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The Kid Should See This

Homemade Lava Lamp & Rubber Band Cannons – ExpeRimental

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Explore the densities of liquids and household objects with Olympia Brown and her daughter Viola. This is episode two of ExpeRimental, a new science-at-home series by the Royal Institution of Great Britain that aims to help parents and young children be active participants in science. From science teacher and series director Alom Shaha in The Guardian:

…looking closely at the world, asking questions, and actually experimenting by identifying variables and seeing what happens when you change them… The emphasis in our films is on how to stimulate children’s curiosity and encourage them to start thinking like scientists and engineers.

Learn how to make a homemade lava lamp, explore the densities of citrus fruits and aluminum foil in different forms, and get some help with what questions to ask along the way (pdf).

Here’s another cool project that we can’t wait to try: Rubber band cannons. Dr. Andrea Sella demonstrates.

Find the corresponding info sheet here (pdf), and find new episodes at rigb.org/ExpeRimental.

There are more experiments, demos, and DIY science projects in the archives, including these related videos: Liquid Stacking and Homemade Vortex Cannon.

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