ris es aT TS ellen PREVIEW Purchase the full book from one of your favorite online retailers BARNES &-NOBLE | amazon BOOKSELLERS TARGET“=Der't Try , - This at Home... LET'S CUT TO THE CHASE AND BE HONEST—science experiments have changed over the years. OK, maybe the experiments haven't changed, but the way they’re presented has. It seems all of today’s science experiments come with a warning that reads, “Don’t try this at home!” This is especially true when someone breaks out the vinegar and baking soda or anything else that might fizz, bubble, pop or get someone excited about learning. What's the first thought that pops into your head when you hear, “Don’t try this at home?” That's right... “I must do everything possible to try this at home!” The warning becomes a challenge for every young scientist who hears it. Here's the good news: This book is filled with great science activities, demonstrations and science fair project ideas that are easy to do and guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing. And all of them can be done using materials you most likely have around the house! Don’t be fooled by the list of simple materials required for many of the experiments—vinegar, eggs, plastic bags, salt, soap, ete.—even though they're basic ingredients, the “wow” factor of the activities is huge. At the end of each experiment, you'll learn the real science behind all of the “gee-whiz.” You'll learn not only the “how” but the “why.” And then something strange will happen—you'll start to ask your own questions and create your own experiments. Don't be surprised if a little voice in your head starts to ask things like, “What would happen if | changed this or tried that?” Curiosity will get the best of you and you'll find yourself doing the experiment again and again with your own changes and ideas. And no matter what else you do, remember to make science fun! -Steve SpanglerLt 3 what's ma) ert es bite Eloatitte Ball ing,Pong Ball. MATERIALS supervision Tape a YM =~ £ i is —_ 4) ee * Utility * Bendy » Ping-pong + liter bottle blade straw ball * Hammer with cap LET’S EXPERIMENT Near the top of a [liter With adult help, use the Find a work bench or bottle, just before the tape as a guide to cut the similar surface and ask an sides start to curve inward, top of the bottle off with the _adult for help. Place the bottle wrap apiece oftape. Tryto ox cutter. Again, trytomake —_ cap, open side down, onto the wrap the tape as straight as__-your cut as straight as possible. work bench. Center a large nail possible around the entire on the top of the hottle cap and circumference of the bottle. use a hammer to punch a hole in the cap. Pull the nail out of the bottle cap and you should have a nice, round hole.Test the bottle cap to see if a bendy straw will fit snugly in the hole you've created. If the hole is too small, find alarger nail and widen the hole. If the hole is too large, wrap tape around the short end of the straw untilit fits. Once you have right fit, screw the cap onto the top of the bottle. Place the short end of the bendy straw through the hole. DID YOU KNOW? Daniel Bernoulli published his “flying” principle in 1738, but the Wi Brothers did not make their first successful plane flights until 1903. Start blowing into the ‘straw (the end opposite the bottle) and place the ping-pong ball over the stream of air. Observe what happens!Nese |IDIDYOUIKNOW4 BRU may DUR UE In the U.K. and Ireland, “gob! pf wae HOW DOES ITWORK? Each Gobstopper is made up af four colors (and flavors), with a thin layer of wax hetween each color. Because of this, two important things happen in this experiment. First, thanks to the wax, the Gobstopper colors don’t initially mix in the water. Instead, they run into each r other and stop. Second, Repeat this experiment using hot water. Reaetcd of tun mille Do you think the results will be the same? layers, the colors change the dissolving process. _ yx ate t Ty)!memade eer Tube | MATERIALS pea [2 21 LAC = * Safety glasses x o® *2-liter bottle of |» Construction * Electrical or * Roll of Mentos® Diet Coke paper * Toothpicks duct tape LET’S EXPERIMENT Use the roll of Mentos® to roll the construction paper into acylinder shape around the candy. You want the paper to he snug while still allowing room for the candy to be removed from it. Slide the candy out of the paper tube.‘Tape both ends of the tube to securely hold the shape and size of the rolled paper. You may want ‘to tape the edge of the paper too. (Leaving the Mentos® in the tube may make taping easier. Just remove the candy for the next step.) Place one end of the paper tube into the mouth of the diet soda bottle, Make sure the bottom end of the tube is straight and smooth along its length. Also make sure the soda is still carbonated and hasn't gone flat.Hold the tube firmly in place with tape around the bottle opening. ‘Just above the tape by the ‘opening, insert a toothpick straight through the paper. The toothpick needs to be centered in the tube and pierce both sides of the tube. Avoid making these two holes too large. The toothpick is the firing pin for the eruption. GO OUTSIDE! Don't cause eruptions indoors. Drop 5-7 Mentos® into the top opening of the tube. When you're all set, slide out the toothpick and stand back! Ina few seconds, the geyser will erupt.HOW DOES IT WORK? Water molecules are linked together around each bubble of CO, in the soda. To make the bubbles bigger, the water molecules must be forced away from one another. When you drop the Mentos® into the soda, ‘the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy surface break the links of water molecules around the dissolved gas, soit takes less work for the gas to expand and form now bubbles. Each Mentos® candy has thousands of tiny micro-pits all over its surface too. These tiny pits are called nucleation sites and they're perfect places for CO, bubbles to form. As soon as the Mentos® hit the carbonated soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy. Plus, Mentos® candies are even more effective because they sink to the bottom of the bottle. That's a double whammy for making a geyser erupt. With the candy on the bottom of the bottle and the gas being released, it pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle an ineredible gas and liquid blast.= Deep bow! (or plastic tub) =, of water as «Baroflvory® soap —* Various (mustuse lvory® bars of other 4 brand soap) soap brands Pt » Microwave LET’S EXPERIMENT Vile The first part of this experiment is designed to prove whether its claim to fame is true: Does Ivory® soap really float? Fill the bow! with water and drop in a brand-new bar of Wory® to see for yourself. Maybe all bars of soap float? If you have other brands of soap, try the float or sink test. You'll probably discover that all of the bars of soap sink except for the Ivory® brand soap. Why? Remove the Ivory@ from the water and break it in half, Make some observations about the shapes and textures inside the bar.Use the knife to carefully cut the bar of Ivory® into four equal pieces. Place the pieces of soap on a dinner plate, then place the whole thing in the center of the microwave, after asking permission from an adult, HOW DOES IT WORK? > sap toa because sri whipped oN du ‘the manufacturing process. If ae the bar of soap in half with your Sn ee asa en inten aah niente, Te oxpandingestctisexusod Ae ears by thom “The water vaporizes and the heat causes tho trapped air to expand. Likewise, Wwory’ ‘soap during the heat causes the soap itsolf tO “<_* sotfon and become pliable —— Cook the bar ofsoapon high for | minute. Don't take _ your eyes off the bar of soap— be sure to watch closely and make observations of what's happening. Be careful not to overcook your soap souffle! Allow the soap to cool for a minute or so before touching it. I's puffy but rigid! Don’t waste the soap. It still works perfectly with a slightly different shape and size. DID The air-filled soap is believed to have been YOU made by accident in KNOW? the late 19th century by a Procter & Gamble employee who forgot to tum off the mixing / machine. This caused so much air to be whipped into the soap that the batch nearly doubled in size. When the soap was formed into bars, they =~ floated in water! oFEmpty clear * Plastic mesh soda bottle screen LET’S EXPERIMENT Toothpicks Pitcher of water Place the plastic screen mesh over the opening of the soda bottle. Secure it in place with a rubber band, then pour in water to fill the bottle.Hold your hand over the Keeping the bottle mesh, then flip the whole vertical, push one Hold the bottle over the ‘pitcher and tilt it until the bottle upside-down. Remove _toothpick through the mesh. _water flows out. How do you your hand. What happens? Is Whathappens?Does any of _think that happened? that what you expected? the water run out? -~, HOW DOESITWORK? = & How does the water stay in the jar when your hand is, removed? The answer is surface tension. The surface of a liquid behaves as if it has a thin membrane stretched over it. A force called cohesion, which is the attraction of similar molecules to each other, causes this effect. The water stays in the jar even though your hand is removed because the molecules of water are joined together (through cohesion) fo form a thin membrane hotween each tiny opening in the screen. If you tip the jar at all, air will come into the jar and break the seal, causing the water to pour out. ‘You can even push a toothpick in without completely the surface tension, though you may have noticed a small drip of water coming out—it had to in order to make room for the toothpick. TAKE IT FURTHER Experiment with different screens. How does the size of the mesh atfect the surface tension of the water? DID YOU KNOW? Surface tension is the reason why bugs such as water striders can walk on water.Water ‘Small dish See NOTE in Step3) or sink . Turkey Baster s * Clear drinking Granulated sugar = straw (You'll have great results id with Imperial® Sugar or Dixie Crystals@.) Measuring spoons to be stable and about as deep as the straw is long. If you have to their length.different, bright color in each glass. h colors. Stir each glass completely. ith no sugar. The second color ceives 2 rounded teaspoons of sugar. in the last glass. Stir the solution this process.wil) = To make your Sugar eresrew are if Rainbow, lift your thumb off the opening, dunk the lower end of the straw about Linch (3 em) into the plain water. Cap the straw firmly with your thumb and lift it out of the water. use a turkey the colored sugar solutions a replacement forthe intoa glass.Rinse the baster in fresh water. Draw in the liquid with the second-most amount of sugar. Hold the tip of the haster against the side of the container, close to the surface of the liquid already in the glass. Squeeze the baster gently so the water flows slowly down the side and then onto the previous layer. Layer the rest of the sugar solutions in the same way. This can be hard to do but it's worth the effort when you finish. Make sure to take pictures! DENSITY is the measurement of how much “stuff” is packed into a measured space. Nearly every substance and material imaginable has a different density. HOW D iTWores = ie as ea TE STL ond By increasing the am, Cee a? inthe solution tut keeping the, pee biCE La aca lis meee (sy “Her Constant, you create solutinnen ot ‘of water like Utah's Great om increasing densities ations that ri 5 by c:) gar that's mixed intoa mene AYP) Cm EYES aay 19 “athe ot Water, the higher the dency (it has@ very high density, pcre the Sugar Rainbow Grech tut it ese) 2) stacks ontop Brees easy PS CP UES oe TY if a high density,STEVE SPANGLER— known by fans worldwide for his wildly funny, unconventional and engaging science demonstrations on stage, television and other venues—first came to fame in 2005 with his Mentos Diet Coke Experiment in which he taught millions via YouTube how to turn an ordinary bottle of soda into an erupting geyser of fun. Today, Steve's catalog of videos featured on YouTube have more than 350 million views, and his books and online experiments are widely used by parents and educators to increase student engagement and inspire young scientists to learn more about STEM-based careers. Spangler is a bestselling author, educator and Emmy award-winning television host who finds the most creative ways to make science fun. With more than 1,300 television appearances and multiple Emmy awards to his credit, Steve is also a regular guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she dubbed him “America’s Science Teacher.” He hosts his own nationally syndicated television series called DIY Sci, where viewers learn how to use do-it-yourself experiments to amaze friends. Spangler was inducted into the National Speaker Hall of Fame in 2010 and he holds a Guinness World Record for conducting the world’s largest science experiment in 2009. To learn more, visit SteveSpangler.com.