MATRIX

Posts Tagged ‘Fair’

Science fair projects kids can do needs to be fun and easy. In this, one of our science fair projects kids can do, we are going to have a look at water and water evaporating and condensing. The kids will be able to see what happens in each step even though they will have to practice a little patience as things takes a little while to happen.

These two projects will teach kids very good basics to let them understand why they have to do their bid for nature and help slow down global warming by caring for our plant life.

Here is the first one:

Automatic irrigation:

What you will need for this experiment:

* A large rectangle flower box with a few plants growing in it
* A bottle
* Water

What you have to do:

1. Fill the bottle with water
2. Push it, upside down, into the soil in the flower box
3. You will notice a air bubble rising in the bottle as the plants use the water.
4. The water in the bottle will only keep on running into the soil until the soil is completely whetted.
5. Only once the plants have used some more water in the soil and air can escape through the dry soil into the bottle
6. How long the water will last will depends on the weather, how hot it is, how humid it is etc.
7. Now repeat this experiment, but first loosen the soil around the plants a little, being careful not to damage or expose the roots.
8. You will notice that the loosened soil absorbs the water easier.
9. Can you think why?
10. Now explain what you have done and what the conclusion is concerning water and air.
11. You have to explain why the water stops seeping into the soil once it is completely whet and why it starts again once the plants have used some of the water and some of the water in soil have evaporated into the air.

Now for the second of our science fair projects kids can do:

Rain in a flask:

Here we are going to show that water evaporates through small pores in leaves.

What you will need for this experiment:

* A green leaf
* A glass filled with water
* Oil
* A glass flask big enough to fit over the glass of water with the leaf in it

What you have to do:

1. Place the leaf in the glass with water
2. Throw a thin layer of oil on the water
3. Cover the glass and leaf with your glass flask
4. Wait a little while and observe what starts to happen
5. Why does it happen?
6. Why did you throw a thin layer of oil on the water in the glass?
7. Why does it take a little while before the moisture start condensing on the walls of the glass flask?
8. Do the heat from the sun and the cold wall of the flask play any role in the process of the water condensing on the glass walls of the flask?

Now with the results of both experiments, you can reach a conclusion as far as heat from the sun, air and water is concerned:

* How does everything tie together?
* What did you really prove with these two experiments?
* What does it teach us about what plants need to survive?
* What does it teach us about the role of the sun, air and water in nature?
* Can you draw any conclusions concerning this as far as the cutting of the rain forests and how serious it can be for earth?
* Do you think we can already experience some of the negative effects on our climate?
* Can you think of another role trees play in the well being of our planet?

Doing science fair projects should be fun for the kids. Here is one of our easy science fair projects kids can do that is fun. It needs very little supplies, it also needs very little work, but it will need a little time. It is very easy though and if you have the time the kids will get a trill out of it.

In this experiment kids are going to look at how organic matter decomposes. Your kid will see that soil teems with life such as worms, slugs, millipedes and beetles that feed on the decaying matter. The decomposers are microscopic bacteria, fungi, woodlice, mites and small insects. This decomposing is the process where all organic material is turned into rich fertilizer for the growing plants in the soil.

This project actually consists of two easy science fair projects for the kids to do. The first your kid is going to look at the conditions needed for the decomposing process and in the second your kid is going to look at the decomposers.

Remember to make meticulous notes from your hypothesis to your conclusion and for your display purposes it is a good idea to take photos of each step as you go.

Having a look at the optimal conditions for the decomposing process:

What you need:

* A trowel
* Good soil
* Dead leaves
* Water and a watering can
* Two clean plastic containers, one with a tight lid
* Tags
* Pen
* Note book
* Camera
* Plastic gloves

This is what you have to do:

Wear your gloves for both of these experiments

1. Remember your notes and photos
2. Using your trowel fill the two plastic containers three quarters full with dry soil
3. Place a layer of dead leaves on top of the soil in both containers
4. Mark the container with the lid “A” and the other “B”
5. Now you water the soil and the leaves in your container marked “A” thoroughly and press the lid on
6. Keep the soil and leaves in the container marked “B” dry, do not add any water to it
7. Place both containers in a dry place and wait a few weeks
8. Have a look at both and you will notice that the leaves in the wet soil will have begun to rot while the leaves in the dry soil has dried and shriveled.

In the next experiment that is the second of our easy science fair projects for kids to do we are going to look at the decomposers.

What you will need:

* Once again your plastic gloves
* A plastic funnel
* A large clear jar with a neck into which the funnel will fit
* Some rotting leaves from a compost heap
* Black paper
* Sticky tape
* A desk lamp
* A magnifying glass
* A field guide
* A notebook
* A pen
* A camera

This is what you have to do:

1. The plan is to see the insects on the rotting leaves
2. You are going to separate them by using a lamp, a funnel and a large jar
3. Place the funnel in the jar
4. Wearing your gloves loosely fill the funnel with your rotting leaves
5. To keep out the light, you have to tape the black paper around the sides of the jar so it is dark inside the jar
6. Now you place the lamp in such a position that it shines onto the leaves in the funnel
7. What you want to happen is for the insects on the leaves to move away from the heat and light from the lamp
8. While doing so they will fall down the funnel and into the jar.
9. After an hour, take a way the lamp and remove the black paper from the jar
10. There will be several insects in the jar
11. Identify them by looking at them with the magnifying glass and the field guide
12. When you are finished, return them to where you found them and be careful not to kill them. These creatures are very important in the eco system of the earth!

If you are one who is searching for that perfect undertaking that will surely win the year’s award for the best science fair project then don’t look any further beyond constructing the simple still. For those who do not have any idea as to what a still is, it is an apparatus that is meant to distill, or separate, liquid mixtures by boiling since different liquids have different boiling points.

Before starting with the construction, it is important to note that building a still may lead one to run-ins with the law which makes it important for one to be knowledgeable of the regulations in one’s area and to devote the project entirely for scientific and educational purposes.

To start the construction process of the still: the following materials are needed: a 4-gallon size copper boiler, a copper sheeting that is 18” in diameter, a copper pipe that is 36” long and 2” in diameter, a 24-inch copper tubing that is 1” in diameter, lead-free solder, glass thermometer, milk can made out of stainless steel, two reducing coupler that have the following dimensions: 1” x 1-1/2” and the other 1-1/2” x 2”, an elbow joint that has a 1” diameter, a 3” nipple, 1” x 2-1/2” nipple, a large copper tub, 1-1/2” copper elbow pipe, copper coils, standard spigot faucet, any container that can be easily sealed, a siphon, an airlock, a rubber stopper, flour and water (a silicon kit can be used as an alternative), a connecting ring, yeast, a large amount of cold water, and the mixture to be fermented.

For the tools, one would need a holder gun, a drill, a saw, and a heat source.

To assemble the boiler, one would have to saw the copper boiler in half and lay on its open end the copper sheeting. Cut a piece from the sheeting that is 1 centimeter larger in diameter than the copper boiler’s open end. Solder then the sheeting to the open end of the copper boiler. After this, place the boiler flat side down and drill a 2” hole on the boiler’s top. Solder a connecting ring directly on top of this hole.

To construct the still’s column, bore a hole on the top of the elbow connector that will be big enough for it to be soldered to the 3”-sized nipple. Soldering is also done to the 2” pipe to fasten it to the ring on top of the boiler. The elbow connector is in turn soldered to top of the pipe with the help of the 1 x 1-1/2” reducing coupler. Solder then the nipple in place after which the thermometer is inserted there and secured into place with the use of the silicon kit or flour and water. The elbow pipe is then soldered to the other coupler. The 1” elbow joint is then fastened with the end of the pipe in a way that makes the elbow point downward. This end is then soldered with the smaller nipple. The nipple is then soldered to the coiled copper tubing and the spigot is soldered into the drilled hole present on the side of the metal container. The heat source is then placed below the boiler.