Plug the drain, fill the sink with water, and take the plunge
with Steve Spangler’s floating science challenge. We all know that
certain things float in water while other things sink, but why? Do
all heavy things sink? Why does a penny sink and an aircraft
carrier floats? Think you know the answers? Well, get ready for a
few amazing surprises!
Written by Jack Leibold We all know the importance of having our kids wear a safety helmet when biking, skateboarding or any activity where there's a chance of a fall. But have you ever wondered which helmets protect our kids the best and how would you test this? Jack Leibold is a third grader who wanted an answer to this question and needed to find a way to test his hypothesis. Using a few honeydew melons as crash test victims, Jack set out to create a way to scientifically arrive at an answer. It's an example of a great science fair project that puts the scientific method to great use.
Ice skaters are not only talented on the ice, but they also have a great understanding of physics as the jump, twist and spin. If you've ever seen seen an ice skater start to spin slowly on the tip of their skate and then speed up into an incredible blur of a spin, the secret is pure science. The best part is that you don't have to be on the ice to test out the science behind the spin. Find an office chair that spins easily and a few weights and you're ready to make yourself dizzy sick. But it's all in the name of science.
This is not your ordinary experiment... but parents might call it a social science experiment. Remember, it doesn't take a laboratory to get children to wonder, discover and explore. Sometimes it just takes a little creativity and a passion for making learning fun. Just imagine what your kids would do if the water from your faucet came out green. Those darn Leprechauns are at it again.
When you picture a tornado, most of us imagine a whirling column
of air poking down from the clouds. But this tornado-like effect is
not limited to just the air. A fire tornado or fire whirl is just
like a tornado but it's made of fire. As the heated air from
the fire rises, strong air currents (often whipping through the
trees) cause the air molecules to spin (often referred to as
angular or rotational momentum) which shapes the flame into the
shape of a tornado.
