Science experiments for 6 year olds?

batmang

Im running a summer camp, and am seeking some easy science experiments that are high-impact but low work for 5/6/7 year old's - need to keep them interested and working in pairs or small teams for around 30 minutes. ALL ideas very appreciated! Thanks!

amen

1: Two glasses/cups

fill up with water and some red food colouring. Leave the empty.

place the end of a tissue in the glass with water and the other end in the glass without. See the other glass get filled.

2: cut up some paper into very small bits. Blow up a ballon. Rub the ballon on your head several times. Hold the ballon over the paper and see it jump.

3: If you have a microwave take out the turntable. Put a large bar of chocolate in it for a few seconds. you should see hot melted spots.

Measure the distance between them. This is the wave length of the microwave radiation. There is normally a frequency on the back. You can then calculate the speed of light.

4: Get a piece of paper and make a circle. Cut a pie segment from the cirlce but leave attached. Put some black marker ink at the centre of the circle.
Put the pie piece in a glass of water. Watch the black ink turn in colours.

spurious

Have a look through these:
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/bookofexpts.pdf

http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/vries2.pdf

IrishKnight

You can always do the classic CO2 rockets. Get some those plastic film canisters or some of those brown pill bottles from the pharmacist. Get a square of tissue paper and place some baking soda into the middle and wrap into a little package. Place some vinegar into the bottle. Attach the tissue to the lid, so as it won't dip into the vinegar when placed into the bottle. With lid on, turn upside down and place on the ground. Blast off!

A good demonstration one would be diet coke and mentos. Perhaps don't tell them with is mentos you are adding, as you might have some angry parents on your hands :P

Something else you might consider is "squishy circuits". Below is a TEDTalk about them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M3Dow20KlM

Here is a link to the site, http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/howTo.htm

outnumbered

get them to through eggs as hard as they can on the lawn! explain that the reason the eggs dont break is because the sphere is the strongest structure!
or
get them to plant some seeds ( broad bean) in two pots, put one in the light and one in the dark! explain the conditions necessary for growth!

Capt'n Midnight

http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/

Squishy circuits are a project from the Thomas Lab at the University of St. Thomas. The goal of the project is to design tools and activities which allow kids of all ages to create circuits and explore electronics using play dough.

tog ran a workshop not so long ago - there will be another one sometime
http://www.tog.ie/2011/05/squishy-circuits-workshop/

Capt'n Midnight

look into custard expiriments

for CO2 expiriment , search online for the tubes for mentos into cola, from what I'm told cheap cola can work even better , fun but messy has to be done out doors


http://www.epilogsys.com/scoutingweb/subpages/slimeSP.htm
not good recepies - but search for silly putty / slime
you can add food colourings or poster paints
white glue = pva , hardware stores do it by the bucket

wonderfulname

Red Cabbage pH indicator

I used to love that one as a child, all the pretty colours... you can let the kids use baking soda, washing soda, vinegar and lemon juice themselves and mix stuff together to their hearts content.

IrishKnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/

tog ran a workshop not so long ago - there will be another one sometime
http://www.tog.ie/2011/05/squishy-circuits-workshop/

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

for CO2 expiriment , search online for the tubes for mentos into cola, from what I'm told cheap cola can work even better , fun but messy has to be done out doors

Great minds eh Capt'n?!

Capt'n Midnight

IrishKnight wrote: »

Great minds eh Capt'n?!

The CO2 is quite different
Vinegar + Baking soda = chemical reaction

Coke + Mentos = "catalyst" / physical process
(did they every find out how it works ?)

Might be good to compare and contrast them



electrolysis - do demo , leave it running , do other stuff, go back to it at then end with a lighted taper and POP!

IrishKnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Coke + Mentos = "catalyst" / physical process
(did they every find out how it works ?)

Not sure where I heard this but I tend to remember that the pits in the mentos act as nuclei for bubbles to form. The reason diet coke provides a more impressive result is something to do with the artificial sweetener they use compared to the sugar in normal coke. Could be an interesting thing to try different type of soft drinks, 7up, normal coke, diet coke and the like...