is

denser than its surroundings will sink. Oil is less dense than water, and so will tend to

float on top, while water sinks to the bottom.

When you drop the color fizz tablet into the bottle it sinks to the bottom (because it is

denser than either water or oil). Then it dissolves into the water and creates carbon

dioxide gas bubbles. The bubbles of gas rise from the bottom (because gas is less

dense than both water and oil), taking a little bit of the colored water with them to


the surface of the oil. Once the gas has escaped out of the top of the bottle the water

droplet will fall back through the oil layer to the water layer. The water droplets don’t

mix with the oil because of their difference in polarity. (Notice that the coloring in the

fizz tablets is also polar—it mixes with the water, but doesn’t color the nonpolar oil.)

How does a real Lava Lamp work?

A real lava lamp works on the same principle: changing the density of something so it

will float and then sink. It consists of two waxes, one slightly denser than the other,

whose polarity is different enough that they won’t mix.

The denser one is heated up by the lamp at the bottom, which makes it expand slightly

and become less dense so that it will float on the other one. It then floats to the surface--a

bit like a hot air balloon. At the top it begins to cool down and sinks back to the

bottom--where it heats up again, starting the process over.


OIL SPILL CLEAN UP

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: 2nd - 8th grades TIME FRAME: 30 - 45 minutes

SUMMARY: Campers will explore the separation of mixtures as they determine the best way to clean

up a model oil spill.

MATERIALS: ● Clear plastic pans, bins, or bowls, 3 - 6

qts (1 per group of 2 - 3 children)

● Vegetable oil (2 - 3 oz per group)

● Cocoa powder (1 - 2 Tbsp per group)

● Cup (1 per group)


● Yarn

● Paper towels

● Feathers

● Cotton balls

● Shredded paper

● Craft sticks

● Bins for trash

● Paper towels (super absorbent brands)

● Dawn dish soap

PREPARE AHEAD:

Make “crude oil” by mixing some cocoa powder into the

vegetable oil in a cup. The brown, sludgy mixture looks

more like crude oil and makes it easier to see. Place a pan

with water at each table for each group to work with. Also

set out trash bins at each table and some paper towels.

SAFETY NOTES:


Allergy concerns: vegetable oil and cocoa powder. Children will not eat it but may come

into contact with it. Check for allergies and take necessary precautions..

ENGAGE: Sometimes humans can make big messes. Ones that we need to clean up. Oil spills are

very harmful to plants and animals and are almost impossible to clean up. What is the

best way to clean up oil that spills into an ocean, river, or lake? We are going to

experiment to see what kinds of materials might be best for cleaning up oil spills on

water.

PROCEDURE: 1. Divide the class into into groups of 2 - 3.

2. Fill the pans or bowls halfway with water. Pour about 3 tablespoons of the “crude”

oil on top to make a layer of oil. Ask campers to make observations:

● What is the oil doing?

● What does it look like?

● How might it affect plants or animals in or around the water?

3. Invite children to think of ways to clean the oil off the water. What methods would

they want to use?

4. Introduce the remaining materials (feathers cotton balls, paper towels, etc.) and

encourage groups to choose a cleanup material to test. Limit their amounts at first,

only letting them use a small amount of one material. Ask them to make

observations about the material. Then allow them to pick additional materials and

see if they can clean up all of the oil.

5. Place a bin in the center of each table for groups to use in disposing of their used

materials.

6. Discuss what worked, and what didn’t work. Reference all the waste generated by

their cleanup in the trash bins on their tables. What would we do with all the trash

created?


TAKE IT FURTHER:

Take a closer look to what happened to the feathers. How can we clean these feathers?

Give each group of campers a bowl of water and some Dawn dish soap. Can they get

their feather perfectly clean?

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? ● Separating individual substances from a mixture is an important process in

chemistry—whether it is used to identify the different pigments in a tree’s leaves,

purify a new medicine from the liquid it was created in, or clean up an oil spill in

an ocean. Separating mixtures involves understanding the properties of the

substances involved—like density, melting or boiling temperatures, or ability to

dissolve in different liquids—and taking advantage of differences between them.

● When oil is released into water the two liquids do not mix, because water is polar

(its molecules have positive and negative ends) and oil is nonpolar (its molecules

have no charges). Oil is less dense than both fresh and saltwater, so most of it

remains floating on the surface of the water. Over a relatively short time, the oil

spreads out into a very thin layer across the surface. The layer, called a slick, continues to spread and expand until the layer is extremely thin. By the time it

has thinned to < 0.01mm thick it is called a sheen, and covers a HUGE area. Over

time, wind, waves and local surface currents might push the oil into an array of

congealed lumps of varying size and thickness. Those lumps of oil will tend to

move over time, spreading apart and re-organizing into clusters and long streaks

(“streamers”).

● All methods of cleaning up an oil spill have their challenges:

○ Using sorbents—solid materials that absorb the oil—may work well but

generates a great deal of waste that needs to be transported and disposed

of.

○ Burning the oil can be dangerous and difficult to control due to wind, and it

also creates smoke and air pollution

○ Using dispersants (soap-like compounds that separate the oil into smaller

particles) can break up the oil spills by dispersing oil particles into the

water, but they leave the smaller oil particles mixed throughout the water,

where they can be harmful to sea life

○ Skimming and using “booms”—large barriers that float at the surface—to

contain the oil in one area requires calm water


● Most shore birds have special waterproofing oils in their feathers that let them fly

when their feathers get wet. But when birds have crude oil on their wings, the

wings get too heavy and the birds can’t fly. When washing the feathers, the soap

removed the bad oil and the natural waterproofing oils from the feather. Birds

can fly after they have been washed, but they have a hard time flying after they

get wet. When coated in oil from a spill, birds also have a hard time keeping

warm, since their feathers are stuck to their bodies. Rescue workers wash,

thoroughly dry, and warm birds before they are released back into the

environment.


REBEL (SOAP) SCUM


SUMMARY: Campers will explore a precipitation reaction by creating a common precipitate--soap

scum--and investigating its properties.

MATERIALS: ● Water

● Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)

● Sturdy (metal) knife

● Classic Ivory® bar soap (1 bar)

● Paper (1 piece per group)

● Coffee filters (1 per group)

● Paper towels

● Dropper (1 per group)

● Popsicle sticks (2 per group)

● Straws (2 per group)

● Clear plastic cups, 8 oz. (4 per group)

● Larger cup, 10 - 12 oz. (1 per group)

● Tablespoon measure (1 per group)

● Teaspoon measure (1 per group)

● Masking tape and pens for labeling

● (Optional) Liquid dish soap, vinegar, baking soda, window cleaner

PREPARE: Cut the Ivory soap bar into 6 - 8 pieces, or one for each group of campers. Prepare small

containers of Epsom salt and water for each table.

ENGAGE: Have you ever had clean your bathtub or sink? What do you think that scum you scrub

off is made of? How does it get there, and why doesn’t it just wash off? In this activity we

will try to make some soap scum, investigate what it’s made of, and try to find some ways


to keep that nasty scum at bay!

PROCEDURE: Soap and Hard Water

1. Divide campers into pairs and distribute materials. Have groups label 3 plastic

cups soap, water, and hard water. 2. Have each group work together to create soap flakes from the piece of soap. They

should hold the piece of soap on a sheet of paper and use a popsicle stick or plastic

spoon to scrape soap flakes onto the paper.

3. Next have them prepare a soap solution by adding 1 Tbsp. of soap flakes and 3

Tbsp. of water to the soap cup and stirring for about 1

min. until the water is white.

4. Tell campers to make “hard water” by adding 2 tsp. of

Epsom salt to 2 Tbsp. of water in the hard water cup,

and mixing until no more Epsom salt will dissolve.

Then have them measure 2 Tbsp. of water alone to

the water cup.

5. Have each group add two tsp. of their soap solution

each to water and hard water, using a dropper to

transfer the soapy water into a teaspoon. (This

method helps to avoid picking up large pieces of undissolved soap.)

6. Ask campers to look at the cups from the top and the side. Do they notice any

differences in the way soap combines with water compared with hard water?

7. Explain that when a solid substance forms out of a liquid (or mixture of liquids), it

is called a precipitate. What could this precipitate be? Is it soap, or something

else? How do they think they could find out?

Isolating Soap Scum

8. First they will need to isolate the soap scum

precipitate by filtration. Instruct groups to place a

coffee filter on the top of a plastic cup and, holding

the filter in place, pour the hard water and soap

scum into the filter.

9. Have them allow some of the water to drain

through, then carefully remove the filter and gently

squeeze the remaining water into the cup, taking

care not to squeeze too hard and tear the filter.

10. Have campers carefully lay the coffee filter on a paper towel and use a clean


popsicle stick to scrape the soap scum from the filter. They may wish to collect the

soap scum in a teaspoon and estimate the amount recovered.

Testing Soap Scum

11. Encourage groups to begin comparing soap scum to soap by seeing how they

dissolve in water. Distribute 2 clean cups to each group, and have them label one

soap and the other soap scum. 12. Have them put their collected soap scum in the soap scum cup and measure an

approximately equal amount of soap flakes into the soap cup. Next have them add

2 Tbsp. of water to each cup and stir gently. What do the two mixtures look like?

How are they similar or different?

13. Introduce the “bubble test.” What happens when you blow air through soapy

water? Distribute two straws to each group; encourage them to test the two

mixtures by placing a straw into each cup and gently blowing through each straw

into the mixtures. What happens in each mixture? How are they similar or

different?

14. Discussion: Based on the results of their tests, what have they learned about soap

scum? What is it (or what is it not)? How does it form? What ideas do they have

for making it dissolve--or not form in the first place?

15. [Optional] As time allows, challenge groups to explore what common household

ingredients might help re-dissolve soap scum precipitate (see “Take It Further”

below). Note: they may need to make another batch of precipitate for further tests.

TAKE IT FURTHER: Can anything help soap scum precipitate to dissolve in water? What will do it? Acids?

Bases? Another detergent? Design an experiment to determine what will make the best

cleaning agent for soap scum.

Do all soaps make the same amount of soap scum? Test different types of soaps and

detergents (dish soap, shampoo, etc.) and compare the results.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Precipitation is a chemical reaction in which two substances dissolved in a liquid react

to create a new substance that is not soluble in the liquid. It forms a solid, the precipitate, which falls out of the solution. (“Precipitate” comes from a Latin word meaning “to

throw down.”) The solid can then be separated from the liquid by filtration through

paper or some other substance which traps the solid but allows the liquid to pass

through. Precipitation and filtration can be used to isolate a desired substance from a


mixture, or to remove an unwanted substance from a liquid solution.

The active ingredients of a soap are negative ions of

fatty acids (stearate, tallowate, and palmate are some

examples). The fatty acid ions have a negative charge

on one end, which helps them dissolve in water, and a

long oily tail on the other end, which helps them

attract other fats and oils and “pull” them into the

water. The sodium salts of these ions dissolve easily in

water, leaving the fatty acid ions free to do their work.

Hard water contains dissolved calcium and

magnesium ions (Ca2+ and Mg2+). When these ions

come into contact with the negative fatty acid ions,

they form new salts which are not soluble in water:

Mg2+ + 2 [stearate]1- Mg[stearate]2 (solid)→

These fatty salts precipitate out of the water and are left as a scum on the sink or

bathtub.

Water softening or filtration systems remove the calcium and magnesium ions from hard

water, which keeps the precipitates from forming. Additionally, many newer types of

soap (liquid soaps, laundry detergent, etc.) use different kinds of surfactants (molecules

that “pull” oils into water) that do not react with calcium or magnesium and so will

produce less soap scum, even in hard water.


ALKA-ROCKET EXPLORATION ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity

AUDIENCE: PreK - 5th grade

TIME FRAME: 20 - 40 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will explore Newton’s Third Law of Motion with an antacid-powered rocket

launch.

MATERIALS: ● Fuji-style film canisters with airtight lids (1 per

child)

● Squeeze bottles for water, 24 - 36 oz (1 per 3 - 4

children)

● Alka-Seltzer (antacid) tablets (at least 2 tablets

per child)

● Lunch trays (1 per child)

● Goggles (1 per child)

● (Optional) timers or stopwatches (1 per 2 - 3

children)

● (Optional) Source of warm/hot water and cold/ ice water

● (Optional) for Exploded Art:

● Water-based craft paint, several colors

● Butcher paper or chart paper (~2 ft. per child)

● Outdoor area

PREPARE AHEAD: Fill water bottles with water. Break 8 - 10 antacid tablets into (approximate) quarters to

save time during the experiment.

For (optional) Exploded Art: Prepare squeeze bottles of paint by mixing about ⅓ paint to ⅔

water. It should have plenty of color but be very runny, just a little thicker than water.


SAFETY NOTES: Do not put your face, or allow children to put their faces, directly over the canisters while

waiting for them to launch. Goggles are to be worn at all times to protect against

unexpected projectiles.

ENGAGE: Think about a rocket. What makes it go? Usually when we think about rockets soaring

into space we think about the fire and smoke coming out of them. What direction is all

that energy and gas going when it comes out of the rocket? And what direction does the

rocket go in return? This is known as Newton’s Third Law of Motion: every action

creates an equal and opposite reaction. The gas goes down, which pushes the rocket up.

We can’t make fiery explosions, but let’s see if we can use a different kind of fuel to

provide the “push” to launch a rocket into the air.

PROCEDURE: Investigating the “rocket fuel”

1. Introduce the antacid tablets. Ask if anyone has seen them before or knows what they

do. Explain that they will be testing to see if this will make a good rocket fuel.

2. Distribute a tray, film canister, and piece of antacid tablet to each child. Invite

children to make observations about their piece of “rocket fuel.”

3. What does it look like? Feel like? Smell like?

4. Ask children to put their piece of tablet into the canister and add a small squirt of

water.

5. What do you notice about the mixture? What is happening?

6. Where do you think the bubbles are going when they come out of the water?

7. What do you think would happen if we put a tight lid on the canister so no bubbles

could get out?

Test launch

8. Invite the group to test the idea together. Have children put on their goggles and help

them fill their canisters about half-full of water.For younger groups, you may want to

have children practice putting the lid tightly on the canister a few times before

adding the tablet.

9. Distribute another piece of antacid to each child, but ask them to wait and do the


following steps all together:

● Drop the tablet piece in the canister.

● Put on the lid tightly. (Leave it right side up.)

● Stand back and watch!

10. Discuss the results of the test:

● What happened?

● Did something get launched into the air? What was it?

● What part(s) didn’t move?

● What do you think made the “push” that launched the lid? What was the action and

what was the opposite reaction?

Rocket launch

11. Explain that the test showed that the fuel could successfully launch something into

the air; now let’s try to launch something that looks more like a rocket--the canister

itself!

● How could we make the fuel push the canister into the air instead of the lid?

● What do you think would happen if we turned the canister upside-down?

12. Model how to snap the lid on the canister and place it upside-down on the tray. If

necessary, invite children to practice this with empty canisters.

13. Distribute more antacid pieces as needed, and remind children of the steps involved

in the launch:

● Drop the tablet piece in the canister.

● Put on the lid tightly.

● Turn it upside-down.

● Stand back and watch!

14. Launch the rockets together. Remind everyone to stay back from the launch area

until all the rockets have finished.

● What did you notice about the rocket launches?

● Were they all the same? What was the same or different between them?

Optimizing the fuel mixture (for older groups)

15. Brainstorm things they could change about their rocket fuel that might affect how

fast the rocket launches or how high it goes. These might include:

● Amount of water

● Temperature of the water

● Amount of antacid

16. Challenge children to explore changing these variables to find the best fuel mixture

for their rocket.


● What combination of water and tablet makes it launch the fastest?

● What combination makes it travel the highest?

● What is the best combination for your rocket? Why do you think so?

17. Discussion:

● What did you discover about using this kind of fuel for a rocket?

● What worked well, and what were some challenges?

● Would this make a good fuel for a real rocket? What makes you think so?

TAKE IT FURTHER: Use the Alka-Rockets to create works of exploded art! (Do this outdoors or in a space

that can safely be paint-splattered.) Give each child a large sheet of paper to use instead

of the tray. Squeeze watered-down paint into the canisters instead of the water. Drop in

half of an antacid tablet, close the lid, place upside down on the paper and stand back.

Repeat with different colors on the same paper until desired picture is created.

ADAPTATIONS: For youngest children (PreK - K), the exploring of variables could be omitted.

For older children (4th - 5th), challenge children to look for specific relationships

between variables and outcomes by changing only one variable while keeping

everything else the same, e.g. trying different amounts of antacid but keeping the

amount and temperature of the water the same each time. Encourage them to measure

amounts and times as carefully as possible for accuracy.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? ● Newton’s Third Law of Motion says that for every action or force, there is an equal

and opposite reaction or force. In this activity, one force is generated down toward

the table (expanding gases pushing downward out of the canister) while the opposing

reaction pushes the rocket up in the opposite direction.

● When water is added to the antacid tablet, bubbles of carbon dioxide gas are given

off. When the lid is fitted tightly to the canister, this gas is contained within an

enclosed space. As more gas is given off, the pressure inside the canister rises until

there is enough force to overcome the seal of the lid. The built-up pressure exerts

enough force to shoot the lid or canister into the air, forming the rocket.

● In an actual rocket, heat from ignition of the rocket fuel causes gases inside to

expand rapidly and be forced out of the tail of the rocket, creating the downward

force.


OOBLECK


SUMMARY: Children will get messy exploring the properties of

a non-Newtonian fluid.

MATERIALS ● Cornstarch (½ cup per child, plus 8 - 10 cups

for Oobleck pit)

● Water


● Bowls (1 per child)

● Long shallow container, such as plastic

underbed storage bin (1 per class)

● Tarp or dropcloth

● Bin or bucket for washing feet

● Paper towels

PREPARE AHEAD: For the Oobleck pit, make the oobleck in advance to ensure it is the right consistency.

Start with a layer of cornstarch about 1”-2” thick, slowly add water mixing constantly.

The depth and amounts are dependent on the size of your pit container.

SAFETY NOTES: Be sure that campers are careful when entering and exiting the basins. Be sure that

campers have thoroughly dried their feet once they have rinsed them. Encourage

campers NOT to splash the water.

ENGAGE: We are going to get really messy playing with something called “oobleck”! What can you

tell me about liquids? What about solids? Can something be both?


PROCEDURE: Making Oobleck:

1. Show the group the ingredients they will be using: water, a liquid, and

cornstarch, a solid. Discuss properties of these materials and what happens

when they touch them.

2. As a group, mix together the cornstarch and water. Start with the cornstarch

and add water slowly, a little bit at a time, until the mixture reaches a thick,

molasses-like consistency. If it is too watery, add more cornstarch. It should

feel stiff and solid when squeezed or poked, but ooze like a liquid when

released.

3. Ask children what they observe about this new substance. Do they think it is a

solid? A liquid? Let them play with the oobleck and experiment with its

properties.

4. (Optional) Allow campers to mix their own samples of oobleck and determine

the amounts of cornstarch and water needed. What ratio of cornstarch to

water creates oobleck? What if there is too much water? Too much

cornstarch? How do the mixture’s properties change?

Running across oobleck:

1. Have children remove their shoes and socks.

2. Remind children what they discovered about how oobleck behaves. Challenge

them to get across the oobleck pit without sinking in or getting their feet

messy.

3. Invite the first child to carefully step into the large container of oobleck and

explore moving their feet quickly or slowly as they walk across it.


4. Once the child has finished, have them step into the cleaning bucket and rinse

their feet, then carefully step out. Have them sit down to dry their feet and put

on their shoes and socks.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: It is very easy to add too much water to Oobleck; just add a little bit at a time, then stir

really well. Stirring is best done with hands so you can feel that you are lifting the

cornstarch off the bottom of the container. Stir slowly so the oobleck remains as much

like a liquid as possible.

TAKE IT FURTHER: After allowing children to experiment with different oobleck recipes, decide as a class on

the “perfect oobleck recipe” and use it to make the oobleck for the oobleck pit.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? “Oobleck” (a word originally created by Dr. Seuss) is a mixture of cornstarch and water

that behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid. A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid that doesn't

follow Newton's equations for liquids under pressure—in other words, it doesn’t behave

the way a normal liquid should. In a liquid, molecules can move freely, so when you

apply a force, like poking it with your finger, the molecules slide out of the way, letting

your finger through. In a solid, the molecules are tightly packed together and can’t move

past each other, so when you poke it, the molecules can’t go anywhere and resist the

force of your finger.

Oobleck is made up of solid particles of cornstarch suspended in water. A suspension of

small particles of one substance evenly distributed in another substance is called a

colloid. (Other examples of colloids are milk, shaving cream and fog.) When a small

force is applied, the cornstarch particles are able to slide past each other, and the oobleck

behaves like a liquid. When a greater force is applied, the cornstarch particles compress

together instead of sliding, and the oobleck resists the force like a solid.

Another common non-Newtonian colloid is quicksand. In the case of quicksand, the

liquid is water and solid particles can be sand, silt, or clay. If pressure is applied quickly

and briefly, the quicksand will behave like a solid, but if something like a person’s foot is

placed on it slowly, it will begin to sink.


COLOR MIXING


SUMMARY: Campers will observe physical changes

by mixing colored water solutions.

MATERIALS: ● Well plates, 24-well size (1 per

child)

● Color fizz bath tablets or food

coloring in primary colors

● Pipettes (3 per child or pair)

● Small cups (3 per child or pair)

● White sheets of paper (1 per child)

● Optional: pitchers (3)

● Optional: Plastic bin for dumping out water

PREPARE AHEAD: Make a pitcher of each color (red, yellow, and blue) by adding one or two larger color

fizz tablets (or however many are needed to get a good color) to a pitcher of water and

stirring until dissolved. Alternatively make individual color cups for each child by

adding one small color tablet to each cup of water.

ENGAGE: Review the primary colors. How many different colors do you think you can make with

just three colors?

PROCEDURE: 1. Give each child a well plate and a piece of white paper to put underneath. (The

paper will make the colors of their mixtures easier to see.)


2. Provide each child with a cup of each color (red, yellow, blue) and a pipette for

each cup. Alternatively, put two or three cups of each color on every table with

several pipettes in each cup for campers to share.

3. Demonstrate how to use the pipette to add some colored liquid to the well plate.

Invite campers to explore mixing colors together in their well plates.

● How many different colors can you make?

● What happens if you use the same amount of each color?

● What happens if you use a lot of one color and only a little of the other?

● What happens if you mix all three colors?

● Can you make more than one kind of green (or purple, etc.)?

4. Clean up by emptying the well plates into the sink and rinsing with water.

TAKE IT FURTHER: ● Challenge children to make as many shades of the same color as they can (green is

a good one).

● Encourage children to create “recipes” for different colors by counting how many

drops of each color they use (32 blue, 13 yellow, 5 red). Have them record their

recipes by putting a drop of the color onto a piece of white paper and writing the

numbers of drops beside it.

● Invite children to name their favorite color creations, the way that paint or nail

polish companies come up with their own unique names (i.e. “ robin’s-egg blue”

or “razz-a-ma-dazzle”), and create a class “recipe list” with the names and

formulas of their favorite colors.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? There are three primary colors: red,

yellow, and blue. If any two of those

colors are mixed you can make the

secondary colors: orange, green,

and purple. If a primary color and a

secondary color or two secondary

colors are mixed, you can make

tertiary colors. These tertiary colors

are usually called shades of another

color (red-orange, blue-green) or

more creative names (chartreuse,

azure, etc.)


MESSY MUD SHIRTS

ACTIVITY TYPE: Make-and-take AUDIENCE: K - 6th grade TIME FRAME: 1 hour

SUMMARY: Children will explore the chemistry of fabric

dyeing using a natural mud pigment.

MATERIALS: ● White cotton shirt or cloth (one per

child)

● Red clay, or another bright soil for

creating a strong color (2 - 3 cups per

class)

● Soda ash (sodium carbonate, 2 - 3 cups per class)

● Large plastic bins/ buckets (3 - 5 per class)

● Water or access to a hose

● Vinegar ( 2 - 3 cups per class)

● Rubber bands (6 - 8 per child)

● Gloves (1 pair per child)

● Plastic zipper bags, big enough to hold the dyed item (1 per child)

● Tarp or dropcloth (1 per class)

PREPARE AHEAD: Prepare three bins/ buckets and place on a tarp. For larger groups, you may want to

prepare 2 of each type:

● Pre-treatment bin: ½ cup of soda ash per gallon of warm water

● Mud bin: 1 part soil to 3 parts water

● Post-treatment rinse bin: 1 cup of vinegar for each gallon of water

SAFETY NOTES: Be cautious when using soda ash, as the dust can be irritating to breathe or to the skin.

Mud can be slippery. Use caution if it gets on hard surfaces or on tarps.

ENGAGE:


Who likes playing in the mud? What happens to your clothes when you play in the mud?

Why do you think it’s so hard to get out of your clothing? What if we took a white shirt

and stuck it in some mud? What do you think will happen?

PROCEDURE: 1. Help children prepare the shirts for dyeing. Shirts can be tied, knotted, and/or

fastened with rubber bands for a tie-dye effect, or they can be dyed whole.

Encourage children to predict what their shirts will look like, based on their

designs.

2. Pre-treat the shirts in the soda ash solution; by soaking the material for 5 minutes.

Then, wearing gloves, wring out the material.

3. If the mud was not prepared in advance, invite children to help mix it while

waiting for the pre-treatment to finish. The mud needs to be thin enough that it

can be easily worked into the shirts, and flows easily. Have children help mix up

the mud using their hands.

4. Place the shirts in the mud to dye them. Let them soak for several minutes or let

the children work the mud into their shirts with their hands. Agitation allows

more mud/fiber contact.

5. Rinse the shirts in the rinse bin. Optionally, use a hose to pre-rinse the shirts

before placing in the vinegar bath, to prevent the bucket from becoming too dirty.

6. Wring out as much water as possible. Package up the shirt into a plastic bag to

send home with the camper, including directions for washing.

Directions for washing dyed items:

Wash in cold water to allow the color to set. Dry in a hot dryer.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? A pigment is a chemical compound that changes the color of the light hitting it by

absorbing some colors (or wavelengths) of light and reflecting others. Pigments can be

naturally occurring, such as those that give plants, animal hair, and bird feathers their

colors, or manmade, like those found in markers, paints, and most clothing dyes.

Soils that are bright red or yellow make effective dyes because they contain iron

compounds that act as good pigments. Red soil contains anhydrous ferric oxide (Fe2O3), a

hematite mineral; Yellow comes from limonite, a mineral containing hydrated forms of

ferric oxide (FeO(OH)-H2O). Soils are usually dark because of decomposed organic

matter, or humus, though there are other minerals that sometimes result in dark soil

colors.


Many pigments change form depending on the pH level, so acids and/or bases are often

used in the dyeing process to change the color of the dye or help it adhere to the fabric.

Whether an acid or base is needed depends on the pigment. Soda ash, or sodium

carbonate (Na2CO3), is a stronger base than its cousin, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate,

NaHCO3). In this case it reacts with the cellulose fibers in the cotton to make them more

able to bind with the pigment. Vinegar, an acid, is added to the rinse bath because it

“sets” the color by reacting with the pigment and cotton fibers to help them stay firmly

stuck together.


CHROMATOGRAPHY BUTTERFLY

ACTIVITY TYPE: Make-and-take AUDIENCE: K - 4th grades TIME FRAME: 30 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will explore the technique of

chromatography and observe a physical change

by separating and identifying the pigments in a

variety of black inks.

MATERIALS: ● Coffee filters (1 - 3 per camper)

● A variety of water-soluble (not permanent) black pens and/or markers (different

brands and types)

● Dropper or pipette (1 per camper)

● Paper towels

● Lunch trays or large paper plates (1 per camper)

● Cups of water (1 per camper)

● Chenille stems (1 per camper)

ENGAGE: What colors do you see on a butterfly? What if you wanted to make a butterfly with only

a black marker? Think about how you make black with ink or paint:you mix colors

together. Let’s see if we can find a way to separate those colors back out.

PROCEDURE: 1. Give each child a coffee filter and a tray.

Invite them to draw simple designs with the

different black markers. (Less is more –

simple lines, shapes, or spirals work better

than complicated designs.)

2. Instruct children to place the filter on a tray

and use the pipette to drop several drops of

water on the design.


3. Leave it out to dry and observe periodically.

● What is happening to the black designs?

● How are the different pens similar and different?

4. Once the coffee filters are completely dry, demonstrate how to turn them into

butterflies:

● Pinch the top and bottom together at the middle, creating a shape that

looks like a bow tie.

● Take a chenille stem and wrap it around the scrunched part of the coffee

filter.

● Twist the ends of the stem and position them to look like antennae.

TAKE IT FURTHER: Encourage children to try using different colored markers. Which ones separate into

more than one color? Which ones don’t? Are there any results that are surprising?

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Chromatography is the process of separating the different chemicals in a mixture so

that they may be identified individually. There are many ways in which

chromatography is done; this activity relies on the fact that paper absorbs different

substances differently. The different pigments in the ink travel up through the paper at

different speeds and are separated, allowing them to be seen individually.

A “single color” ink pen or marker can be made up of a variety of other (surprising)

colors. This demonstrates a physical change because no new material is made; we are

simply separating the colors from one another. Like all physical changes, this one is (in

theory) reversible; the pigments could be collected and recombined to make the black

ink—but in this case it would be a fairly complicated process!


ALKA-SELTZER COLOR CHANGE


SUMMARY: Children will make a mess experimenting with

Alka-Seltzer and exploring its pH properties.

MATERIALS: (1 per child)

● Alka-Seltzer tablets (~1 per child)


● Graduated cylinders (100 mL, 1 per child))

● Small funnels to fit inside the graduated

cylinders (1 per child)

● Powdered dish detergent (~1 Tbsp per child)

● Small bowls (1 per 3 - 4 children)

● Bromothymol Blue Indicator in dropper bottles (1 per 3 - 4 children)

● Water

● Spoons (1 per 3 - 4 children)


PREPARE AHEAD: Set up tables with a dropper bottle of bromothymol blue, a small bowl of powdered

detergent, and a spoon, for every 3 - 4 children. If needed, children can work in pairs

with a graduated cylinder. Every child should have goggles and gloves.

ENGAGE: What do you think of when you think of chemistry? What are chemicals? What kinds of

changes can happen when we mix different chemicals or substances together?

PROCEDURE: 1. Ask children to put on gloves and goggles. Distribute graduated cylinders and

trays.


2. Invite them to make observations about the changes they see as they follow the

steps below.

3. Add bromothymol blue to graduated cylinder first—about 15 drops.

4. Fill with water to the 80 mL mark.

5. Add one piece of Alka-Seltzer to the cylinder.

● What happens? What changes do you see?

6. Using the small funnels and a spoon, add a small amount of dish detergent to the

cylinder. Note: At this point, the soapy water will also create soap bubbles, so be

sure children keep their cylinders on a tray to contain the overflow.

● What changes do you observe now? What do you think is causing them?

● How do you think you could turn the color back to yellow?

7. Invite children to continue experimenting with amounts of detergent and

Alka-Seltzer.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? ● When water is added to the Alka-Seltzer tablet, bubbles of carbon dioxide gas are

given off. The bubbles of carbon dioxide gas react with the water to create a weak

acid known as carbonic acid (H2CO3). ● Bromothymol blue is an indicator that changes color to yellow in the presence of

acid. The carbonic acid created by the Alka-Seltzer creates the yellow color

change. To make it revert back to blue, you need to make it more basic. Detergent

and soap are examples of bases. Adding a base to the solution neutralizes the acid,

and the indicator changes back to blue.

● Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with identifying the substances of

which matter is composed (in other words, what different kinds of “stuff” the

world is made of) and investigating their properties and the ways in which they

interact, combine, and change.

● Physical changes, like the Alka-Seltzer changing from solid to gas, may change

the form of a substance, but don’t change the substance itself –the carbon dioxide

is still carbon dioxide. Chemical changes, like the creation of carbonic acid and

the indicator’s color change, involve making and breaking chemical bonds to

create new substances—water and CO2 combine to make carbonic acid, and the

bromothymol blue combines with the acid to create a different (and

different-colored) form of the indicator.


SQUID DISSECTION


SUMMARY: Children will dissect a squid to gain understanding of the anatomy of an invertebrate.

MATERIALS: ● Fresh or frozen whole squid (1 per group of 2 - 3 campers)

● Dissection scissors (1 per adult)

● Dissection trays (1 per group)

● Gloves (1 per child)


● Disinfecting wipes or spray

● Laminated sheets of external and internal anatomy diagrams (see below)

PREPARE AHEAD: Print and laminate the anatomy diagrams as needed.

Defrost the squid, if necessary. Place one squid in a dissection tray for each group.

ENGAGE: What do you know about squid? How does a squid eat? What does a squid eat? How does

a squid swim? How does it steer? How does a squid protect itself?

SAFETY NOTES: Dissection scissors are sharp. If children are not able to handle them safely, adults should

use the scissors. Do not put squid or parts of the squid in mouth. Allergy concern:

seafood/shellfish.

PROCEDURE: External anatomy:

1. Have children put on gloves and goggles.

2. Using a squid for demonstration, along with the external anatomy worksheet,

discuss the squid’s external anatomy. Relate the squid’s features to its functions in

the marine environment. Point out that the squid’s arms and tentacles are useful


for moving and hunting, the squid’s fins help it stabilize and turn its body as it

swims, and the squid’s chromatophores change color to help it find a mate or

warn other squid of danger.

3. Invite children to identify the external anatomy of their squid. Make sure they

count its arms and tentacles. Encourage them pull back the squid’s arms to locate

its beak. To better understand how the squid’s jaws work together, groups can

remove the beak. They may also examine its eyeballs more closely by removing

the cornea (film) and the lens (hard, silvery pearl-like structure). If desired,

groups can fill in the information on the external anatomy worksheet, or it can be

done together on the board or chart paper.

Squid dissection

4. To dissect the squid, position it on the dissection tray with the siphon facing up.

Using dissection scissors, make one long cut from the bottom of the mantle, above

the siphon, to the tip of the mantle next to the fins. Be sure to lift up with the

scissors so as to not damage the squid’s internal organs.

5. Spread the mantle open and have children identify the internal anatomy using the

internal anatomy worksheet. Have them begin by locating the squid’s feathery

gills and then following those to their base to locate the hearts. Next, have the

students locate the gonads and explain the difference between the male and

female gonads. Females contain a clear ovary and two glands called the

nidamental glands, which create the sticky egg sacs. Adults may cut the sacs open

to observe the very sticky insides!

6. After locating all of the squid’s internal organs, remove the arms and internal

organs from the mantle. Pick up the squid by its arms with one hand and, while

holding the mantle in the other hand, pull to separate the squid’s arms from its

mantle. If done properly, the arms and internal organs will come off as one piece.

Camper may notice a thin hard pen inside the mantle, which they can remove.

(You may need to snip it out using the scissors.) The pen is the remnant of the

hard outer shell that characterizes mollusks.

7. Find the ink sacs and set aside for making squid ink.

8. As the dissection finishes, ask groups to leave all parts of the squid (except for the

ink sacs) on the dissection trays. Throw away all pieces in a plastic bag, and empty

trash by the end of the day to prevent odors. All gloves can be thrown away.


TIPS FOR SUCCESS:

For younger classes, the dissection works best with an adult guiding each group. One

leader can facilitate the activity for the whole class, guiding the groups through each

section of the anatomy; then each group with an adult can explore their own squid.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? People often think of squid as one kind of animal, but there are actually around 300

species of squid and not all of them are that closely related to one another. While the

members of most species of squid do not get any larger than 60 cm (about two feet) long,

there are a number of species of giant squid that can grow up to 20 meters (about 60 feet)

in length. All squid are carnivorous, that is to say, they eat fish and other sea animals.

Squid are invertebrates; they do not have a spinal column, unlike fish or marine

mammals. They do, however, have some bony parts, most notably a single flat bone

inside the mantle called the internal shell. Like octopi, squid are cephalopods, meaning

that their tentacles come out from their head. Squid are unlike octopi in the fact that

octopi do not have any bony structures at all.

The main purpose of a squid’s tentacles and arms are to catch the fish and other sea

creatures that make up its diet. You can distinguish the tentacles from the arms because

the tentacles are longer and only have suckers at their ends, not all along them like the

arms. The squid use the suckers on their arms and tentacles to hold onto their prey by

suction. You will find that, for eating its food, the squid has two beaks that are in some

ways similar to the beaks that birds have. Like other animals, the squid has muscles to

open and close its mouth. Inside the squid’s mouth there are teeth, but instead of jaws

the teeth are set on a tongue-like muscle called a radula. On its ventral (bottom) side, the

squid’s funnel is one of its most unique features. Water comes into the funnel through

the mantle, and the squid uses its muscles to push the water out the end of the funnel in

order to propel itself forward. This jet propulsion-like system is how squid move, and

combined with their streamlined mantle it allows them to move fast when the want to.

Besides the upper part of the funnel, the squid’s digestive, respiratory, and reproductive

systems are also enclosed inside the mantle. The ink sac can also be found there. Squid

produce ink and store it here, releasing it when they are threatened. The ink creates a

cloud in the water that confuses predators and allows the squid to get away.


About Squid

● All mollusks have a soft body with a special covering called the mantle, which

encloses all of the body organs such as heart, stomach and gills.

● Squid have ten arms, which are wrapped around the head. Eight are short and

heavy, and lined with suction cups. The ninth and tenth are twice the length of the

others, and are called tentacles. Suction cups are only on the flat pads at the end

of the tentacles.

● Squid feed on small crustaceans, fish, marine worms, and even their own kind!

They use their tentacles to quickly catch their prey, which is pulled in by the arms

and down to the radula, or beak, which uses a tongue-like action to get food to the

mouth so it can be swallowed whole.

● Squid are a major food source for many fishes, birds and marine mammals.

● After mating, a female squid will produce 10-50 elongated egg strings, which

contain hundreds of eggs each. In many species, the parents will soon die after

leaving the spawning ground. The egg strings are attached to the ocean floor, are

left to develop on their own, and hatch approximately ten days later.

● Squid are an important part of the ocean food web. Squid are gaining popularity

as a food source for humans around the world. Overfishing is a growing concern

because there are no regulations on squid harvesting.

● Some squid can glow in the dark using photophores to produce light. This process

is called bioluminescence, and squid use it to communicate with one another.

SOURCE: Adapted from “Squid Dissection: From Pen to Ink,” Natural History Museum of Los

Angeles County


SQU-INKING

ACTIVITY TYPE: Art project AUDIENCE: 2nd - 6th grades TIME FRAME: 15 - 20 minutes

SUMMARY: Campers will explore a biological pigment—and get messy!—as they create paintings

with cephalopod ink.

MATERIALS: ● Remaining squid ink sacs/pen from squid dissection

● Cuttlefish ink (1 bottle per class)

● Sepia ink (1 bottle per class)

● Paint brushes (1 per camper)

● Watercolor paper

● Water

PREPARE AHEAD: Make large batches of squid ink using cuttlefish ink with sepia ink to dilute it. Add some

water if needed. Cover tables to prevent stains and messes.

SAFETY NOTES: Allergy concern: Seafood/shellfish. Campers can wear gloves to avoid contact.

Substitute with just sepia ink if needed.

ENGAGE: What do you think squids and cephalopods use their ink sacs for? How do you think

artists made dye and ink before synthetic chemical dyes could be created?

PROCEDURE: 1. Cut open the squid ink sacs as a demonstration. (Typically, only a small amount of

ink is present in dissection squids; if there is enough, it may be added to the

pre-prepared cuttlefish ink.) To use the ink sac from the squid dissection: Inside

the mantle of the squid, there is a thick hard pen that can be removed. It may

need to be snipped out using scissors. The pen is the remnant of the hard outer


shell that characterizes mollusks. The pen can be used to pierce the squid’s ink

sac—and can then also be used to write with!

2. Set up stations with a small dish of the cuttlefish/sepia ink and paint brushes.

3. Allow campers to paint their own pictures using the ink. Encourage sea animals,

messy abstract pictures, or ocean scenes if they need ideas.

4. Set the paintings aside to dry.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? ● Squid, like most cephalopods, are able to produce ink. Ink is mostly made from a

dark pigment called melanin, which is suspended in thick mucus along with

small amounts of other things such as amino acids. Squid ink is blue-black in

color, while cuttlefish ink is brown and octopus ink is black.

● To make ink, squid have special organs called ink glands and ink sacs. Ink is

continually made by the cells of the ink gland – when a cell is full, it breaks down

and empties the ink into the ink sac for storage. The ink sac connects to the end of

the intestine, which opens into a siphon (this is the funnel that the squid uses for

jet propulsion).

● When a squid wants to "ink", it squeezes the sac so that the ink squirts into the

siphon. There, it mixes with water and is forced out as the squid shoots off in the

opposite direction.

● Cephalopod ink has, as its name suggests, been used in the past as ink; indeed, the

Greek name for cuttlefish, and the taxonomic name of a cuttlefish genus, Sepia, is

a reddish-brown color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink

sac of the common cuttlefish. It was used by Leonardo da Vinci for his drawings

and wash. Modern use of cephalopod ink is generally limited to cooking, where it

is used as a food coloring and flavoring, for example in pasta and sauces. Recent

studies have shown that cephalopod ink is toxic to some cells, including tumor

cells.


GLOWING ORGANISMS

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: K - 6th grade TIME FRAME: 15 minutes

SUMMARY:

Children will explore how fireflies make light

and learn about the chemistry of glow sticks and

bioluminescence.

MATERIALS: ● Glow sticks (3 of the same color per 2

children)

● Cups (2 per2 children)

● Ice water

● Hot water

SAFETY NOTES: Children should use caution when handling the hot water.

ENGAGE: How does a firefly glow? Can you think of any other animals that glow? How do you

think that glow is like a light bulb or the sun? How might it be different?

PROCEDURE: 1. Divide the class into pairs. Give each group 2 cups and 3 glow sticks of the same

color.

2. Fill one cup with cold water. Fill the other with hot water.

3. Invite children to activate all three glow sticks. Have them place one glow stick in

each cup. Leave the third one out as a “control”- a sample that we don’t change, so

we have something to compare the other results against.

● What do you observe?

● Is the glow stick warm or cool to the touch?

4. Observe for a minute. Discuss what happens. Continue to observe for a few more

minutes.

● How do the glow sticks in the cups look different?


● What happens if you take them out of the cups?

● What if you switch them from the hot cup to the cold, and vice versa?

● What do you think is causing the differences you see?

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? The glow sticks we used in our experiment today glow because of a chemical reaction.

This type of glow is called chemiluminescence (which means “chemical light”). To

create the chemical reaction, the glow sticks have two different liquids inside: one liquid

is contained in a glass vial while the other liquid surrounds the glass vial. Both are

encased in the plastic stick. When you bend the plastic, you break open the glass vial,

causing the two liquids to mix together. The result is a chemical reaction that produces

light. The light will continue to glow as long as the chemical reaction continues to occur.

When you warm up the stick, the chemical reaction speeds up, producing more light.

When you cool down the stick, the chemical reaction slows down, causing the glow to

dim.

Light and heat are both forms of electromagnetic energy. Many light sources, such as

fires, candle flames, or incandescent light bulbs, produce both light and heat energy,

which is why we tend to think of light sources as being hot. However, it is possible to

produce just one or the other. Chemiluminescence and fluorescent light bulbs are both

examples of ways to produce light without heat.

Bioluminescence (“living light”) is chemiluminescence creating by living things. Animals

such as fireflies make a light similar to the glow stick, except it is created in the animal’s

own bodies. Fireflies have two chemicals inside a special sac in their abdomens which

mix to produce light. The reaction also requires oxygen, and the fireflies turn the light

“on” and “off” with muscles that control how much oxygen flows into the mixture,

similar to how the glow sticks can be brightened or dimmed by changing the

temperature.


COW EYE DISSECTION

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: 2nd - 8th grades

TIME FRAME: 30 - 40 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will explore the physical

structures and function of the mammalian

eye.

MATERIALS: ● Cow eyes (1 per 2 children)

● Dissection trays (1 per 2 children)

● Disposable gloves (1 per child)


● Dissection scissors (1 per 2 children)

● Scalpel (1 per adult)

● Disinfecting wipes or other cleaner

PREPARE AHEAD: Lay out dissection trays with an eye and a pair a dissection scissors for each pair of

campers. Distribute gloves and goggles.

SAFETY NOTES: Gloves and goggles should be worn throughout the dissection. Scalpels should only be

used by an adult. Dissection scissors are are very sharp and should be used with care. If

children are unable to use them safely, adults should cut the eye for them.

ENGAGE: What do you know about your eyes? What do they do? What parts do they have? How do

you think other animals’ eyes might be the same or different?

An eye is an organ, whose job is to detect light. It sends light information to the brain,

which interprets it and helps us use it to understand the world around us.


Today, we are dissecting a cow eye. Cows are mammals just like us. Cow eyes are readily

available and bigger than our eyes, but otherwise very similar.

PROCEDURE: Looking at the Outside of the Eye

1. Ask children to put on gloves and goggles. Working in pairs, they should pick up

their cow eyes and examine them on the outside. Ask what parts or different

kinds of tissue they notice; point out and discuss the features below.

● The yellowish-white substance on the outside is fat. Why is the eye coated

in fat? Fat cushions the eye so it doesn’t chafe against the eye socket; it

protects by softening blows that might injure it.

● The hard, wrinkly brownish tissue around the back of the eye is muscle. Cows and humans both have six muscles on the eye—one pair to move up

and down, another pair to move left and right, and a third set that helps to

move them diagonally (so you can roll your eyes!)

● The white part making up the outside of the eyeball is called the sclera. ● The cornea is the clear layer on the front of the eye. It protects the eye and

also helps focus light. The cornea is cloudy right now because of the

chemicals used to preserve the eyes.

● The optic nerve will look like a short stub coming out of the back of the

eye. It is the “electric cord” which allows the eye to send information to the

brain.

Dissecting the Eye

2. Explain safety precautions of

using the dissection scissors.

Using a scalpel, make an initial

~1-inch slit in each eye, parallel

to the cornea and about

halfway between the optic

nerve and the cornea (along

the “equator” of the eyeball).

3. Have children cut the eye in

half with scissors by starting

from the slit and continuing the

cut around the “equator” of the eye.


4. The clear liquid or jelly that may spill out as they do this the vitreous humor. Its

function is analogous to the air inside a basketball: without the vitreous humor,

the eye would “deflate” and lose its shape.

5. Ask children to take the front half of the eye and flip it inside out. Attached to the

back of the cornea is the iris. Invite them to peel the iris off the cornea. Explain

that the iris contains muscles that open and close, allowing more or less light to

enter the eye. (The ridges that look like the underside of a mushroom are muscles

that open; the smooth part around the pupil is a muscle that closes.) The iris is the

colored part of the eye: most peoples’ are brown, blue, or green, but cows’ are

almost always dark brown.

6. The hole in the center of the iris is the pupil. The pupil isn’t a physical structure of

the eye. In your eye, it looks like a black circle, but it’s actually just a hole! It gets

bigger to let in more light in dark situations and gets smaller to let in less light in

bright conditions, controlled by the muscles in the iris.

7. Invite children to take out the lens, the hard, semi-spherical structure. The lens

helps the eye focus light onto the back of the eye. Have children try to peel the

lens so they can see how it is layered. The lens is surrounded by the vitreous

humor, which shields it from chafing against the cornea.

8. Ask children to look at the inside of the back half of the eye. The retina is the thin,

brownish layer covering the back; it is full of light-sensitive cells that receive the

light focused by the lens and turn it into an electrical signal. The retina attaches to

the optic nerve, which takes that information to the brain.

9. Behind the retina is a shiny, bluish layer called the tapetum. Many mammals,

especially nocturnal ones, have this layer in the eye, but humans don’t. The

tapetum reflects light back onto the retina. By increasing the amount of light

hitting the retina, the tapetum makes better night vision possible. When an

animal’s eyes seem to glow at night, this is light reflecting off the tapetum.

10. Clean up by disposing of gloves and eyeballs in trash and wiping down trays,

scissors, and scalpel with cleaner or disinfecting wipes.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: The lens and vitreous humor may stick to the front or back of the eyeball instead of

sliding out smoothly; campers can gently scoop it out with a finger onto the tray.

The retina is quite fragile and campers may accidentally scrape it off or damage it while

removing the other parts. Find an example with a good, intact retina to show those that

can’t see the retina on their own specimen.


WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Light is the driving force behind most life on Earth, so it is very important that we have

an organ with which to sense light and use it. When light comes into your eye, it first

passes through the cornea and through the hole of the iris, called the pupil. Muscles in

the iris adjust the size of the pupil according to the level of light. The pupil dilates (grows

larger) when there is less light, to allow as much light into the eye as possible.

After passing through the pupil, light is focused through the lens onto the retina. The

lens is responsible for bending rays of light even closer together before they reach the

retina. This process of bending light is called refraction. The lens also adjusts to focus on

distant or nearby objects; the lens’ layers can slide over each other to thicken or flatten

the lens, changing the focus. The image projected onto the retina by the lens is actually

inverted (upside-down), but your brain translates it into a right-side up image.

The retina is the light-sensing structure of the eye and is made up of two different types

of cells, called rods and cones. The retina contains 100 million rods and 7 million cones.

Rods are responsible for low light vision, while cones sense color and detail. When light

hits these cells, it begins a chemical reaction that creates an electrical impulse in the

optic nerve, which sends signals to your brain.

The retina is lined with a black pigment called melanin, in order to lessen the amount of

reflection. Its central area is called the macula, which has a concentration of only cones.

The macula is responsible for sharp, detailed vision.


HANDS-ON DIGESTION

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on demonstration AUDIENCE: K - 6th grades TIME FRAME: 15 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will create a model to observe food at different stages of digestion.

MATERIALS: (per class)

● 2 - 4 dixie cups

● 1 cup water

● 1 banana

● 1 graham cracker

● 1 quart-size zipper bag

● Scissors

● Pantyhose stocking with leg and toe cut off

● Paper towels

● Newspaper

SAFETY NOTES: Allergy concerns: Bananas and graham crackers (gluten). Children will not eat these

ingredients but they will be present; check for allergies and take any necessary

precautions.

ENGAGE: What happens when you eat something? Where does it go? Why do we need to eat food?

How does our body turn that food into energy?

PROCEDURE: 1. Break up a graham cracker in the zipper bag. This is like chewing.

2. Place half of a banana into the bag.

3. Add ½ cup water into the bag. This is like saliva.

4. Put bag on table. Carefully squeeze air out of the top and seal the bag.

5. Smash the food through the bag with your hands. This is like the churning of the

stomach.


6. Do this for about 5 minutes. Invite children to take turns helping.

7. Hold the bag upside down and cut a small hole out of the corner of the bag.

8. Lay a piece of pantyhose on top of some newspaper. Pour food into the stocking

on one end (do not pick up stocking yet). Grab each end of the pantyhose and

pinch both sides shut.

9. Pick it up, holding the long stocking like a “U”. The water coming out of the

stocking is like the nutrients that are removed by the small intestine. Hold the

front end higher than the other end until most of the food is at the bottom end.

10. Squeeze food at the end of the stocking into a cup.

11. Squish the food in the cup and carefully pour off the excess water. The cup is like

the large intestine.

12. Over the newspaper, poke a hole in the bottom of the cup and push the food

through, using a second cup like a plunger. The leftovers you pushed out were the

body’s solid waste.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Digestion is all about breaking down food - whether it is just making the pieces smaller

or actually changing the tiny pieces so that your body can use them (chemical change).

The process starts in your mouth where teeth break up large pieces and your tongue

moves the pieces around. You may not know it, but the spit (a.k.a. saliva) in your mouth

is doing more than adding liquid to the food. It is also changing starch into smaller sugar

pieces. After traveling down the esophagus, food reaches the stomach where really

powerful acid works on it, making solid food into a liquid slush. After the stomach, food

must begin its long trek through the small intestine. This tube is 23 feet long! It works to

further break down all the food and absorb the good stuff out of the liquid. Now onto the

large intestine, whose main job is to absorb water from the liquid food. This way it will

come out as a solid. It is attached to the rectum, which acts like a loading dock until you

have enough “poop”, and then it all comes out through the body’s exit.


WATERMELON BLAST

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: 2nd - 8th grades TIME FRAME: 30-45 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will explore the concept of

additive forces—and make a mess—by

cutting a watermelon in half using only

rubber bands.

MATERIALS: ● Watermelons (2 - 3 per class)

● A container lid or roll of duct tape as a pedestal for holding the watermelon

upright

● Permanent marker (preferably black)

● Rubber bands (at least 400 - 600 per watermelon)


● Tarps or dropcloths (1 per watermelon)

PREPARE AHEAD: Mark each watermelon with two lines: one just above and one below the “equator” of the

melon, with the lines about 1.5 inches apart. This will act as a guideline for the campers

to know where to put the rubber bands.

ENGAGE: What happens when you squeeze something too hard, like a toothpaste tube? What

about a piece of fruit? A bag of chips? What happens when you put a tight rubber band

on your hand? How does it feel? What if we put a rubber band on a watermelon? What

might happen? What about a whole bunch of rubber bands? How many rubber bands do

you think it would take to make the watermelon explode?

SAFETY NOTES:


Do this activity outside. Safety goggles should be worn, especially as the watermelon gets

close to exploding. As the watermelon gets close to exploding, do not allow children to

stand directly over the watermelon, or put their faces too near it.

Allergy concern: watermelon.

PROCEDURE: 1. Divide children into groups based on the number of watermelons you have.

Spread groups out on the tarps. Give each group a watermelon with markings. Set

a large bin of rubber bands out in the middle of the tarp for children to access

easily.

2. Place watermelons on rolls of tape or lids to hold the watermelon upright and

stationary during the activity.

3. Invite children to stretch rubber

bands one at a time over the

fruit, staying as close to the

center as possible.

4. Challenge groups to keep track

of how many rubber bands are

used and how long it takes for

the fruit to ‘implode’ from the

moment the first rubber band is

placed.

5. The watermelon begins to

“sweat” as it gets closer to

imploding. Large cracks will

begin to form right as it gets

close. Once you see a crack, step

back!

6. Invite groups to record their data and compare results.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: ● This can also be done as a whole-class activity with just one or two watermelons.

● Younger children may get impatient waiting for the watermelon to implode;

adults may assist with adding the rubber bands to speed up the process. Consider

organizing a game or similar activity for children to rotate into and out of as they

take turns adding rubber bands.


WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? This experiment demonstrates that force is additive. One rubber band doesn’t exert

enough force on a watermelon to break through the hull, but a few hundred rubber

bands each exerting a small force can add up to enough force to cut the melon in half.

Another example is a game of tug-of-war: one person can’t win against a team of ten

people, but adding more and more people to the one person will eventually build up

enough “tugging” force to overcome the team of ten.


BUBBLES AND BUBBLE WANDS ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: K - 4th grades TIME FRAME: 15 - 20 minutes to prepare solution;

30 - 40 minutes for wands and exploration

SUMMARY: Children will explore different properties of

bubbles including size, shape, and color.

Children will investigate and compare different

methods for creating soap bubbles.

MATERIALS: ● 12 cups warm water

● 1 cup blue Dawn dish soap

● 1 cup cornstarch

● 2 tablespoons baking powder

● 1 tablespoon glycerin

● Large bucket

● Large spoon for stirring

● Cups with lids (1 per child)

● Pipe cleaners (1 - 3 per child)

● Straight drinking straws (2 per child)

● Cotton string or yarn (40” - 60” per child)

● Small bins for holding bubble solution (4 - 5 per class)

● Paper towels

PREPARE AHEAD: Prepare some bubble solution in advance. Letting it rest for 12 - 24 hours before using is

ideal. Cut string to lengths 6-8 times longer than the length of the drinking straws.

Best bubble solution:

1. Put half the water in a bucket and vigorously stir in the cornstarch until

dissolved. Mix in the rest of the water and baking powder until it is all

combined.


2. Add the soap and glycerin to the water mixture. Stir with a big spoon. Don’t

stir fast enough to make suds or foam in the bucket.

3. Let the bubble solution sit for an hour or more before using. Stir it gently

again for at least two minutes before making bubbles/ dividing into individual

bubble cups.

ENGAGE: Who has played with bubbles before? How do you make bubbles? How do you think we

can make bubbles last longer? What kind of bubble wand makes the best bubbles? What

shape are bubbles? Can you make one that is a different shape? We are going to try three

different types to see how to make the best bubble.

SAFETY NOTES: Blowing bubbles indoors can create slippery floors. If activity cannot be done outdoors,

only use the smaller bubble wands, and lay down newspapers or kraft paper. Giant

bubbles should only be made outside.

PROCEDURE: Small bubble wands

1. Demonstrate how to bend a pipe cleaner into a bubble wand shape. Encourage

children to make shapes other than circles like squares, hearts, and stars. Ask

them to predict what kinds of bubbles their wand will make.

2. Dip bubble wand in solution and blow bubbles. Ask them what shape their

bubble turned out.

Giant bubble maker

1. Give each child two straws and a length of string.

2. Thread the string through both straws.

3. Tie the string in a knot. Slide the knot inside one of the straws. Create a

rectangle shape with the bubble maker, using the straws as handles for the

hands.

4. Dip the entire bubble maker in a bin of bubble solution. Hold it up and let the

wind make the bubble, or move the bubble maker through the air to get the

bubble formed. What is the best way to create bubbles with this bubble

maker?

Hand bubbles


1. Using a bin of bubble solution, let campers use their hands as bubble wands.

What shapes can they make with their hands to create the best bubbles? Can

they do it with one hand? Both hands?

2. If campers are having trouble, show them the triangle method: form a triangle

by putting their thumbs and forefingers together with their hands spread out.

Instruct them to dip their hands in bubble solution, lift them up, and carefully

blow into the triangle to form a bubble.

TAKE IT FURTHER: Challenge children to make different bubble solutions by varying the ingredients and

comparing them. How are the bubbles different if the solution has less soap? More soap?

No glycerin or cornstarch?

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: The bubble solution will work best as it ages. Making it the day before is ideal so it can sit

for 24 hours. When it comes time to blow bubbles, don’t give up right away. Usually after

a few rounds the bubble solution is mixed up and works better. If the solution gets too

foamy, it won’t work as well, but once it has time to settle will go back to being able to

make bubbles.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? ● The strong mutual attraction of water molecules for each other is known as

surface tension. Normally, surface tension makes it impossible to stretch the

water out to make a thin film. Soap reduces the surface tension and allows a film

of water to form, sandwiched between two layers of soap. ● Because of surface tension, a soap film always pulls in as tightly as it can, just like

a stretched balloon. A soap film makes the smallest possible surface area for the

volume it contains. If the bubble is floating in the air and makes no contact with

other objects, it will form a sphere, because a sphere is the shape that has the

smallest surface area compared to its volume.

● The rainbow of colors seen in soap bubbles is due to reflected light waves: some

light reflects off the outer surface, some light enters the film and reflects off the

inner surface, and some light will bounce between the two layers of soap several

times before being reflected out again. Depending on the thickness of the soap

film. different wavelengths of light will undergo constructive or destructive

interference as they cross the film. This means that the color we see will vary with

the thickness of the bubble wall – you will notice that the recipe with cornstarch is

thicker and consequently produces more vivid colors.


ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE


SUMMARY: Campers will observe the action of a catalyst in speeding up a chemical reaction.

MATERIALS: ● 100 mL graduated cylinder (1 per child)

● 3% hydrogen peroxide (1 bottle per class)

● Liquid dishwashing soap (1 small bottle per class)

● Active yeast (1 packet or Tbsp per child)

● Warm water

● Food coloring



● Paper towels

● Timer

ENGAGE: Have you ever used hydrogen peroxide on a cut? What happened? Usually, that reaction

is too slow to see—unless something helps to speed it up. In this experiment, you will

observe the effect of a catalyst on the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.

SAFETY NOTES: This concentration of hydrogen peroxide is safe for children to handle; however,

children should wash their hands when they are done. Rinse with water if it comes in

contact with eyes. All materials are safe to wash down the sink.

PROCEDURE: 1. Children will work in pairs for this experiment. Give each pair a tray with a

graduated cylinder and distribute goggles to each child.


2. Have children mix one packet (1 Tbsp.) of active yeast with 3 tablespoons warm

water in a small cup, stir and set aside for about 5 minutes.

3. While waiting, fill the graduated cylinders with 35 mL of hydrogen peroxide.

4. Have children add a few drops of liquid soap and a few drops of food coloring.

5. Observe the solution for 30 seconds. Ask if they see any changes.

6. Have children pour a little bit of the yeast solution in the cylinder and start the

timer. How long does it take to see an effect?

7. Repeat the experiment with different pairs changing different variables: change

the water temperature in the yeast solution, or try not adding any soap. What

changes do they see? Record observations on paper or make a chart on the board

for campers to share their observations together.

TAKE IT FURTHER: This activity can lead into baking soda and vinegar reactions. Try the yeast version, and

then try mixing baking soda and vinegar and food coloring in the graduated cylinders to

observe the reactions as well.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? In many reactions two chemical compounds come together to create a new, different

compound; however, some reactions, called decomposition reactions, involve one kind

of molecule breaking down into new, smaller molecules.

The chemical formula for hydrogen peroxide is H2O2. It looks pretty similar to the

chemical formula for water, which is H20, except that hydrogen peroxide has an extra

oxygen atom. Hydrogen peroxide is not a very stable compound, so it is always

decomposing to water and oxygen gas, but under normal conditions, the reaction is so

slow that you can’t see it.

2H2O2 2H2O + O2 (gas)


A catalyst is a substance that isn’t changed or used up in a reaction, but makes the

reaction happen much more quickly. Usually this is because the catalyst changes the

pathway by which the reaction occurs. In this case, an enzyme in the active yeast

catalyzes the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide. Adding the dish soap makes bubbles that

capture the oxygen produced in the reaction, creating the large amount of foam.


MILK-SOAP FIREWORKS

ACTIVITY TYPE: Hands-on activity AUDIENCE: K - 8th grades TIME FRAME: 15 - 20 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will explore the interaction between soap and milkfat as they create a swirling

display of color.

MATERIALS: ● Styrofoam bowls (1 per camper)

● Whole milk (4 - 6 oz per camper)

● Liquid food coloring, variety of colors

● Toothpicks

● Dish soap (one bottle per class)

● Small cups to hold the dish soap (1 per 3 - 4

children)

SAFETY NOTES: Allergy concern: milk. Children will not drink it but may come into contact with it.

Check for milk allergies and take necessary precautions.

ENGAGE: What do you think milk is made of? How do you clean dirty dishes? Do you think that

soap and fat mix together easily?

PROCEDURE: 1. Distribute bowls to each child. Pour enough milk into the bowl so that the bottom

is completely covered.

2. Invite children to add a few different drops of food coloring (2 - 3 drops per bowl)

to the bowl. Remind children not to touch or stir the milk, just let the food coloring

fall where it does.

3. Distribute containers of dish soap and toothpicks.


4. Invite children to dip the end of the toothpick into the dish soap. Only a very small

amount of dish soap is needed.

5. Have children very carefully touch the toothpick to

the food coloring in the milk and hold the toothpick

in place for a moment. What happens?

6. Encourage children to dip the toothpick in the soap

again and repeat. What happens?

7. Questions for discussion:

What happened when the soapy toothpick was

touched to the milk?

Which direction(s) did the colors move?

What do you think made the coloring in the milk move around?

TAKE IT FURTHER: Repeat the experiment, exploring different variables, such as:

● Placement of the food coloring--close together or spread out; in the center or at the

edge, etc.

● Amount of soap--toothpick vs. large drop, etc.

● Type of milk (materials permitting)--whole, skim, 2%, cream

● Type of soap (materials permitting)--hand soap, other brands of dish soap, etc.

How do these changes affect the movement of the colors? What other things can children

think of that might affect the results? The size of the bowl? The depth of the milk?

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? Dish soap is used to get grease (fats) off of dirty dishes. The chemicals in dish soap are

attracted to the fats that are on dishes, which helps to pull the fats off the dishes and into

the water. In this experiment, the food coloring scatters away from the dish soap because

of this attraction. The fat molecules in the milk bounce all around trying to get to the

soap. While bouncing around, the fats knock into the food coloring molecules, pushing

them out of the way. This movement of the food coloring molecules causes them to

spread out and create a firework-like display.


KABLOOEY TAG ACTIVITY TYPE: Active game AUDIENCE: K - 4th grades TIME FRAME: 15 - 30 minutes

SUMMARY: Children will learn more about chain reactions and chemical reactions that have a

threshold as through a game.

MATERIALS: ● Post-its, stickers, or small lengths of ribbon to mark how many times children

have been tagged (3 - 5 per child)

ENGAGE: We’ve seen a few chemical reactions so far this week - and sometimes they went

Kablooey! However, if we hadn’t used just the right mixture, or hadn’t put enough of one

of the chemicals, it might not have done anything at all. We’re going to play a quick game

now where you will be the chemicals!

PROCEDURE: 1. Set-up: Clear a large space in the middle of your classroom. Give each child 1

marker item. Ask for the number of “catalyst” or “it” volunteers found in the chart

below, based on the number of players you have. Each catalyst gets 2 more

markers.

2. To start, ask the group to scatter themselves around the playing area, and freeze

in place. Have the “catalysts” evenly distribute themselves throughout the room as

well. The catalysts will be the first campers to go kablooey.

3. When any camper has 3 markers, they will go kablooey! When a camper goes

kablooey, they need to stop, yell “KABLOOEY!” and everyone else has to slow

down. The camper then gives their markers to the 3 campers closest to them. If

any of those campers ends up with 3 markers, they also go kablooey, and the

chain reaction continues.

4. Campers must walk at all times, and must slow down to a very slow walk when


they hear “kablooey!”

5. If you reach a point where somehow no one is going kablooey, the counselor

should become a fresh catalyst and add 3 more markers to the game.

6. The last 3 people to go kablooey will be the winners and the catalysts for the next

game!

Number of Players Number of Starting Catalysts

5 - 7 2

8 - 11 3

12 - 18 4

19 - 22 5

23 - 26 6

TAKE IT FURTHER: Once campers have the idea, ask them to predict what would happen if there were a lot

more catalysts? What if there was only 1? Try it out and see what happens.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE? A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where one of the products of the reaction

causes additional reactions to take place. In Kablooey tag, we are behaving like a chain

reaction, because when someone goes kablooey--is part of a reaction--they can trigger

another reaction in someone else.

Activation energy is the minimum energy required to start a chemical reaction. This is

the threshold for energy below which no reaction would take place. A catalyst lowers the

threshold for reaction, and therefore causes chemical reactions to happen between

chemicals that do not reach the minimum activation energy.


mess fest - the franklin institute fest.pdf · 2018-04-12 · mess fest theme: polymers mix it up...

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