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Film canister rockets are always pretty amazing considering all that powers them is a little bit of Alka-seltzer and water. The launching time is always a bit unpredictable and that just adds to the fun. Read more →
This is the now classic “mentos fountain” experiment with a little twist … we use lifesaver candies. Since Lifesavers have a hole in the middle they are just begging to be strung on a paper clip, held in place with a binder clip and then dropped into a 2 liter bottle of soda! Check out the YouTube video at the bottom where we did this with over 360 bottles of Diet Pepsi and nearly 1800 mint lifesavers.
This stuff is great fun around Halloween, but who says you have to wait till October for some fun with fake wounds and fake blood? Mix up a batch and see how gross you can make it look!
Flubber is similar to slime in many ways, sort of just a variation on the recipe. The slight change in the amounts of water, borax and glue makes a big difference in the final product. Try for yourself and check this stuff out. Read more →
Elephants Toothpaste is a fun chemical reaction that creates a huge blob of soapy foam that everyone loves. You may have seen us do this experiment as part of our Extreme Science demonstration with super concentrated hydrogen peroxide. Unless you’re a teacher or science museum it’s difficult to obtain the 30% hydrogen peroxide needed to do this experiment. The peroxide you can buy at a drug store is only 3%. We recently have come across a version, from my friend Steve Spangler, that only requires a 6% solution of peroxide that you can buy from a local hair salon.
DNA is the blueprint for life. This simple experiment will show you how to extract DNA from fruit like a banana or strawberry. All you need are some fruit and some things you probably have around the house right now.
What you need:
Before you start:
A blue print is a detailed drawing or map that directs the construction of a building. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the hereditary material that directs the construction of living things. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.
What to do:
CONGRATULATIONS! You have isolated DNA, the blueprint for all things living.
How it works:
The shampoo breaks up the membranes of the cell, allowing the DNA to come out of the cell. Filtering the fruit “goo” gets rid of the debris you don’t need. The salt can dissolve in water, but not in alcohol. In the fruit “goo”, the salt binds to the DNA and when put into the alcohol the salt solidifies and can be seen with the DNA. The salt falls to the bottom of the test tube, leaving only the DNA. The alcohol is kept cold because it helps protect the DNA.
It’s always summer somewhere in the world and this is a great activity that lets you create your own special flowers in the colors you choose. Gather up some carnations, some daisies or pretty much any white flower and some food coloring and have some fun coloring flowers. They make a fun science gift for anyone. If you really want to get crazy try using two colors on the same flower. This can get tricky since you’ll have to figure out how to split the stem so each colored water travels up it’s own section of the flower stem. The results can be unpredictable!
If you’re a Harry Potter fan you may want to try your hand at mixing up this color changing potion. Grab a head of red cabbage and a few items from the kitchen and you can cook up a potion that will change it’s color depending on what kinds of liquids you add to it.
Halloween is rapidly approaching! You can prepare yourself with some spooky science with just stuff you probably already have around your house.
After you finish carving up a spooky shrunken head or your Halloween pumpkin why not create a batch of fake blood and flesh to decorate yourself as well? If that’s a bit too much you could just mix up some gooey slime and use it to gross someone out. Of course if you scare someone too much you can always say your sorry with some Halloween flowers. With a day’s notice it’s pretty easy to create some orange and black flowers with a bit of food coloring and pretty much any white flowers. If you really want to put on a spooky show for some friends, try mixing up some color changing potions or even pretend to change water into wine.
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