A couple of weeks ago — Nov. 12 to be exact — David Letterman had Kid Scientists on his Late Show. This is something he does once every few months, and in this case, the Kid Scientists were his first guest on the show, coming on even before his A-list movie star, Amanda Peet. I applaud The Late Show for doing this, and I just think it’s an amazing idea. I love the fact that ordinary school kids are getting their chance at five minutes of fame. In a world where science isn’t considered the most glamorous of professions, these kids are basically selling scientific exploration as being fun, cool, and something to aspire to. It’s also noteworthy that the kids chosen to be on the program are diverse in terms of gender and race. On Nov. 12, he had a boy and two girls, one of whom was Asian Indian. You can watch the full episode is here.

Many would agree that the first girl, “Heather”, had the most exciting demonstration. The video of her demo is here:

Once they have their bright yellow glowing liquid, Heather asks Mr. Letterman to pour it into the giant graduated cylinder, which appears to already contain about half a liter of liquid dishwashing soap.  Then, she asks him to add the manganese dioxide:

Since manganese dioxide is actually a black powder, I can only assume that the black liquid in the measuring cup is actually a water-based manganese dioxide solution.  When Mr. Letterman adds this to the giant cylinder, the crowd goes wild.  As Heather explains, ”The manganese dioxide will act as a catalyst and break down the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas.  The oxygen gas bubbles will get caught in the soap, and it will also get very hot.”  The chemical reaction is as follows:

As you can see, the manganese dioxide is not actually part of the equation.  That’s because it’s only a catalyst, and doesn’t actually get consumed as part of the chemical reaction.  Anyway, resulting the water and oxygen gas (and heat) all get mixed up in the dishwashing soap causing it to create enormous amounts of suds, enough to overflow the giant graduated cylinder.

Sometimes this demonstration is known as “elephant toothpaste” (for obvious reasons), and you can find numerous examples on the web of this experiment being performed by kids in their school chemistry labs.  For example, check out this video.

Well, I hope that helps clear things up, and now you know enough to try this out yourself, assuming you can get a hold of the chemicals.  If you do, please follow all appropriate safety precautions … these chemicals are dangerous, and the chemical reactions produce a lot of heat.
 
Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post.  Teachers and science fair coordinators:  don’t forget to get your free science fair website at OurScienceFair.com.
 
–Rajeev Goel

Rajeev Goel learned all of this last year when he volunteered to help put together his daughter’s science fair. A programmer for IBM, he knew that there was a better way. He came up with a web based registration system that eliminated most of the science fair paperwork. After his school used the system successfully, he made it available to any school – including yours at a terrific site called Our Science Fair. And unbelievably, it is FREE.

When you check out Our Science Fair, you’ll also notice some other great advantages. You can customize it to your school site. Parents can upload their science fair pictures. Organizers can send emails to registered students. And you can buy science fair supplies with proceeds going to your school.

Check out all of this and more at Our Science Fair.

PS Whether you’re an organizer or a participant in your science fair, you can get a free science project guide for your students – or yourself – at Science Projects!

Here are some things I’ve found that are great science fair topics, but simply are not science experiments:

~ Making a Potato Canon - This is a fun activity, and it demonstrates how cool science can be, but it doesn’t tst anything. How can you turn it into an experiment? Vary the trajectory, and ask, “At which angle will a potato canon launch a potato the farthest?”

~ What happens when seeds germinate?” – This is listed as an experiment on a teachers’ forum. Can’t believe it. It’s a great lesson, but what are kids comparing here?! Turn it into an experiment by testing “At which temperature do seeds germinate the best?”

~ How do bones change when soaked in vinegar? – This is close to an experiment, but the project I saw didn’t have a way to measure the change. The results of a true experiment must be measurable. If your kids come up with a weigh to measure the amount of weight the bones can support before breaking – you may just have a winning kids science experiment.

That gives me a great idea for another science project experiment, actually…Stay tuned!

PS ALL of the projects at 24 Hour Science Projects are experiment based – Hypothesis, Variables, Measurable Results and all!

We will take earth as our first example. You can take a 2 litre pop bottle and fill it half with water. Then mix in some soil and let the mixture settle out for 5-10 minutes. The kids will see pebbles settle first. Sand normally settles next. Silt comes next. Then some dirt particles will float very long periods. Organic things like leaves and bugs will usually float. The lesson is just a brief introduction into geology. Make sure you are paying attention to your kids’ reaction, especially if one of them really seems to enjoy learning about dirt.

Next, let’s take the weather. Something we all can learn from. Let’s look at why the grass is wet in the morning. Take a 2 litre bottle and cut the top off. Fill it about 2/3 with warm tap water. Feel the outside. Now add several ice cubes and stir until melted. Now check the outside of the bottle again. Notice any moisture (if not continue to add ice cubes). The water on the outside is really forming from air surrounding the bottle. The water is condensed from the atmosphere when the water temperature is cooler then the dewpoint of the air. Dewpoint is calculated from the relative humidity and temperature of the air and is most easily remembered as the temperature that water vapor changes state into a liquid. This is why we get dew on the grass during the night time.

The final experiment we will look at is easy to do. The kids will really enjoy this one. We are going to make a mold garden (on purpose). Take several pieces of bread and sprinkle with water. Leave the bread out for several hours (overnight works best). Put the bread into a 2 litre bottle and cap it. Place the bottle in a sunny stop for a couple of days. What you will see starting to grow is mold. Don’t open the bottom to avoid letting the mold spores out (can cause sickness). Penicillin was discovered by a very similar experiment back in the 1930’s. Make sure you share this fact with the kids.

Remember to have fun with the kids. They may surprise you at the last moment with their forgotten assignment but by being prepared you can turn it around.

Visit our website at http://familynightactivities.com/uncategorized/10-fun-science-projects for more fun science ideas and resources.

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Get your FREE parents guide to science projects at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com. We also have a list of fast and easy science project guides that can be done in a very short amount of time – many of which are easily adaptable for use with more than one child.

To prepare for this article, I walked through my house and made a list of the supplies we keep on hand. This list can be a springboard for getting supplies ready for your children. Let this list help you as you help your children to help themselves.

I’m quite aware that this is a LOT of stuff. But you’re going to buy it anyway. Cut down on the stress and buy it in advance. Science project time will be here before you know it!

And while you’re getting supplies, add our free science project guide at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com.

1. Let kids work together on the same project. They can each do the experiment, and will each have to do a science board or report, but you’ll only have to help find one idea and gather the materials from one list. This is the way to go if your kids are in different schools.

2. Use different variables for the same experiment. If you’re comparing amounts of Vitamin C in substances, for example, let one child test various canned fruit juices, and another child test different juices from fresh fruit. The research and procedure is the same, but the experiments are different.

3. Recycle projects. Our family has always done projects together, then saved them in the attic. One year one of our boys used the same experiment his brother had done the year before. We redid the experiment, but reused the science board, simply adding the fresh data and photographs.

4. Submit different types of the same project. If your school science fair allows it, one child can submit and experiment based project, and the other submit a demonstration. For example, one child can demonstrate how to take the shell off an egg without boiling, and another can experiment to see if water goes through the membrane.

Science projects are supposed to be wonderful learning experiences for kids – and they can be. Don’t let your family get bogged down in the process. Look for ways to streamline and coordinate, and make science fair time a fun educational time for your kids.

Get your free parents guide to science projects at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com. We also have a list of fast and easy science project guides that can be done in a very short amount of time – many of which are easily adaptable for use with more than one child.

Here’s our new page:

So – what do you think? Won’t you be our fan?!

Exploring Weather – Fill a baking pan with dirt from your backyard. Tilt one end about four inches, and lean on a stack of bricks. Place the bottom end into another baking pan. Wait for rain, and watch how the water erodes the dirt. If you want, fill a second pan with dirt that has grass growing in it, and compare the amount of soil that washes into the ‘catch’ pan.

Messy Volcano Science Project – Form a mud ‘volcano’ around an empty plastic soda bottle. First, add a package of quick acting yeast to the bottle, then add a cup of hydrogen peroxide. Stand back for the eruption.

Sun Bleach – Place several different colors of construction paper in the back window of your car. On each piece of paper, place random solid objects, such as scissors, keys, or small toys. Leave in the car all day, then remove the object. The sun will have faded the part of the paper not covered up.

Night Vision – Go outside at night to a very dark spot. Take a look around, and note what you see. Wait fifteen minutes and watch how much more your eyes can see after they have adjusted to the darkness.

Or think of your own projects. Bubbles, water, plants, rocks, wind…all are great science projects to do outside. For even more ideas, get our free science project guide at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com. In addition to a FREE science project guide, we’ll show you how to learn a lot and have a lot of FUN with your OUTDOOR science project!

I want to let you know that my boys and I absolutely love these projects. I have two boys who have competed in the science fair for the past four years. Every year but one both of my boys have won and gone to regional, including this year as well. We have fun and enjoy doing the experiments!

Your child can have one of these winning science fair projects from 24 Hour Science Projects. Of course, we can’t guarantee that your project will win, but we do guarantee that you’ll be 100% satisfied with your guides.

Middle School Science Projects: Finding a middle school science project that meets all these criteria has always been a challenge for our family. Our teachers wanted an experiment based, investigative project for the science fair. Middle School science teachers want creative ideas, specific elements, in depth research, and detailed logs of the whole science fair process.

Fifth Grade Science Projects that Rock: A Fifth Grade Science Project can be one of the most fun school projects that a parent and child can do together. Here are some really good science project ideas that are easy enough to do, yet meet the requirements of most science fairs and most fifth grade teachers. These are investigative science projects, which involve a science experiment.

Science Project Boards that Aren’t Boring: Kids’ science projects aren’t finished until the last letter is glued onto the science board. After the science project is finished, you want it to look its very best for the science fair! You really want the project to reflect how hard your kids have worked.

Science Fair Projects to Make Everybody Happy: Science fair projects – Kids think they should be fun. Teachers think they should be educational. Parents just want them to be fast and easy. Since students, teacher and parents are all involved in the process of getting ready for the science fair, most of the time, science projects have to be all of the above!

Find your project now – and be finished by this time tomorrow – by visiting 24 Hour Science Projects.