Tag: science

Making & Recycling Paper At Home

Although thought of as an art, High Touch High Tech of South Florida uses this pulp recipe for paper-making science. You can use this activity not only to teach students how they can make their own recycled paper, but also teach students the value of recycling.

The following recipe & instructions come to us from High Touch High Tech of South Florida. Here’s how you do it!

To Get Started You’ll Need To Gather:

  • Either a blender or hand blender
  • Water source and measuring cup
  • 2 –  Full Sheets of Newspaper- Shredded
  • 1/2 – Cup of Flour
  • 12 –  Sheets of Toilet Paper
  • 2 –  Paper Towels
  • 1 –  Gallon Size Ziploc Bag
  • 1 –  Towel or felt to spread out wet paper for drying

Set up in an area where a wet mess will be easy to clean up. Probably outdoors would be best at first.

First, tear up & shred the newspaper into pieces. You will only need a couple sheets to get started, our recipe calls for 2 sheets of newspaper. If you are in the mood to mix it up a bit, you can use any type of papers with different textures, such as construction paper scraps, used computer paper, pages from old magazines etc. Colored paper is fun too! The more newspaper you use, the thicker and lumpier your resulting paper will be. We found construction paper gave us a fine, smooth paper that was flexible. Play around & find the mix you like best.

Add the shredded newspaper scraps into the blender, making sure you don’t over pack the blender.  Next, fill the blender with approximately four cups of water. First, turn the blender on & press the “puree” button for about 30 seconds.  This helps break down the paper quickly & helps eliminate clumps or large pieces.  Now you’re ready to blend on the “liquefy” setting for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until the paper is no longer recognizable and looks “pulpy”. Watch your blender carefully as you don’t want to burn out the motor.

Once the pulp is ready, it is time to press out the excess moisture. Place your cloth towel,  laying flat in the bottom of the sink.  Pour the pulp directly into your cloth towel. Using the towel, squeeze out the excess water. Hint: the more water you remove at this step, the less time it takes to dry!  With all the excess moisture gone from the pulp, you are almost finished!

If you don’t plan to use your pulp right away, seal it in an airtight bag and store it in the freezer. Simply thaw the pulp when you are ready to use it. This recipe makes 1 batch of pulp, enough for one class or 20 kids.  To make paper, place a small amount onto a piece of aluminum foil. Place a piece of wax paper over the top of the pulp and use a small rolling pin to flatten or shape your paper. Use markers or water color paints to decorate your paper. Additonal ideas include: pull off pieces of the pulp (about the size of a walnut) and let the kids press it into small molds or shape it free form and let it dry.  The thicker the form, the longer it will take to dry.

Warning:  never dispose of paper pulp down the drain.

High Touch High Tech of South Florida uses this pulp recipe to teach paper-making science. You can use this activity not only to teach students how they can make their own recycled paper, but also teach students the value of recycling.  If you think up and perform an experiment with recycled paper, be sure to let us know.

For more information check out High Touch High Tech of SFL: http://www.sciencemadefunsfl.net/

 

Senior Science Program a Success!

On Friday October 29, 2010 we presented our program Gold Rush to the seniors attending the Grove Senior Center in Asheville, NC. The program was sponsored by Asheville Parks & Recreation. The senior participants had an opportunity to “roll up their sleeves” and become prospectors. We panned for gems, as the prospectors had done during the days of the gold rush. We learned all about gems, and did geological classification tests on the gems we found. Great fun and learning was had by all.

To learn more about High Touch High Tech programs in your area, visit www.ScienceMadeFun.net.

Dinosaur Dan visits Blue Ridge Christian Academy

For the 3rd year in a row, Dinosaur Dan from High Touch High Tech, went to Blue Ridge Christian Academy in Landrum, SC to produce the Dig it program for the school’s Math and Science night, on September 30, 2010. Once again it was record attendance and Dinosaur Dan provided a really cool geology experience for students and parents. Students were able to search the crust layer of the earth and find, amethyst, quartz, fool’s gold, peocock ore, orange calcite, blue calcite, and more. Everybody got to keep all the gems they found!

To learn more about High Touch High Tech programs in your area, visit www.ScienceMadeFun.net.

Senior Science

Senior ScienceIn May, Dinosaur Dan was able to visit the Grove Senior Center in Asheville, NC. Many joined in while others simply observed but it was still a very powerful experience for both the scientist and seniors. It was a great way to give back to the greater community!

Participants joined in on the hands on fun guided by Dinosaur Dan with erupting volcanoes and making silly putty. “Science can be made fun for all ages” said Dan. Again, it was a great experience for all.

Making Magnets

On April 25th, Zoology Zoe visited Veritas Christian Academy in Fletcher, NC for some magnet fun! Children participating in this hands-on, science program learned all the “attractive” facts about magnets and their poles. They then had the opportunity to test out their theories by performing a number of magnetic experiments including magnet races, floating rings and paper clip “fishing” just to name a few.
As an added surprise, WLOS News 13 was there to capture these young scientists in action!

Did you know that every magnet has a north and a south pole. When you put a north pole against a south pole, the poles attract; however, if you try to put a north pole against another north pole, the poles repel one another. Give it a try and let us know the results of your experiment!

To learn more about magnets, click on the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet
http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magindex.htm
http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/90/27/ 

Share your own “attractive” magnetic experiments with us by posting to our blog!

Science In Nature

Nature Center BoothThis past weekend, we participated in the Festival of Knowledge at the Western North Carolina Nature Center where children had their science fair projects on display. Our exhibit offered visitors and participants the opportunity to make one of our signature experiments, “space mud”! High Touch High Tech even gave out prizes to the winning science fair projects. Their programming really stimulates the imagination and curiosity of children. It truly was a wonderful day in which both science and nature were celebrated!

ROY G BIV

Science is so cool I see science everywhere. I put on these great “rainbow” glasses, and all of a sudden, I was able to introduce my child to Mr. ROY G BIV. Hey ROY G BIV stands for the colors of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. What other ways can the mysterious ROY G BIV be spotted? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_G._Biv

Sedimentary Rock Sand Art

Sedimentary Rock Sand Art
As we began preparing for an upcoming holiday mini-camp in Western North Carolina, we came across a fun science activity that could easily be done at home. Many of you have probably seen sand art which uses colored sand to create a rainbow of layers in a bottle. Well, did you know that this activity is a great way to demonstrate how sedimentary rocks are created?

Sedimentary rocks form thanks to the process of erosion. Wind, water, and ice slowly break apart all types of rocks turning it back into soil, or sediment. As the soil is being deposited from the wind and water on the ground, layers are formed called strata. The sediment builds up and the weight and pressure causes the particles to start sticking or cementing together to make sedimentary rocks. These rocks have layers in them from the sediment that made them. The layers at the bottom are older than the layers at the top because they were deposited first.

Supplies you will need:

  • 8 oz. plastic bottle with cap
  • Playground sand
  • Food Coloring (assorted colors)
  • Plastic container with lid (to mix colors)
  • Funnel
  • Plastic spoon

Instead of purchasing pre-colored sand, you can actually make it at home by following these simple steps:

  • Using a plastic container with lid, add 1 cup playground sand. Then add 10-12 drops of food coloring. Add more drops of food coloring to create the desired color.
  • Secure lid and shake container. Within one or two minutes, the sand particles will absorb and take on the new color.
  • Repeat this process for each color desired.

NOTE: You may want to allow the sand one day to dry otherwise you may find the colors will blend and turn brown once layered within your bottle.

The bottle is going to be the outside of the rock that holds the sediment strata within. Use a plastic spoon to scoop the sediment (colored sand) into the funnel that is placed into the top of the bottle. Using one color at a time, you will make different, colorful layers of stratifications.

Be careful not to shake the bottle up once you have started making your layers because all of the colors will start to combine and it will turn your rock brown.

You can also use different materials or types of sand including:

  • Pea gravel
  • Regular playground sand (without color)
  • Black sand (Silica sand)
  • Crushed sea shells
  • Miniature marbles (only with older children)
  • Rock salt

Weather Fun!

Now that cold weather has arrived Brad Vereen of High Touch High Tech of the Bay Area, California (http://www.sciencemadefunsfba.net/) has suggested a fun weather experiment you can try at home.

Supplies Needed:
Baby food jar
Alka-seltzer tablet
Pastina (can substitute instant mashed potato flakes)
Water

Experiment: Weather Jar
1. Fill the jar with water about ¾ full
2. Put a few pieces of pastina or mashed potato flakes in the jar
3. Place Aka-seltzer tablet in jar and immediately put the lid on

Watch weather happen before your eyes! See thunder by using pastina (notice how they look like clouds). The pastina will dance up and down simulating the event of thunder as cold air pushes warm air down. You can substitute instant mashed potato flakes for the pastina to create a more dramatic weather event. While it also simulates thunder, it will look like a snowstorm in the jar!