Posts

LED Flat Flashlight

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Materials: 5 mm or 10 mm white diffused LED light (We got ours from Evil mad Scientist , which unfortunately they are no longer selling. Other suppliers  All Electronics ,  Goldmine Electronics , or Amazon) 3V lithium coin battery (we got ours from sciplus.com item #  40919) copper tape (found in the gardening section of hardware stores as an anti snail/ slug product or alternatively in 1/4'' form on Amazon ) electrical vinyl tape jumbo craft stick Tools: Scissors Ruler (optional) Cut copper tape long enough to go down the length of the craft stick and to wrap about 1/2'' to the other side. Place your coin battery on to the short piece of copper tape you wrapped over the end of the stick with the positive side of the battery facing up, negative side down touching the copper tape.  Take a shorter piece of copper tape and fold each end over about .75'' each side, leaving the middle section with adhesive, and adhere it to the craft stick...
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When Students Become Stewards

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Discovery Science · Field Notes Twenty kids, two cups of water, and one very muddy question. A 60-minute lesson where Oakland students ages six to twelve traded “student” for “water engineer” — and built something that actually worked - or taught them just as much when it didn’t. 20 Students 6–12 Ages 60 min Session Oakland Location “Think of your favorite time you got to play with water—maybe at a pool, a beach, a lake, or even just splashing in a hose on the sidewalk.  What made that water fun and safe to play in, and who do you think helps take care of it?  Today we will pretend it is our job to help take care of the water and keep it clean.  In Oakland the person who helps keep the water clean in your favorite places is called a water engineer.  Today we get to be the engineers and...
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Glow in the Dark Gak

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As Halloween is approaching, we have updated this activity to include a more cost-effective way to have gak "glow in the dark".    Gak, more commonly known as slime, is something almost everyone has made, but here are some instructions on how to make glow-in-the-dark gak.  At the end of the instructions, explore some of the science behind gak and glow-in-the-dark toys. For this experiment, you will need:   PVA glue - we find that Elmer's school glue works best Borax Hand Soap Water Measuring cups and spoons spoons for mixing 2 plastic containers for mixing Airtight container for storage Green phosphorescent pigment (the most affordable we found is at  www.douglasandsturgess.com) .  Alternatively, use highlighter markers to make slime glow under ultraviolet (UV) light or a blacklight (try with clear glue) Add 1/4 water and 1 tsp. of borax to one container. Add 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup glue to a second container. Make sure that...
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Stomp Rockets

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Paper Stomp Rockets Make a paper rocket and two different types of launchers. The PVC launcher is from Nasa's POP! Rocket Launcher . The second launcher is handheld using a bicycle inner tube and comes from the Exploratorium's Bottle Blast Off Activity Materials for Paper Rocket: • Construction Paper • Printer paper • Tape • Scissors • Folder or index cards • ½” PVC pipe –12 inches in length • Cotton Balls Materials for Handheld Bicycle Tube Launcher: • Bicycle Inner Tube • ½” PVC pipe –12 inches in length • Duct Tape • Scissors • 2 – liter bottle Optional: PVC Cutter Materials for NASA's Pop! Rocket Launcher • 1 – 5’ length of ½” PVC pipe • 2 – ½” PVC tee connectors • 1 – ½” PVC connector • 2 – ½” PVC caps • Duct Tape • 2 – liter bottle Paper Rocket Instructions:  To ensure the paper rocket is not too tight on the launcher, we r oll printer paper around the 12” PVC pipe and glue or tape it down. Then we take our construction paper and roll it ove...
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