The Kid Should See This.
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There's just so much science, nature, music, art, technology, storytelling and assorted good stuff out there that my kids (and maybe your kids) haven't seen. It's most likely not stuff that was made for them...
But we don't underestimate kids around here.
Kid-friendly not-made-for-kids videos for all! Collected by Rion Nakaya and her three four year old co-curator.
Tip Jar: Curating this blog takes work! If you like the videos on this site, please support the science education projects that we've picked on DonorsChoose.org.
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The classic Naked Egg experiment… just get a drinking glass, some vinegar, a raw egg, and some time. What exactly will happen?
When you submerge an egg in vinegar, the shell dissolves. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which breaks apart the solid calcium carbonate crystals that make up the eggshell into their calcium and carbonate parts. The calcium ions float free (calcium ions are atoms that are missing electrons), while the carbonate goes to make carbon dioxide—the bubbles that you see.
Okay, now what do you do with your naked egg? Osmosis!
Hello, homemade vortex canon! Make a tightly closed box with a narrow round hole at the end, hit the sides of the box to compress the air inside, sending the air out with some force. Instant vortex ring!
From the @urnscienceshow team, via ViralViralVideos.
What do you do when your science experiment doesn’t go that well? Try, try again. It’s science afterall, and there’s much to be learned by something not working, too. A great video by Mike Adamick and his kindergartener, Emmeline.
via BoingBoing. Thanks, @dougmcarthur.
Neodymium magnet + copper pipe = magnetic damping:
When a magnetic field moves through a conductor a current called an Eddy current is induced in the conductor due to the magnetic field’s movement. The flow of electrons in the conductor creates an opposing magnetic field to the magnet which results in damping of the magnet and causes heating inside of the conductor similar to heat buildup inside of power cords. The loss of energy used to heat up the conductor is equal to the loss of kinetic energy by the magnet.
One note of caution if you decide to try this, these magnets are not for unsupervised children. In fact, everyone should be careful:
Neodymium magnets larger than a half inch are very strong and should be handled with extreme care since they can be dangerous… It is best to stick with neodymium magnets of quarter inch diameter or less.
via Stellar.io.
(NH4)2Cr2O7! Or… an Ammonium Dichromate Volcano!
With some heat, these (highly toxic) orange crystals will thermally decompose as they release heat, nitrogen, water and green dichromium (III) oxide ash.
Via laboiteverte.fr.
