100 Science Experiments

This Xmas vacation I learned about surface tension and static electricity. How many families can say that? Ours can, thanks to this excellent Usborne book my daughters received from Santa this year. Although it at first seemed a bit pricey, it is already proving to be a treasure. (Santa) Mommy ordered this through my daughter’s school Scholastic Canada catalogue earlier in the year and it cost me $14.95. It is a durable softcover and the experiments have internet links to explain more about the individual projects and to encourage further learning. Yesterday morning we cracked this open and began experimenting. My fiver made an excellent paper airplane that actually flies, unlike the ones she usually makes and leaves all over the house. We have already done water surface tension with a floating paperclip. (My fiver again replicated this experiment with a guinea pig dish last night as we were cleaning Cottonball the guinea pig’s cage) and the dancing pepper experiment. To do this one take a small see-through container and place a layer of pepper at the bottom. Put the lid on top. Find something that is wool (a sweater, scarf or mitts) this proved to be the tricky part as half of our products here are cotton with some polyester thrown in to prevent shrinkage. Finally we found some wool mitts and then used them to rub the top of the container for about 30 seconds to one minute. Watch as the pepper springs to the top of the container. Unfurl a paperclip and gently use the end to manoeuvre the pepper grains around the lid. This works because the wool creates static energy inside the container and the metal paperclip moves the grains around. Fun! Not only that my kids both have excellent and educational information to share when they get back to school next week. Now which experiment will we do today?
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