The Magical World of Science: 100 Fun Experiments for Children

By Zsuzsanna Gyarmati, Ph.D.

The Magical Word of Science focused on children mainly between 9-15 years old, who like to do simple experiments and experience the wonders of Science.The book contains 100 experiments that can be easily done at home, which enables children to better undertstand the phenomena of physics, chemistry and biology. The experiments can be easily done by using simple things found in the home.

The tasks in the book can be divided into three categories based on the level of difficulty:the easy tasks are marked with green, the more difficult ones with blue, and the difficult ones with red.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Oct 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9789631245493

Book preview

Dear Reader,

Enthusiasm plays an essential role in observing and understanding new scientific phenomena at school. This book focused on children mainly between 9-15 years old, who like to do simple experiments and experience the wonders of Science.

The book contains 100 experiments that can be easily done at home, which enables children to better understand the phenomena of physics, chemistry and biology. The experiments can be easily done by using simple things found in your home.

The tasks in the book can be divided into three categories based on the level of difficulty: the easy tasks are marked with green, the more difficult ones with blue, and the difficult ones with red.

I hope that everybody will enjoy working through this book and find fun and excitement in doing the many experiments.

Have a nice time experimenting!

Some Basic Rules of Experimenting

Altough the 100 experiments collected in this book can be carried out safely at home, it is worth reading through some important rules, which you should consider before you set up the experiments.

The experiments written in the book are not dangerous, but it is always a good to have an adult present. This is true for experimenting in general when children are involved. Please be sure to read through every experiment carefully before doing it.

Before starting to work, find a place where you cannot do any harm if something spills or breaks.

It is a good idea to wear protective clothing or play clothes when doing the experiments.

Have an area picked out to place your experiments so no one will touch or bother them.

Keep everything out of the reach of young children.

Never taste chemicals! Please be sure to keep this in mind.

Most of the materials you usually have at home. Before you start work, make sure you have all materials you need for these experiments.

It is a good idea that after pouring a specific material into a bowl, label that bowl with a marker. It will help you to remember what is in the bowl. You should do the same if you make a liquid that you have to use up in another experiment. You can always use stickers as well.

Never exceed the amounts in the directions.

Always carry out the experiments on trays. There may be spills. All you need a cloth or paper towel to soak up any spilt liquid. Remember to wash your hand thoroughly.

When you have finished the experiment, be sure to wash everything right away.

Flying Balloons That Make Music

It is always fun to play with balloons. Try this very simple experiment either inside or outside of the house.

Material you need:

balloon

Directions:

Blow up a balloon.

Let some air out and see what happens.

Blow it up again and let the air out again.

The explanation of the experiment:

The material of the balloon is very flexible, which after letting the air out, tends to retain its shape and size again. Therefore, the air flows out of the balloon. As the mouth of the balloon is small, the air can flow out only relatively slowly. In the meantime you hear whistling because of the soundwaves that arise.

If you let the balloon go, the air that flows out, pushes it in the opposite direction. When it is almost deflated, it suddenly speeds up, as it reaches a point in contraction where it quickly retains its original shape.

Use The Balloon as Sound System

You must have held a balloon in your hand. Have you ever touched it to your ears and listened if you can hear anything? Have you ever thought that the balloon is capable of amplifying the soundwaves? Let’s see what happens.

The materials you need:

balloon

Directions:

Blow up the ballon and close the end of it.

Put the balloon to your ears and pat on the other side.

The explanation of the experiment:

When you patted the balloon, the sound was louder than you expected. When you blew up the balloon, you pressed air into it. The air molecules inside the balloon were nearer to each other, which amplified the soundwaves better than the environment surrounding the balloon.

Pluck a Rubber Band

The rubber band is capable of making sound, too. Wrapping it around your fingers or pulled over a bowl, see what happens when you pluck it.

Materials you need:

Rubber band

Two empty plastic boxes

Cotton cloth

Adhesive/sticky tape

Directions:

Draw the rubberband with two of your fingers apart.

Lean nearer and pluck it.

Make notes about what you have experienced.

Draw more rubber bands over one of the plastic boxes so that they are close to each other on the upper part of the boxes.

Now pluck them. If one of them moves away, you can fix them with an adhesive tape at the bottom of the bowl.

Make notes of what you have experienced. Has anything changed compared to the first one?

Put the other cotton cloth into the other plastic box. Repeat Steps 4-5 again.

Observe what happens now.

Explanation of the experiment:

When you pluck the rubber bands, they make soundwaves, which you can hear all the same in all directions as long as there is no object nearby. If the soundwaves crash against a smooth surface, for example the wall of the plastic box, it reflects them back, so the sound becomes louder. If you put a piece of cloth into the plastic box, it absorbs the sound, which is why do not hear the sound as loudly. You experience the same when you enter two rooms, from which one is full of furniture while the other is empty. In the empty room all the sounds seem louder. We can sometimes even hear an echo, too. In the room full of furniture, things like the curtains and the carpet absorb the sounds.

Make Music With Glasses

Have you ever tried making music with different glasses? Have you tried pouring some water into your glass to see what sound it makes if you tap it? Let’s have some fun and make music!

Materials you need:

Glassware (glasses or jars)

Water

Pencil or pen

Directions:

Put the glasses in a line. Fill them with different amounts of water, pouring the least amount of water into the the first one and the most into the last one.

As you tap on the glasses, compare the sounds of glasses that contain the least and most water. Can you hear the difference?

Try to make sounds with the other glasses as well. You can play a tune, too. Have fun!

Explanation of the experiment:

Every glass has different sound. The one that