SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

Flying Papers.

Hold a regular sheet of

paper to your bottom lip (you may have to

play a bit to find the exact location) and

blow hard across the sheet. The sheet flies

up! This is the same reason airplanes can

fly. As you blow across the top of the sheet,

you lower the air pressure (because the air

is moving faster), and thus the pressure on

the underside of the sheet is now higher,

and higher air pressure pushes the sheet

upwards.

Kissing Balloons.

Blow up two balloons.

Attach a piece of sting to each balloon.

Have each hand hold one string so that the

balloons are at nose-level, 6" apart. Blow

hard between the balloons and watch them

move! The air pressure is lowered as you

blow between the balloons (think of the air

molecules as ping pong balls ... they balls

don't have enough time to touch the balloon

surface as they zoom by). The air

surrounding the balls that's not really

moving is now at a higher pressure, and

pushes the balloons together.

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Egg in a bottle science experiment

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The Egg in a Bottle experiment illustrates the effects of air pressure. Air pressure is manifested in different phenomena, so are its effects.

When it comes to weather, air pressure plays a big role too. Most of the changes in a particular place's weather are governed by air pressure.

In this experiment, you will learn more about air pressure and its behaviour by putting an egg into a bottle and taking it out again without destroying the

 Can you figure out why the egg gets sucked into the neck of the bottle?

What you need

• 1 x hard boiled egg
• 1 x glass bottle with a wide neck (just wide enough to sit the egg in)
• Boiled water from the kettle

Pour boiling water into the bottle to about a third of the way up.
Place the hard boiled egg so that it sits in the neck of the bottle.

Watch and wait. You will notice the egg gets shifted by the hot air in the bottle, this is when the hot air expands and escapes a bit.
The egg will eventually get sucked into the bottle.

Why is it so?

The hot air from the hot water expands and forces its way out of the bottle, making the egg shift around.
As the air cools inside the bottle the air contracts and takes up less room. This creates lower pressure inside the bottle than outside. The greater pressure outside the bottle forces the egg into the bottle.

Hints and tips:

• To get the egg back out of the bottle, tilt the bottle and blow air into it. Watch out though, because the egg will shoot out of the bottle!

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Do a science fair project!

Test, answer, or show?

Your science fair project may do one of three things:

• Test an idea (or hypothesis.)
• Answer a question.
• Show how nature works.

Topic ideas:

These are just the beginning of ideas. Ask a parent, teacher, or other adult to help you research the topic and find out how to do a science fair project about it.

• Measure the cloud cover in the sky.
• Test the effect of a mild acid on sea shells. (Test lemon juice or vinegar, for example.)
• Demonstrate how Earth's water cycle creates fresh drinking water from sea water.

• Investigate the greenhouse effect outdoors, over one week using two thermometers, two shallow open boxes lined with soil, with one covered tightly with clear plastic wrap, and a notebook for taking temperature readings through the day and night. Or use a different, but well-controlled method of comparison.

• Make a do-it-yourself rain gauge. Measure the rainfall during one storm or over several days.
  
• Make a cloud in a bottle.
• Demonstrate why the equator is warmer than other parts of Earth (unequal heating of Earth's surface) using a flashlight, graph paper, a ruler, and masking tape.

• Compare the freezing point of fresh water with the freezing point of seawater or salt water, with varying amounts of salt.

By the way, what is science anyway?

1. Pick a topic.
2. Try to find out what people already know about it.
3. Do one of these:
   
   • State a hypothesis related to the topic. That is, make a cause-and-effect-statement that you can test using the scientific method.
   • Explain something.
   • Make a plan to observe something.
4. Design and carry out your research, keeping careful records of everything you do or see.
5. Create an exhibit or display to show and explain to others what you hoped to test (if you had a hypothesis) or what question you wanted to answer, what you did, what your data showed, and your conclusions.
6. Write a short report that also states the same things as the exhibit or display, and also gives the sources of your initial background research.
7. Practice describing your project and results, so you will be ready for visitors to your exhibit at the science fair.

Follow these steps to a successful science fair entry!