Where Did We Go Wednesday? Science Museum of MInnesota

As I mentioned last week when we had gone to the winter carnival we coupled it with a trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota.

We had renewed our membership and we're were excited to check out what was new and see a film at the Omni Theater.

Omnifest is actually going on so there is a variety of films to choose from some new and some older. We ended up seeing Rocky Mountain Express. Because we are members we are able to see a free movie each time we go and we can book our tickets online in advance for free. It used to not be free to book it online so I was happy that it was. With it being omnifest The movies do fill up quickly. When we arrived at the Museum there was a sign saying that the next show wasn't until later in the evening then we were seeing a show so I was very pleased we booked it in advance.

We spent most of our 4 hours there doing all the different special projects they had set up for the day. The Omni movie was 45 minutes long and we watched a couple 10-15 minute long presentations.

The picture above is of the frozen Mississippi River as seen in February from the top floor in the Science Museum.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Dinosaurs at SMM

Looking for a different slant on a spooky activity to do for the month of October and Halloween, then go check out all the bones of the dinosaurs at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Nothing says Halloween like skulls and bones.

Two days before school started the kids that I decided to go check out the Science Museum and get some learning started early. I know I have shared images of the Science Museum of Minnesota before but it always serves as a nice reminder of this valuable resource we have in our state. My son loves the dinosaurs. And this was his choice of where he wanted to go for sure when we visited this last time.

While we were there we watched an Omni Theater presentation of Journey to the South Pacific but it is leaving there soon and a new movie is coming.

The Pixar exhibit has just left and a new exhibit is coming as well. You can see from the picture I took both the movie and the new exhibit are coming October 13th.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? RBNC Macro Invertebrates Class

Did you know that many nature centers offer a variety of classes for kids, adults, and Families? We used to be able to get more of the classes in when we were not as busy but as the kids grow older their schedules get busier. This class was a macroinvertebrate class at the river bend Nature Center in Faribault Minnesota.

It was quite an interesting class and we discovered many creepy things living in the pond.  they look even creepier when you look at them under microscopes.

Usually classes there are very low-cost or possibly even free. I encourage you to check them out and see what is available to you. Ours changes whenever we get different interns, so each year it might be different classes. Also oftentimes nature centers offer day camps so that might be an option to help round out your child summer especially if they are starting to complain of boredom.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Science Museum of Minnesota

I honestly think it was 10 months since we have been to the Science Museum of Minnesota. I think we have just been busy and we went to some other science museums when we were traveling and then let our membership lapse, but now we are back and renewed our membership.

Since we had not been there in a while, there were some new things going on including a new exhibit called Sportsology, which was a lot of fun and eventually we did get around to most of the exhibits within this one. Most the exhibits within this one are stuff you actually get to do and be quite physical.

We also saw the new IMAX movie in the OMNI Theater called "A Beautiful Planet", we were at the 2pm showing and it ended up being a sold out show (they show it every hour on the hour!) It was very good and quite interesting and I learned a few things from it. We also did some experiments in the lab there. I was with my daughter and we did an experiment to learn about enzymes in our saliva that break down our food. My son went in to the lab with his dad and did his first experiment in there.

Oobleck Science Fun!

This is a fun experiment to try out when you are studying solids and liquids, as Oobleck has both the properties of a solid and a liquid. You can also teach a little bit about mixing colors by adding drops of different colors of food coloring to the water. Be sure to do this experiment in the kitchen or a room w/o carpet. If it gets in the carpet it can be hard to get out.

How to Make Oobleck

1 part water
1 1/2-2 parts corn starch
couple drop of food coloring (if desired)

Directions:

Start with putting your water in a bowl and stir in food coloring if you desire it to have a color. I used 1 C of water. Then measure out 2 parts of corn starch, you may only need 1 1/2 parts, so I  measured out 2 C of cornstarch. Slowly stir the corn starch in to the water. 

You can always add more food coloring after you have mixed together if you do not have as dark of a color as you wanted.

Simple Science Experiment with Milk

 This is such a fun science project to do with kids. We have done this several times and they love it. They even ran to get a neighbor kid to come over and watch too. You can see the video of how it works below, but all you need is whole milk, dish soap (not a natural kind) and food coloring. As an adult who never did it before, I thought this was really cool.

There are a couple of things happening here, the first is differences in density of liquids. Food coloring is less dense than the whole milk, so it just sits on top. The second thing is surface tension which both water and milk have, but when you apply soap it reduces the surface tension and causes the liquid particles to move.

Wordless Wednesday: Pacific Science Center

Pacific Science Center

25 - 4th Grade AR Books about The Planets & Space

AR Books about The Planets and Space

4.0
Earth's Crust by Conrad Storad
Mars: The Red Planet by Patricia Demuth
Planet by Melvin Berger
Rocky Planet by Kyla Steinkraus
Saturn for My Birthday by John McGranaghan

4.1
Eclipses by Nick Hunter
Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley

4.2
Exploring Exoplanets by Deborah Kops
Meet the Planet by John McGranaghan
Our Solar System by Amanda Davis

4.3
Saturn by Susan Ring
Space by Chris Oxlade

4.4
Earth by Susan Ring
Uranus by Susan Ring

4.5
Giant Gas Planet by Kyla Steinkraus
Solar System by Sue Hamilton
Uranus by Larry Brimner

4.6
Earth's Layers by Jason Nemeth
Neptune by Larry Brinmer
Neptune by Susan Ring

4.7
Jupiter by Susan Ring

4.8
Saturn by Larry Brimner

4.9
Planet by Lynda Sorenson
Pluto by Larry Brimner
What's So Special About Planet Earth by Robert Wells

Crystals Experiment in the Classroom

I did this experiment at home a couple years ago, and then again this year with my kids. But I took it a step further this time and did it on a larger scale with each of my kids' classes.

You can see the original experiment to make snowflake crystals in this post and read all the directions there, but basically you need a ratio of 1:4 or borax to hot water.

I used a plastic shoe box and filled it with 12 Cups of boiling water and 3 Cups of borax. We were able to hang lay 11 rulers across the top to hang the creations with (I used ornament hooks to hang them) and we did place a label with each child's name on the ruler.

And then in my daughter's classroom I did read the book Crystals by Connor Dayton, which is a 5.0 Level Accelerated Reader book, worth .5 points. It was above the level of many of the kids in there when I did this with her class in 3rd grade, but it really helped introduce a lot of concepts to them and think about all the crystals they see every day.

Wordless Wednesday: Science Museum of Minnesota

We've shared other visits to the Science Museum of Minnesota with you, but right now they have the Space exhibit there. We were there when it opened in the spring and plan to get another visit to the Science Museum in during the summer.

FREE Google Maker Camp (July 6-Aug 14th)

We have not had the opportunity to participate in this camp, but I have in the back of my mind to host a Maker Camp. It's not too late to sign up to be a host of a physical location of a Maker Camp. Personally, I think this would be an awesome program for libraries to incorporate in to their summer library programming. There are MANY physical locations already signed up, so check to see if there is one near you, but if not consider hosting your own Maker Camp.

Wordless Wedneday: Egg & Vinegar Science Experiment

This would be totally fun to do for an April Fools' Prank. Tell your Kids that you are magic and you can remove the egg shell without cracking the egg. They won't believe you, but in 2 days you will show them just how magical you are.

Start with an egg straight from the refrigerator

The shell is calcium carbonate (base)

Get some vinegar (acid) too

Put egg in a glass of vinegar

Watch the reaction start

After 1 Day

The bubbles are carbon dioxide that is released as a result of the reaction

The broken down shells will be the white foam on the top

After 2 Days

The shell is completely gone and what is left is the thin membrane around the egg

Preschool Science Experiment with Frozen Dinosaurs

This was part of our "cold" day from school last month. It was as low as -35 below with windchill and so there was a 2-hour delay from school which means no morning preschool for my son. In that case, we needed to plan some learning activities at home. Given that he had just done some melting of ice in preschool with warm and cold water and salt water in preschool, it was fresh on his mind, but being the ever dinosaur fan that he is, he wanted to excavate some dinosaurs from the ice (because that quite possibly be how some of them died.)

Although we took it all a couple steps further than he did in preschool for some additional learning and more science fun. We knew about the 2 hour delay the night before, so we were able to get the dinosaurs in water in advance.

So, we gathered all of our science equipment (some day I should tell you all about what is in our science kit), a plastic bin, warm water, cold water, salt, baking soda, vinegar and boiling water.

Then let the fun begin! It's mostly trial and error to see what happens. We added the baking soda and vinegar so he could see if that chemical reaction would create heat and melt anymore than the same temperature water.

For more SCIENCE FUN, try these out:

• Below Zero Science Experiments (2 experiments!!)
• Solar Pizza Oven
• Sun Prints
• Fun Science Experiments for Preschool Kids (4 different experiments!!)
• Simple Science Fun with Kids (6 different experiments!!)
• Marker Tie-Dye
• Groovy Lab in a Box
• (Non-Paper-Mache) Volcano

For more DINOSAUR FUN, try these out:

• Ultimate Dino Dig Kit
• Preschool-at-Home Theme on Dinosaurs
• Triceratops Costume
• DIY Clay Dinosaur Bones and Dino Dig
• Birdhouse Gourd Dinosaur Cave
• D is for Dinosaur Art Project
• Dinosaur Feet from Shoe Boxes
• Fossil Cookies

GIVEAWAY and Review: Groovy Lab in a Box

Groovy Lab in a Box has been a fun project subscription box that I have been able to review with my children this summer. It has been so great to deter the "summer slide", you know the slide in their academic abilities when they are out of school. It keeps their mind thinking and problem solving and learning. Groovy Lab in a box would also be a wonderful tool for home schoolers or for those parents who want to supplement the science curriculum taught in schools. I bring up that last part because it seems like schools have less and less funds to buy all the necessary supplies needed to do hands-on science projects. This particular box is called "Here Comes the Sun". You can buy this one individually, or 4 other Groovy Labs in a Box called:

• Swing in to Spring 
• Out to Launch
• Lunar Launch
• Fly with Me

Product Description from Groovy Lab in a Box


Each month through our Groovy Lab in a Box subscription service, young STEMists (your children!) will receive fun, hands-on projects and an engineering design challenge – all focused on that month’s STEM topic.All STEMists will receive a Lab Notebook, where they can read about that month’s topic, perform investigation activities and document their findings. They will investigate, brainstorm, plan, build, test and redesign their own creations.

STEMists also receive access to our special “Beyond…in a Box” online learning portal. This is a unique feature of Groovy Lab in a Box because it gives STEMists a deeper understanding of that month’s topic. “Beyond…in a Box” has videos and more interactive activities to supplement what they are learning from the box projects, which also helps the STEMist even more when completing the design challenge. Additionally, the monthly box contains bonus supplies exclusively for the activities available through “Beyond…in a Box.”

While the investigation activities have step-by-step directions, STEMists won’t have detailed directions to complete the Engineering Design Challenge. Instead, they must rely on their critical thinking skills, and what they’ve learned through the investigation process from the Lab Notebook and online activities. The Engineering Design Challenge is the culmination of your STEMist’s learning experience – the ultimate project where he/she must apply the knowledge gained from that month’s activities.

Science learning made fun! Groovy Lab in a Box: Inspiring the next generation of STEMists…. For ages 8+

Here you can see that I spread out all the supplies to conduct all experiments detailed in the Lab Book, as well as the bonus experiment using Solar Sun Paper, which I took pictures of below when I did it with both my 8 year old and 4 year old. The box is geared towards 8+ and that is very appropriate. Children who are closer to age 8 will need more guidance conducting the experiments than those older children. The Solar paper experiment was one that my youngest could participate in and understand.

You can order a subscription of 1, 3, 6, or 12 months to Groovy Lab in a box and be shipped upcoming boxes to your home. The longer the subscription you order, the lower price you pay per box and if you order 3 months or more you get them shipped FREE.

We have only done 2 out of the 4 experiments sent to us (the one pictured was the simplest) and have really enjoyed them. The solar oven was pretty neat and my daughter remembers when I have done one with her the last 2 summers. We plan to do the Conductivity Tester last this week and my daughter is super excited to hear if she can make a buzzer go off or not with using water.

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN THEIR OWN GROOVY LAB IN A BOX

ENTER RAFFLECOPTER BELOW

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Try It Tuesday: Make a Volcano and Eruption (not paper mache!)

My son is a huge dinosaur fan and when we filled out our Summer Goals Lists, 4 our of his 10 goals revolved around dinosaurs. He wanted to build a landscape with a volcano to use with his dinosaurs when he played with them, so we decided we would make one. I wanted it to last longer than just one "explosion" so the traditional paper mache volcano was not going to be in our best interest and we came up with another idea using spray foam insulation.

We used a sturdy scrap board so that we could easily transport the volcano and it would stand many play time episodes.We also used a 2L bottle, duct tape, spray foam insulation (we used a whole can), newspaper, spray paint, homemade playdough, and sticks.

To start off, we duct taped the 2L bottle to the board.

Next we stuffed crumpled newspaper underneath the duct tape and reinforced the ends of the duct tape with more duct tape so that they don't pull up.

This next step you will want to do for the kids and do it inside a large box or at least outside on the grass in case you overspray. Spray foam insulation over the volcano and allow to sit for a couple hours before moving. Allow to cure overnight before painting. I thought the use of the spray insulation gives it more of a rocky look that you can't get from paper mache typically.

I placed the volcano in a large box (now deemed our painting box - LOL!) and taught the kids how to use spray paint. You can just imagine how excited they were that their mom was actually teaching them how to use spray paint and allowing them to use it.

We used all leftover cans of spray paint, which is why we have black and grey and red. Plus we thought the black and grey looked like volcanic rocks and the red looked like lava.

You can see how proud my son is of his volcano. It is turning out so much better than we ever imagined and we are still not finished. What you don't see here is that we took old homemade playdough and applied it to the board to be the ground and allow us to stick bare sticks in (they had to be bare because the lave burned them) :)

Now it is time to make it explode!  You need baking soda, vinegar, food coloring (if you want your "lava" to have some color) and dish soap (optional, but it will foam out thicker more like lava.)

Directions:
Using a funnel, pour 1/4 C of baking soda in to the bottom of the volcano.
In another cut mix together about 1T of dish soap. a few drops of food coloring and 1/2 C vinegar
Pour the vinegar mixture in to the funnel and quickly remove the funnel to watch the lava.

Below is a little video of one of their attempts at making lava flow from their homemade volcano. I think it is safe to say that my kids loved this experiment and project.

Wordless Wednesday: Below Zero Temp Science Experiments

In Minnesota we have had a stretch of negative temperature days in the morning when our average right now should be about 30 degrees. So, it was time to do some fun (and quick) science experiments.

A Fully Inflated Beach Ball BEFORE Going Outside

The Same Beach Ball in -6 Degree Outdoor Temperature

What Happens After You Bring the Beach Ball In  Teach your kids about what happens to molecule particles when they are warm and cold


Another Fun Experiment Involving Hot Water Being Thrown in -6 Degree Weather Windchill Temp is -17 Degrees. I guess the lesson here is that hot water freezes faster and immediately turns in to frozen ice crystals as some water quickly evaporates off in steam.