Spooky Science #5 - Fizzing Eyeballs

Hello, again, my sweet little ghosts, goblins, witches, and fairies.

Here we are with another day of Halloween Week Spooky Science. I hope you are having a BOO-tiful week! Leaves are turning yellow, it is getting colder in some places, but we don’t stop. We keep going because Halloween is almost here!

Today’s experiment is all about the bases and acids we talked about yesterday. In fact, the reaction is exactly the same. But with a twist.

Remember how we created carbon dioxide yesterday and because the gas didn’t have anywhere to go, it inflated the balloon?

Well, today, the gas will escape. To be honest, the gas will go everywhere and will reveal a surprise at the end. So get ready for a little fun mess!

There are two ways this experiment can be done, and we will do both of them!

The materials are the same for both, but the time they take is different.

Ready? Scared? GO!

Materials:

-        Baking soda

-        Vinegar

-        Water

-        Dish soap

-        Food coloring (optional)

-        Halloween trinkets like eyeballs or creepy crawlers

-        Green pipe cleaners (optional, only in case you want to make a pumpkin)

-        Tray

-        Pipettes or something that you can use to slowly drop the liquid

-        Bowl

How to?

Well, we will start with the experiment that takes longer.

In the bowl, create a mixture of water and baking soda. Pour two cups of baking soda (and the food coloring of your choice). I want to make a pumpkin, so I will mix yellow and red, but just go for it if you already have orange! Mix that with a fork until the color is distributed equally. Now, add water - a little bit at a time until you can feel the mixture can be easily molded like dough.

Grab one of your trinkets (eyeball and spiders in my case), hide the trinket inside the mixture, and form a pumpkin-like ball. You can do the same with other colors of water and the baking soda mixture. Create other balls with trinkets inside.

Decorate them with the pipe cleaners, if you wish. Now, place the balls inside a tray or cookie sheet. Let it sit overnight.

In the morning, set up your space with bowls, plates, trays or beakers, pipettes and tongs. Pour some dish soap into your containers or tray. Fill some of the containers with vinegar. You can pour some food coloring if you want to make it even more fun.

Now, you can start slowly dropping each ball inside your containers of vinegar and soap, or you can drop vinegar slowly over them to reveal the surprise inside. Let your imagination go wild with the ways you can do this. Use the pipettes and tongs to help you handle the fizzing balls. It is super fun!

The other way you can do this experiment is probably faster. You will need the same materials except for the water.

First, arrange the bowls and trays in a safe space. Pour some drops of dish soap into the bottom of your containers. For both experiments, the dish soap will not do much for the reaction but will enhance the fizzling and bubbles you will get with your experiment.

Add the trinkets to your containers and sprinkle baking soda over them.

In a different bowl, pour the vinegar and mix with some food coloring if you want. Then, start pouring the vinegar over the bowl with the trinkets and see the fizzling fun starts to happen.

The science behind this one is the same as acid and bases from the last experiment. Except, in this case, the carbon dioxide is not inflating a balloon, but it’s in the bubbles and fizzling in your bowls, and the gas is being released into the air.

I just love this experiment, and I hope you enjoyed too. I have to say, I do not like the mess. I will just have to clean it up now.

But this week, nothing can make me sad because it’s Halloween week!

See you tomorrow!

Pumpkin wishes and candy corn kisses!

Jess

Spooky Science #4 - Inflating Monsters

When witches go riding; and black ghouls are seen; the moon laughs and whispers - 'tis near Halloween!

Hello, hello, my sweet pumpkin pies!

Is your costume for the week ready? I hope so! Tell us what you're going to go dressed as for Halloween in the comments. Have you already carved your pumpkin? Or are you the type that carves the day before Halloween?

I am super excited for today’s experiment. It's a really easy one that will make you wonder about the chemical reaction going on? All the materials are probably all in your kitchen.

And the science behind it is pretty cool. We will learn about acids and bases and the products of reactions.

Ready? Scared? Go!

Materials:

-        An empty plastic bottle

-        Balloons

-        Markers

-        Vinegar

-        Baking soda

-        Food coloring (optional)

How to?

Start by drawing faces on the balloons. Today, I chose to draw spooky faces. Maybe I will draw a monster too! Let's see…it’s Halloween.

You can draw your face in two ways: You can inflate your balloon a little bit. Do not tie the end, only use a clip. Then you draw the scary face, and after that, you can deflate your balloon.

You also can draw your faces on the deflated balloon. You chose which one works best for you!

Now, in your bottle, pour half a cup of vinegar. You can add the food coloring too if you wish.

Using a funnel, pour one to two spoons of baking soda into your balloon, NOT the bottle.

Grab your balloon and connect it with the bottle, but be careful NOT to drop the baking soda just yet. Leave the balloon hanging until you are ready to see the reaction.

When you are ready to see the reaction happening, lift your balloon up, making the baking soda fall into the bottle.

It's not hocus pocus! It's science!

This is a chemical reaction between an acid and a base. But what is that, you ask?

Acids and bases are two very different and special kinds of chemicals. You can find them in every day life, not only in a laboratory. Almost all liquids we know are either a base or an acid to some level. What is going to differentiate them is the types of ions in it. If it has a lot of HYDROGEN ions, it is an acid. If it has a lot of HYDROXIDE ions, then it is a base.

Acids are generally sour or tart, and bases usually are bitter and can be soapy or slippery to the touch.  Some of them are called strong bases or strong acids, and those can be hazardous chemicals that can cause burns or be poisonous and can only be handled in a laboratory. But luckily, we will not mess with any of that.

Scientists will use something called a pH scale to measure how acidic or basic a liquid is. The scale range from 0 to 14. On the scale, substances with pH between 0 and 7 are acids, substances with pH 7 are neutrals, and 7 to 14 are bases.

In our reaction, which one do you think is the base, and which one do you think is the acid?

You are right! Our vinegar is the acid part of the reaction, and the baking soda is the basic part. The pH of vinegar is around 2.5, and the pH of baking soda is about 8.3.

When you drop the baking soda inside the bottle, the two chemicals will create a gas, CO2 or carbon dioxide, and because the gas has nowhere else to go, it will inflate the balloon.

Isn't that just Halloween-worthy? I think so too!

Chemistry is just fun!

Pumpkin wishes and candy corn kisses! We will see each other again tomorrow!

Jess

Spooky science #3 - Glow-in-the-Dark Jack-o’-lantern slime

Hello, Hello. It’s me again Jess with yet another day of bringing the spooky from Halloween and the Science from STEM to celebrate Halloween - the spookiest holiday ever.

So, please, park your brooms at the door, and let’s get spooky together!

On our third day of Halloween Week Spooky Science, let’s create something that is a favorite all through the year. Yay, you guessed it - slime. But not any ordinary slime but a glow-in-the-dark kind. Isn’t that fun? Let’s learn about why some things glow in the dark. Do you know about phosphor and the role it plays in making things glow in the dark.

There are some ways things can glow in the dark - fluorescence and luminescence are some of these.

Fluorescence is when something glows under a black light, but it does not glow anymore if you take the black light away.

Black lights give off harmless and highly energetic ultraviolet rays that are invisible to humans. Some fluorescent substances absorb ultraviolet light and re-emits this at a different wavelength making the material glow. Phosphors is the material that glows under the black light.

Phosphors emit light in response to radiation. A phosphor will convert the radiation into light. This is what happens with tonic water. Tonic water has quinine containing fluorescent molecules that will glow in the dark under a black light.

Another way that things can glow in the dark is called phosphorescence. These are the substances that charge under a regular light or sunlight, and when you turn off the lights, they start glowing. 

The science behind this glow-in-the-dark is quite interesting. When we expose the glow in the dark object to light, molecules in the paint absorb photons in the exposed area. This excites the electrons to a higher electronic excited state. When the lights are turned off, it radiates a photon as the electron returns to a lower energy state. Eventually, the electrons lose their energy and their glow.

Ready? Scared? Go!

Materials:

-        EVA foam (whatever color you want, I used black for more of the Jack-o’-lantern style

-        Glue

-        Food coloring or paint (colors of your choice, but orange is so pumpkin-like)

-        Slime activator (if you want) or

-        Contact lens solution and baking soda.

Now, for the glow-in-the-dark part, we can use a lot of things. Choose the one you think is easiest to get

-        Glow-in-the-dark powder

-        Glow-in-the-dark acrylic paint

-        Glow-in-the-dark glue (if you choose this one, you can replace the regular glue for this one)

In my case, I chose the glow-in-the-dark powder and glue, and I will be making two different slimes.

How to?

First, cut off pieces of your EVA foam in the shapes of your Jack-o’-lantern face.

Now in a bowl, pour the glue. Consider the amount of slime you want to make, but also consider the other materials proportional to it.

I used 1 cup of glue. Use the food coloring now and mix well into the glue. If you are using glow-in-the-dark powder, use it now with the food coloring.

Now slowly add in the the baking soda and contact lens solution. The baking soda will make it grainy and thicker, and the contact lens solution will activate your slime, making it stretchy. So little by little, keep adding the contact lens solution until you find the ‘stretchiness’ you want, but also add the baking soda to make it a little bit more solid. Don’t add too much baking soda, as you will make it too grainy.

If you wish, you can mix the baking soda and the contact lens solution in a separate bowl and make your own slime activator. The proportions are ½ teaspoon of baking soda to 3 tablespoons of contact lens solution.

I find it easier to add them separately, as I have more control of my material.

If you choose to use a slime activator, after the coloring of your glue, just add the slime activator directly into your mixture until you reach the desired ‘stretchiness’.

If you use glow-in-the-dark glue; use it at the first step instead of using regular glue.

If you have a black light, you can see the glowing. But you also can charge the slime close to the light, then turn off your lights to see it happening.

Add the jack-o’-lantern shapes to your slime and make creepy and gooey faces. If you put your slime over a bottle or tube and add your face pieces, you will have an effect like the face is melting.

Pretty cool, right?

I think so too! After you’re done, keep your slime in a plastic bag, and you can play with it anytime you want, even after Halloween.

I hope you guys enjoyed this gooey-face-melting-glow-in-the-dark experiment!

Pumpkin wishes and candy corn kisses, and we will meet again tomorrow!

Jess

Spooky Science #2 - Candy Corn Catapult

Spooky Science #2 – Candy corn catapult

Ghostly greetings, pumpkin pies!

It is your favorite not-so-mad scientist again, bringing another day of Spooky science.

Did you get to scare someone with your articulated hands? Did you make any different designs? I hope so. And if you did, make sure to post on your social media and tag g4g! I would love to see what you guys created!

But no more waiting. Today we will be throwing candy corn and marshmallows up in the air with some great catapults made of popsicle sticks, and we will learn about the physics of it all. How fast do you think you can throw? How far do you think you can go? Does the weight of the candy will change anything? Let’s talk STEM and find out with this fantastic and quick experiment that will make you challenge your friends to see who the candy corn throwing champion really is.

Ready? Scared? GO!

Materials needed:

-        Popsicle Sticks

-        Rubber bands

-        Candy corn, marshmallow, or any other Halloween candy.

-        For the basket, you can try it: plastic spoons, a bottle cap, etc.

-        Hot glue

How to?

First, we need to understand the basics of a catapult. What does a catapult do, and how does it work?

A catapult is an ancient weapon used on battlefields to launch big things such as rocks or projectiles without explosives. A catapult will work on energy that is created, stored, transferred, and converted. With this experiment, you will see it happening, and you will try to guess what is going on with your stick catapult.

For the energy to be created, we first will need to apply some force to it. The amount of force used is proportional to the mass of the object. If it’s a big and heavy object, you will need to apply more force, but if it’s a small and light object, you do not need to use much force.

The catapult will transfer energy from one place to another. So when we pull down the basket and the stick with the object on it, we apply force and create energy. This energy is called: POTENTIAL ENERGY and will be stored in the stick you are pulling down. The moment you let go, the energy will be transferred to the object launched, and now it becomes motion energy, also called KINETIC ENERGY, and the object will fly in the air.

Now that you know how catapults work, let’s create some designs using your rubber bands and popsicle sticks.

Why don’t you get a paper and draw some designs too? Also, try to make predictions about the candy corn and the marshmallows with questions like:

Which will shoot the farthest?

Which will shoot the highest?

What designs will work best for each candy?

What happens if I try a piece of chocolate? (Note to self: don’t eat the chocolate before the experiment!)

When you make predictions like this, you are creating a hypothesis. When you start testing your predictions and theories, you will obtain results that may or may not be the same as your predictions.

And just like that, you are applying the scientific method to a simple Halloween experiment. Boo-yah!

I think that is the most fantastic Halloween I could ever ask for!

How did your catapults do? Tag g4g on our social media to tell me how your experiment went! I can’t wait to hear your results.

It’s not hocus pocus! It’s science!

See you tomorrow with pumpkin wishes and candy corn kisses!

And remember: If you want a tasty treat, be sure to holler Trick-or-Treat!

Jess

Spooky science #1 - Articulated hands

Blog post – Articulated hands

Spooky Science #1 – Articulated hands

Hello to all my witches and ghosts reading this!

Is Halloween week! You may know me because I do write our news piece “this week in STEM” here at the blog, but if you don’t know me, here is everything you need to know about me this week: I am Jessika,  and you can call me Jess, I am an ambassador for g4g as well as social media coordinator, and I LOVE Halloween…

Okay, that was a really short introduction, but that is all we need for this week! I hope we talk a lot about STEM and enjoy this last week of October. Did you carve your pumpkins yet? Or have you decorated your house? What are you dressing up this year? Something science-y? I hope you are enjoying Halloween as much as I am. But if you’re not, don’t you worry! I am here to change that. We will be having lots of experiments and crafts to celebrate this week together, and we will be having fun! But no more chit-chat: Let’s get spooky!

Today is the first day of our Spooky Science week, and I wondered what could be a good experiment or craft to start this week in the right way. While I was looking, I came across this articulated hand that is easy to make, and I am sure you can scare someone with that because it moves!

Do you ever wonder how your hand moves? How is it possible that you can grab a ball or hold a fork? How can you clap your hands or shake hands with your friends? Are that muscles working? Or bones? Or all of them together? Well, today, you will see precisely how your hand can move and what body parts are behind it!

The materials are simple, and you will be done in about 20/30 minutes!

Ready? Scared? GO:

Materials 

• Construction paper or regular white paper

• Five straws

• String

• Hot glue (you can do with regular glue, just make sure to allow enough time to dry)

• Scissors

• A piece of cardboard or a Styrofoam tray.

• Marker or pen

• Beads (optional)

How to:

1 – First, you will draw an outline for your hand on your paper, and then you will cut the shape of your hand. With the markers, you mark on your paper hand the same spots that your fingers fold. (We will talk about that later – see pictures below)

2 – After marking the spots, you will grab the straws and measure them approximately the same length as the marks you did. Mark the straws on those same spots too.

3 – After marking the straws, you will cut them. But it is really important to make a diagonal shape, so your hand can move smoothly later. You want to create a diamond shape on the folds. 

4 – When you are done with that, you will glue the straws on each finger and the big pieces in the palm of the hand, like in the picture below. Don’t forget to glue the small pieces in the folders of the hand in a diamond shape. 

5 – Now, you will cut 5 pieces of string, a little bit bigger than your hand, and you will tie one end of them either with a bead or just a knot.

6 – Now, you will insert each string inside each straw until the bottom of the hand, and if you are using a bead, you will glue the bead to your hand or just the knot if you are not using a bead. 

7 – Glue your hand to the piece of cardboard or foam, or even a stick. This is just for you to have something to grab so you can move your hand. 

  And just like that, your hand is done! Pull the strings and see the science happening. 

Pro tip: Make different crazy hands. Put some witch nails on it, or if you are artsy, make a zombie hand with the skin showing or make it bloody if you dare!

But what about the science behind it?

If you look at your hand, you can count the number of folders you have. Your thumb has only two, but all the other fingers have three. Each of these folders is called joints, and the joints connect one bone to another. That means that each finger has 3 tiny bones (and your thumb only two). These bones are called phalanges. All of this is connected with five main bones that form the palm of your hand, and these bones are called metacarpals. The muscles that help with movement are located in your forearm, but for that to happen, they need the help of the strings that are called tendons. Those tendons slide inside a tunnel, just like our straws, and these tunnels are called the tendon sheath. Each tunnel is attached to the tiny bones in your fingers. Remember the name? Phalanges. When the muscles in your forearm contract, they pull the tendons down, making your hand and fingers move. 

Isn’t super cool? You just learned how your hand moves. Now, grab your articulated hand, make the strings bigger and try to scare your friends! 

I hope you liked it, and I wish you a fang-tastic day!

See you tomorrow with pumpkin wishes and candy corn kisses!

Jess

Spooky Science

Hello to everyone reading this! Halloween is around the corner, and here at g4g, we never stop thinking of what could be the next incredible thing we do. As you may know, our ambassadors are an essential part of it. They always come up with great ideas, new experiments, and different ways of having fun doing science.

This week, our ambassador Jess will bring something really spooky for everyone. Halloween is her favorite holiday, and according to her, she could celebrate all year long! So in celebration of that, she decided to transform into a not so mad scientist and bring the most fun and exciting experiments and crafts, all while doing and talking STEM.

And the best part is that you can do it with her, from your house too! Everything will be on our social media channels, including IGTV and Youtube, and she will also be posting daily here on the blog with all the instructions and pictures so you can do it at home.

But don’t forget, the most important thing is to have fun!

Are you ready to celebrate Halloween? We sure hope so!

Grab your masks and your fangs. Grab your pumpkins and your candy corn.

Let’s get spooky!

Boo to you from our crew!