• Box of Toothpicks
• Bag of Gumdrops

What to do:

1. Use gumdrops to connect 5 toothpicks in a ring. This is your base.
2. Use 2 toothpicks and 1 gumdrop to make a triangle on one side of the base.
3. Repeat all the way around the base until you have 5 triangles.
4. Use toothpicks to connect the gumdrops at the tops of the triangles. Now how many triangles do you have?
5. Push 1 toothpick into each of the top gumdrops.
6. Use one last gumdrop to connect these toothpicks at the top.

What’s the science?
Engineers often use triangles when they design buildings. Did you notice that your dome is made up of lots of triangles? That’s because triangles are stable shapes. That means they don’t bend, twist, or collapse easily when you push on them. A square is not as stable as a triangle. Test it. Make a square and a triangle out of toothpicks and gumdrops.  Press down on one corner of each shape. How do the two shapes compare? Does one bend, twist or collapse more easily than the other?

What will happen if . . .

• you make a base with six sides instead of five sides?
• you build squares rather than triangles on top of the base?

Choose one thing to change (that’s the variable), and predict what you think will happen, then test it.

What you need:

• Chocolate chip cookies
• Toothpicks
• Paper plates

Before you start:
The earth’s crust is made up of soil, rocks and minerals. Rocks are made up of a combination of different minerals. Rocks are also mined to find minerals. Taking care of the earth is very important. When we mine for precious stones and minerals, we do not want to harm the earth around the rocks. In this activity, you will be a miner for precious gems. Your cookie is the earth and the chips are gemstones.

What to do:

1. Place a chocolate chip cookie on a paper plate.
2. Use a toothpick like a real pick to mine the chocolate chips out of the cookie.
3. See how many chips you can poke out of the cookie and still keep it in one piece. Be careful not to break the cookie. How many chips were you able to mine?
4. After you’ve finished mining your cookie, you can eat it.

What’s the Science?
Mining is the extraction of minerals or rocks from the earth. The minerals that are recovered from the earth through mining include silver, copper, salt, petroleum, gold, and lead. Some of the rocks include coal, diamonds, granite, marble, and emeralds. These materials can be used to make many different things. Some examples include coal, which is used as a fuel, copper which is used in electrical conductors, and lead which is used in making car batteries.

What you need:

• Paper
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Tape
• Non-bendable, plastic drinking straw

What to do:

1. Cut two strips of paper. Make one strip 1 inch wide and 5 inches long. Make the second strip 1 inch wide and 10 inches long.
2. Curl each paper strip into a hoop. Tape the ends together. Now you have a big hoop and a small hoop.
3. Tape the small hoop to one end of the straw.
4. Tape the big hoop on the other end of the straw. Make sure the big hoop lines up with the small hoop.
5. Hold your Hoop Glider in the middle of the straw, with the small hoop in front. Throw it gently like a spear. It might take some practice to get the hang of it. How far does your glider fly?

What’s the science?
If you throw a plain straw, it doesn’t go very far. But when you add paper hoops, the straw glides through the air.  That’s because the hoops act like wings. Things that fly, like insects, birds, and airplanes all have wings. But wings are not all the same shape and size. Different wings can be better for different kinds of flight. For example, an eagle has long, wide wings that help it glide. An airplane has wings with small flaps that move up and down to turn the plane. Try changing the wings on your glider. How does it fly with different wings?

What will happen if . . .
• you make the straw smaller?
• you change the size of the hoops?
• you add a third hoop?
Choose one thing to change (that’s the variable), and predict what you think will happen, then test it.

What you need:

• Helium balloon with ribbon attached
• Paper clip
• Small metal washers or pieces of paper

What to do:

1. Tie the balloon’s ribbon to the paperclip.
2. Thread several washers or pieces of paper onto the paperclip. What happens when you let the balloon go?
3. How can you make the balloon FLINK – neither float nor sink? Try adding more washers or pieces of paper…or taking some away.
4. Keep changing the design of your flinker until it flinks for 10 seconds.

What’s the science?
Gravity is pulling down on your balloon, the helium inside the balloon, and on the air around the balloon. The helium inside your balloon is a gas, just like air. But helium weighs less than air. So a balloon filled with helium weighs less than the air around it. The air around the balloon pushes up the balloon harder than gravity pulls down, so the balloon floats to the ceiling. If you add weight to the balloon, you make the balloon heavier. Too much weight means that gravity pulls down harder than the air pushes up, so the balloon sinks to the ground. If you add the right amount of weight, the balloon will flink – it doesn’t float or sink.

What will happen if . . .

• you change the length of the ribbon?
• you use a balloon filled with more (or less) helium?
• you add different materials to the paperclip, like popcorn, another paperclip, or a styrofoam packing peanut?

Choose one thing to change (that’s the variable), and predict what you think will happen, then test it.