Science lessons don’t have to be complicated.

That’s what I have to keep telling myself.  In fact, this week I learned this important lesson.

 My daughter found a golf ball sitting on top of the surface of the lake that borders our yard.  The temperatures had been in the upper 20s at night and lower 40s during the day, so the water that is mostly shaded during the day, had some surface freezing.  And, it was enough to hold the weight of a golf ball.

 The ball was sitting about three feet out from the shore, and she wanted to retrieve it.  So, she grabbed a very lightweight branch from a willow tree.  That didn’t work, so she tried putting the heavier end of the stick out on the ice.  But, still the ball was too heavy for the stick.

So many great science lessons were found in that one little incident.

 
Now, back up two days in the week….you see…

 
In April of 2000, I bought a “Newton’s Law” science kit.  My son was 8, and we never opened it.  So, how many of you have bought  teaching resources with all these wonderful intentions, then never use them?  (My hand is in the air waving around right now.)

 This past week, my daughter unearthed this kit from the depths of a “toy chest” in our playroom.  She so desperately wanted to use everything in the kit and mix and discover things. 

 

As she marveled at the rock samples and discovered polar opposites using the two ring magnets, I started going through the little activity booklet and immediately thought, “Oh, this is too simple…surely she’ll be bored.”  What’s worse, I think I even said something to that effect out loud!

 

Eventually, I did find an activity that I thought would pique her curiosity and give her the opportunity to “mix things”, as she put it.

Basically, she was to drop several rock and mineral samples into water, cooking oil and dish soap.  I admit, I was still thinking, “Hmmm, I’ve got to think of some ways we can make this more advanced.  Surely, this will only keep her occupied for about 30 seconds.” 

An hour later, she was up to her elbows in vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and other liquids from the refrigerator.  I had also remembered the simple “Cleaning Pennies” activity I had done over 8 years ago with our son.  Again, an activity I thought would not interest her. 

Was I wrong…she had a great time!
 

She walked away with an understanding of chemical reaction and had added carbon dioxide to her vocabulary.  She discovered how pumice was formed and why it had holes.
 

Wow!  She had learned quite a bit.  And to think, I almost got in the way by trying to instill my opinions about the interest level of the activities.   

Although we may have done so many of the tried and true experiments either with our other children or ourselves as a kid, it’s important to remember that these activities, concepts and lessons are “new” to many of our children.  We need to remember to look at learning through their eyes.  If we start with some of these basic lessons, it helps our children become more comfortable with a topic, especially science.

Research has shown that there is a  dramatic drop in the level of interest in science for both boys and girls (more so in girls) as they move from middle school into high school.

 

After 10 years of homeschooling, I’m still learning that lessons don’t have to be 110% planned.   In fact, knowledge seems to be absorbed much more readily when our children take ownership and feel they have some control of the learning process.

 With this in mind, I’d like to provide a list of some science activities that helps us all get back to basics!

 Basic science supplies I like to keep on hand:

• Vinegar:  a nice big gallon jug!
• Baking soda
• Lemon juice
• Balloons 
• Magnifying glass
• Bubble solution
• Straws
• Pipettes or some disposable medicine droppers 
• Food coloring
• An old netted butterfly habitat.  (We love the Insect Lore butterfly kits.  The butterfly “habitat” that comes with the kit is great for keeping insects while we observe them for a bit.)
• Magnets – My children especially enjoy wand magnets.
• Packing popcorn 
• Thermometer
• Some clean, empty jars of different sizes
• Cooking oil
• Packets of drink mix (aka “Kool Aid”)
• Prism (spend the money for a glass prism...they are so much fun!)

Simple, but fun activities.  The emphasis is on discovery…even the simplest activity can help your child feel comfortable with science, raise their excitement level and them remember a new word…like carbon dioxide!

• Packing peanuts . 

          Drop food coloring onto them

         Put some in a deep glass bowl with some baking soda, add vinegar

         Let them float in water, then put them in the freezer.

• Bubble fun

       Pour some bubble solution onto a surface and use the straw to blow  bubbles. 

      Try a cold surface outside.

      Put some bubble solution into a bowl and color with food color. 

     What happens when a few drops of vinegar is added to the bubble  solution?  Keep adding

    vinegar until bubbles won’t form.

• Water and oil

    Pour some water into a jar, then, add oil.  Next, drop objects into the  mixture.  Guess which will

    float and which will sink before they go into  the jar.

    Drop food coloring into the jar.  Add some vinegar.

    Pour some of this into a paper cup and put in the freezer.

• Magnets

    Try using the magnets under water.

   Grab the telephone book.  Open it up and put the magnet on one side of  the page and a paper clip

  on the other.  Try with varying thicknesses of  paper.

• Friction

  Gather an assortment of “balls”. We’ve used the ball from a set of jacks,  a squishy mini soccer

  ball, a marble.  Make varying sized ramps using books and/or boards.  Roll on bare floor, roll on

 carpet.

 Try different types of blankets on the floor.

We even rolled them down the stairs just to see what they did.

• Color mixing

     My daughter and her friends BEG to do this activity when they are at our house!

    Gather packets of powdered “Kool Aid” mixes.  I allow for 2-3 packets of each color per child…this

    is popular in our house.

   Next, provide bowls of water (various sizes of bowls) and spoons.

   Let them mix! 

   If you want to take this further.  Provide a “lab sheet”… have circles drawn and then have your child

  color the circle to represent the color they first used  Then, color another circle for the color they

 added.

 Next, they color a circle for the resulting color.  We did this when my daughter used this as her PreK

science fair experiment.

• Ice cubes - This is another favorite!

Float cubes in the tub and measure the water temperature as cool and hot water is added. 

Measure the water temperature in various locations in the tub...near the spigot, closer to the ice cubes, beneath the ice cubes, etc.

Make varying sizes of ice cubes.  We have used the big tubs from margarine or potato salad to make

large cubes (the kids referred to them as "glaciers").   How long does it take for each "glacier" to melt.

Run warm water over the large cubes and try to wear a "hole" in the cube.

I hope you have been inspired to keep your science simple and not stress over needing to provide a detailed or extravagant lesson! Just provide some basics and let your children discover!

Thanks for stopping by.  See you next week on The Porch.

Michelle

Michelle and her husband have been homeschooling for 10 years and enjoy life in a tiny southern town.  They are the owners of Treasure Box Press.  Michelle holds a Master's degree in Child Development and Family Studies. She serves as the Judge Advisor for the North Carolina FIRST (www.usfirst.org) Lego League and a judge for the www.FIRST.org World Festival.  She is the author of numerous Sam's Science Adventures, including "RIC: Robots in the Classroom", all available through www.TreasureBoxPress.com.  She spent 15 years in the biotechnology industry before turning her heart toward home.

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