I just love alliteration, don't you?!

I don't know what the weather's been like in your neck of the woods, but in ours it's been simply delightful!  I can hardly believe it's August with the low humidity and Spring-like temperatures and periodical rain.  Last August we were well on our way to temps close to 100 degrees and a drought!  It's made for some really blessed Nature time in God's creation.  And we've also used this opportunity to do more outside science experiments.

All of the experiments we have done came from  Nature in a Nutshell for Kids, i love dirt, or Wild Science Projects About Earth's Weather.

Sun, Shade and Ground Temperature

-How does the temperature in the sun, in the shade, and underground differ on a Summer day?

First we placed our thermometer on a piece of cardboard and set it in the sun for a few minutes, then we recorded down the temperature which was 90 degrees (the last of the hot days since) onto our Science Journals.

Then we moved the cardboard and thermometer into the shade a waited about five minutes.  And we recorded the temperature again, which was now about 86 degrees.  Did you know that the sun's surface is about 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  That's about 2-300 times hotter than the Earth's surface!

Then we wanted to know how the temperature would vary underground.  So we dug a hole and placed the thermometer in it and covered it up with the cardboard.  And waited about 5 minutes.

Then we recorded the temperature, which was a cool 79 degrees.  Then Hannah wanted to experience this in a really "real" way, so she got the idea to bury her hand.  "Ahhh, so cool," she noted outloud.

Our sun is a star and stars are giant balls of hot gas.  Our sun is the closest star to Earth.  It is the perfect distance away, not too close, not too far, just right for us to benefit from the energy it provides.  Placed just right by a just perfect Creator.

 Low Humidity

- Why do you feel coooler when the humidity is low?

On another, much cooler, low humidity and sunny day, we headed out for another nature walk.  This time we wanted to know if the humidity was low, like today, why it felt so much cooler.  So again, first we took the temperature in the sun.  It measured a beautiful 79 degrees.

The air always contains water, even though the water cannot be seen.  Humidity is the measurement of the weight of water in a specific volume of air.  On low humidity days there is lots of room in the air because the amount of water is low.  Because of this, water evaporates much more easily in low humidity because there is room for the air to absorb the water.  And when water evaporates, it takes heat from objects around it which makes it feel much cooler.  I admit this was a bit of a confusing concept for us at first, but we finally grasped onto it.  So, we wanted to see this for ourselves.

We wrapped a wet cloth around the thermometer and placed the other end in a bucket of water to keep the cloth wet.  After just a few moments the thermometer began to come down to 75 degrees.  Cool!

Shadow Watch

- What happens to a shadow after a few minutes?

On yet another sunny day nature walk we brought along a thermometer, a piece of cardboard, an object (we choose a clay pot), and a pencil.  This time we were on a quest to find out if shadows will change shapes or sizes if an object doesn't move.

We placed the cardboard and object down in the sunlight, and drew an outline of where the shadow was.

A shadow is made when an object blocks the light rays falling on it.  The shadow is about the shape of the object that blocks out the light.  In our case our shadow, created by sunlight, was about the shape of the clay pot.  As the earth moves, the angle of the sun's light on the object changes which causes the shadow to change.

After just about 10 minutes we returned to our shadow to find that it indeed had changed.

LAST, but not least...

Chlorophyll Test

- Why is grass green?

One day we were reading about how grass and other plants are green because they contain a pigment called chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll is vital to plants, because without it photosynthesis couldn't take place, which is how the plant gets fed.  The kids both wanted to see this green pigment for themselves.  So we decided to do the experiment where you take a piece of paper and put it on the grass and step on it, smudging it into the paper.  When we looked at the paper there was only a very small amount of green on it.  We weren't satisifed with that!  So Hannah came up with a great idea to show chlorophyll, and she wanted to share it with you! 

Don't worry, it washes off with the garden hose!

Summer is such a great time to grab up some materials and get out in the great outdoors for science experiments.  I'm sure when the weather turns cold, we'll be back inside our schoolroom for most experiments, so we're enjoying the gorgeous weather and using it for school as much as possible!