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Do these 7 simple science experiments with ingredients you have at home!
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Want to keep your child busy at home but don’t want them to neglect their Science studies? Well, here are 7 simple science experiments to do at home with them!
Finding safe and practical experiments you can do with your child at home can be tricky. Here we’ve compiled 7 practical and fun experiments you can do together at home.
The baking soda volcano is your classic science fair experiment. It is fun and exciting to watch AND it also relates to the Chemical World module!
Observe what happens when an acid and a carbonate react.
Here is a video you can watch to see it happen!
The vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a carbonate (sodium hydrogen carbonate).
When an acid and a carbonate react together they produce water, a salt (sodium carbonate) and carbon dioxide. The production of carbon dioxide aerates the detergent to create the lava.
Has your child ever thrown a paper aeroplane and been disappointed that it didn’t go the distance? Well, this balloon rocket will fix that problem!
Observe how different pressures and forces cause an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
When you blow air into the balloon, you are pushing air molecules into it. This increases the pressure inside the balloon. As you blow more air, the pressure inside the balloon becomes greater than the pressure of the air outside it.
So, when you let go of the balloon, the trapped air escapes through the little opening to balance the pressure between the inside and outside of the balloon. This is the action.
This action shoots the balloon forward with the same force as the air experiences. This is the reaction.
Note: Force refers to the amount of push or pull on an object.
Are your children always looking for candy to eat? Well, they can have some fun and make their own rock candy with this Science experiment!
To understand how crystals can grow from supersaturated solutions.
Note: Ensure that you supervise your child at all times. This experiment deals with boiling water and heat.
You can do Steps 4-8 for them if you think your child is incapable of handling boiling solutions carefully.
A crystal is a solid substance that has the particles it is made of arranged in a highly ordered structure. Crystals grow when the particles continue to add to the highly ordered structure.
The solute refers to particles that can be dissolved in a liquid called the solvent. When they are mixed together, they form a solution. When no more solute can be dissolved in a solvent, the solution is saturated.
In this experiment, the sugar is the solute and the water is the solvent. When combined, they form a sugar solution.
In this experiment, the sugar is the solute and the water is the solvent. When combined, they form a sugar solution.
At higher temperatures, more sugar can be dissolved in water than at lower temperatures. As the sugar solution cools, it becomes a supersaturated solution. This means that there is more sugar dissolved in the water than can normally be dissolved at this lower temperature. As a result, sugar can easily crystallise from the solution.
When you insert the skewer coated in sugar crystals into the solution, you are providing a surface for the sugar molecules to crystallise, which causes sugar crystals to grow.
Does your child ever wonder how plants “drink water”? Do they want to make plants change colour? Well, this experiment will allow your child to dye a piece of celery and observe how they absorb water!
To observe how plants absorb water through their xylems.
All plants need water to survive. By adding food colouring to the water, we will see exactly where the water goes when it is inside the plant.
Plants absorb water from their roots and transpire (lose it) water from their leaves. This is why the leaves will be dyed after a few days.
The xylem are the veins that the water travels through.
When you cut the celery stick transversally (sideways), you will see coloured circles. This shows you the amount of xylem inside the plant.
When you cut the celery longitudinally (lengthwise), you will see long veins running up and down the stalk. These are the xylem that carry the water up the plant.
You can even try to pull the xylem out! If you’re skilled enough, it will come out as one long string.
Everyone knows that DNA is microscopic! However, what if there is a way we can see it without an electron microscope? Grab your kids and get some spare strawberries to extract their DNA! The strawberries, not your kids.
To extract DNA from strawberries, and to observe it with the naked eye.
DNA exists in every living thing; plants, animals, bacteria.
Strawberries have a very high number of DNA strands per cell. They have 8 instead of the usual 4!
Liquid dish soap dissolves the strawberry cell membrane, which helps release the DNA. The salt breaks the protein chains to release the nucleic acid in the DNA. The alcohol helps bind the DNA together to make it visible to the naked eye.
Want an easy and colourful experiment to keep your children busy? Let’s see how we can change the colour of milk!
To observe and change the surface tension of a liquid.
Milk is a complex mixture that is mostly made up of water, however it also contains proteins, vitamins, minerals, sugars, and fats.
When we add food colouring, it sits on the surface of the milk due to the high surface tension of the liquid.
Detergents contain compounds known as surfactants (short for surface active agents), which have the ability to reduce the surface tension of a liquid. These molecules contain a portion of the molecule that is hydrophobic (water fearing) and another portion that is hydrophilic (water loving).
When we add the detergent to the milk, the hydrophobic portion of the surfactant molecules attach to the fats in the milk, while the hydrophilic portion of the molecule interacts with the water. This process causes the rapid movement of particles in the mixture, and results in the swirling of the food colouring.
Want to make a good hot chocolate and learn Science at the same time?
Observe how plate tectonics move due to convection currents.
The chocolate powder represents the Earth’s crust, while the milk represents the magma underneath.
Convection currents occur when fluids, such as magma or milk, are heated.
When the milk is heated in the pan, the particles at the bottom become hot, causing them to rise to the surface. The cooler particles at the surface then move toward the bottom of the pan, where the particles are heated and the process repeats. These convection currents cause the chocolate powder on the surface of the milk to move, much like how the Earth’s crust moves on magma.
This is a good way to help your child understand how the tectonic plates move around the Earth and create mountains, vents, earthquakes and tsunamis.
Looking for more home science ideas? Read our 5 Hot Tips to Help Your Child Study Science at Home to help your child have fun with Science at home.
Written by Matrix English Team
The Matrix English Team are tutors and teachers with a passion for English and a dedication to seeing Matrix Students achieving their academic goals.
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