(Project) Lemon Floaties

Lemon Floaties

Purpose

To determine whether a lemon will float in water or sink to the bottom.

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Additional information

Lemons are among the most common fruits used in science experiments, and for good reason. Their highly acidic nature makes them a good candidate for numerous chemistry experiments. In this experiment, however, we don't care about the acidic nature of the lemon. We'll be exploring another use for it... to see if the lemon will sink or float when placed in a bowl of water! Lemons, the all purpose scientific fruit that everyone loves!

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Required materials

• Whole lemon
• Bowl
• Water
• Knife
• Cutting board

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Estimated Experiment Time

Less than 5 minutes.

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Fill the bowl with water so it's about 3/4ths full.
• 2. Place the whole lemon into the water. What happens? It floats!
• 3. Cut the lemon into 4 pieces.
• 4. Place the lemon pieces individually into the water. What happens?

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Note

As always, be careful when cutting the lemon. Use a cutting board and make sure to ask for help from an adult if you need it! Also, make sure you use a relatively deep bowl so you can fill it with enough water so the lemon doesn't touch the bottom.

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Observation

What other fruits could you try this experiment on? Try to find an alternative and see if you come up with the same results. Can you think of a fruit that would always sink, regardless of being cut or not? How about one that will always float?

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Result

When the lemon pieces are placed into the water... they sink! This is because the lemon pulp fills with water after it's been cut. The weight from the water causes the lemon pieces to sink to the bottom of the bowl. The outer skin of the lemon is waterproof and protects the lemon from rain and harsh weather as it grows. It acts as a barrier to keep unwanted elements out while keeping the lemon pulp safe inside.

(Project) Growing Bread Mold

Growing Bread Mold

Purpose

To demonstrate that bread mold spores are present anywhere and everywhere

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Additional information

Bread Mold is a simple fungus which derives its food from a variety of materials such as grains, fruits, vegetables or flesh. Mold spores are tiny and usually remain suspended in air. As soon as it finds the right environment for it to grow, the spores transform into the living fungus.

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Required materials

• Piece of bread
• Re-sealable airtight plastic bag
• Dropper
• Cotton swab
• Milk carton
• Cotton swab
• Adhesive tape
• Water
• Disposable rubber hand gloves for protection

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Estimated Experiment Time

Approximately 5 minutes to set up the experiment and 1-2 days to make the observations.

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Collect dust from the ground on a cotton swab
• 2. Rub the soiled end on a slice of bread
• 3. Put 5 or 6 drops water on the bread slice
• 4. Put this bread slice in an airtight bag and seal it.
• 5. Place this sealed bag in an empty milk carton (preferably with milk remains in it) and seal the carton
• 6. Leave the set-up undisturbed for a day or two

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Note

Ensure you wear hand gloves since Mold spores can cause allergies in some people. Wash your hands well every time you handle Bread Mold and try not to inhale the mold spores while you are handling the bread covered with the fungus.

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Observation

After two days, when the sealed package is opened, the bread slice is covered with Bread Mold of various colors and textures.

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Result

Spores develop into living fungus when it gets suitable conditions. The bread slice has adequate nutrition and moisture necessary for the Mold spores to germinate.

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(Project) Gravity and Plants

Gravity and Plants

Purpose

NASA has long studied the effects of gravity on plants by taking plants with them during space expeditions and onto space stations. You can find out for yourself how plants grow in low gravity conditions by conducting this simple experiment.

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Additional information

When plants are upright, they are growing directly against gravity. Since most plants grow in this manner, you can be sure that plants thrive by fighting against gravity. What would happen if plants were to be placed on their sides, where if they were to continue on their current path of growth, they would not be growing directly against gravity but rather, partly with it?

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Required materials

• 3 bean plants or seeds
• 3 peat pellets (if using seeds only)
• 3 small to medium sized pots
• 1 medium bag potting soil
• 2 gallons distilled water
• Ruler
• Protractor
• Area in your home where the plants can reside for several weeks without being disturbed
• Journal or notebook paper
• Camera (if available)

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Estimated Experiment Time

Several weeks.

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Prepare bean plants by placing each plant or seed in one of your pots that have been filled with soil. If you are using a bean plant, you will need to plant it at about mid-depth within the pot. Seeds need to be sprouted in peat pellets before placing in pots if you are using seeds.
• 2. Once bean plants have been prepared, allow them to grow for a few weeks. Take photos if possible and record the plants’ growth in your journal or logbook.
• 3. Once the bean plants have reached about four or five inches high, turn the plants on their sides. This will create a “low gravity” condition.
• 4. Continue to allow the plants to grow, documenting their growth.

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Note

You may want to consider mapping out your plants’ growth after the completion of the experiment by creating a growth chart. This will visually represent your findings.

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Observation

Taking photographs if you can and documenting each measurement in your journal is a very important step in this project and must not be left out. These will truly illustrate your project to onlookers, helping them to understand the information you’re presenting.

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Result

Scientists and technicians have found that plants will grow directly against gravity, no matter which way they are facing. Did your plants start to grow upwards again once they were placed sideways? Did placing them sideways cause them to change direction? What do you think happens to plants in low gravity conditions such as those on a space shuttle or space station?

(Project) Double Color Flower

Double Color Flower 

Purpose

To create a double color flower

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Additional information

N/A

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Required materials

• 1. White flower with stem and leaves
• 2. 2 Glass tumblers
• 3. Blade to slit the flower stem
• 4. Red dye (water soluble)
• 5. Water

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Estimated Experiment Time

Approximately 10 minutes to set up the apparatus and 5-12 hours to carry out the observations

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Fill two glasses with water.
• 2. Mix red dye in one of the tumblers.
• 3. Split the stem of the white flower.
• 4. Place one half of the stem in one glass and the other in the glass containing the dyed liquid.
• 5. Leave the set-up undisturbed for a few hours.

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Note

After a few hours one half of the flower changes its original color.

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Observation

The liquid rises through sap tubes (narrow columns) that produce the required capillary force. Capillary action carries water from the beakers to the petals of the white flower causing it to change color. It is the same phenomenon that causes water to move up plants and trees, through the roots, trunk or stem, and then into the flowers and leaves.

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(Project) Dehydrated Potato

Dehydrated Potato

Purpose

To demonstrate the process of dehydration

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Additional information

It's summer and it's HOT! There's no avoiding it (unless you live in Antarctica). When it's hot, your body perspires (aka sweats) as a natural means to thermoregulate itself. All of that perspiration that's cooling you down primarily consists of water. The more you perspire the more water comes from your body and the less hydrated you become. If you're not putting fluids back in your body, eventually you'll become dehydrated. Dehydration is an excessive lose of body fluids and can result in headaches, dizziness, decreased blood pressure, and (in extreme cases) death.

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Required materials

• 1 Potato (small or medium sizes will work best)
• 2 Dishes or Saucers (deep enough to hold about a half-inch of water)
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Salt (about 2 tablespoons)
• Water
• Piece of paper
• Pen, pencil, or marker

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Estimated Experiment Time

About an hour

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Take your paper and mark it with the word "salted" and place it on a flat surface, such as a table.
• 2. Place one of the dishes on the paper and the other next to it.
• 3. Fill each dish with an equal amount of water (the water level should be high enough to fill the dish, but not so high that it overflows).
• 4. Stir two table spoons of salt into the dish marked "salted'.
• 5. Using your knife and your cutting board, cut the potato in half. Make sure to cut the potato so you have two equal size pieces.
• 6. Place one-half of the potato, flat side down, into the dish marked "salted".
• 7. Place the other half of the potato, flat side down, into the dish with plain water.
• 8. Let the potatoes sit in the dishes undisturbed for about an hour.

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Note

Make sure to get help from an adult when handling the knife! It's suggested you ask an adult to cut the potatoes for you.

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Observation

What do you think will happen to the potato that's bathing in the plain water? What will happen to the potato that's bathing in the salted water? What if you were to use something other than salt, such as vinegar? What would be the effects on the potato? How about if you were to use a different vegetable?

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Result

The salt water is acting as a dehydrator by drawing moisture out of the potato. As the water is drawn out of the potato, the potato begins to get dehydrated. As it dehydrates, the potato shrivels.

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(Project) Cultivate Slime Molds

Cultivate Slims Molds

Purpose

To cultivate a living slime mold and observe the stages in which a slime mold forms.

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Additional information

A slime mold is actually a unique form of protist, called physarum. A protist is a single-celled organism, which in the case of physarum, forms a unique mass that is remarkable to study. Slime molds are easily cultivated using materials obtained from a biological supply company.

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Required materials

• Physarum culture (usually sold on small squares of filter paper for easy transport)
• Non-nutrient Petri dishes (choosing pre-made Petri dishes will speed up the experiment)
• Rolled oatmeal flakes
• Room temperature area that can be kept mostly dark
• Journal or logbook
• Camera (if available)

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Estimated Experiment Time

A few days

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Begin cultivating your slime mold by adding the Physarum on the filter paper to your Petri Dish.
• 2. Add an oatmeal flake or two, being careful not to add too much.
• 3. Place in a dark room for 12 hours.
• 4. Repeat steps two and three as slime mold grows.

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Note

You may need an adult to help you find a company that sells the materials needed and purchase them for you. While you may not have access to a biological supply store in your area, you will most likely be able to find one on the Internet.

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Observation

Observation during this experiment is one of the most important factors. Each day as your slime mold grows, record your slime mold’s progress in detail in your journal and take pictures of it if you have a camera available. You will be quite surprised to learn that your slime mold will grow quite quickly if the conditions are right.

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Result

The oatmeal flakes provide fuel and food for the Physarum cells to multiply. As the cells multiply, they begin to take shape and form a slime-like mass. The mass will continue to grow for as long as it has adequate food.

You can take this experiment one step further and record what happens to your slime mold in different conditions. What happens to the slime mold if you place it in the refrigerator for a day? Does it continue to grow? Is the growth slowed or the same? What about when you place the slime mold in warmer conditions? What happens if you cut the slime mold in half? Will it continue to grow, provided you continue to give it oatmeal flakes? Do you think the two halves of the cut slime mold will merge back together?

Cultivating your very own slime mold can be an extremely fun experiment and a great learning process.

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(Project) Colorful Celery

Colourful Celery

Purpose

To create stalks of colorful celery while demonstrating how plants need and draw water to survive.

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Additional information

Boring celery. That green leafy vegetable that can be cut down to stalks is in itself boring and unappealing. In this experiment we'll spruce up celery so children don't avoid it like it's the pneumonic plague. By the time we're done, we'll have a colorful array of celery that can actually be eaten while at the same time having demonstrated an important lifecycle trait of plants. It's fun, easy, and will turn that boring celery into something colorful and fun!

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Required materials

• 6 Long stalks of celery
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Red and blue food coloring
• 6 drinking glasses
• Water
• Vegtable peeler
• Pen or pencil (optional)
• Journal to record observations (optional)

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Estimated Experiment Time

From 1 hour to 48 hours

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Cut the pieces of celery to the same length, tall enough to fit into the glasses so they'll be completely submerged by water. Make sure to chop off the bottom and the top at the leafy part so you're left with the stalks.
• 2. Fill each of your 6 glasses with an equal amount of water, about 3 inches from the top.
• 3. Add 10 drops of red food coloring each to 3 of the cups.
• 4. Add 10 drops of blue food coloring each to the remaining 3 cups.
• 5. Place one piece of celery into each glass. After this step you'll have 6 cups, 3 with red coloring and 3 with blue coloring and each with a stalk of celery submerged in it.
• 6. After 2 hours, take a stalk of celery out of a glass with blue food coloring. Has the color of the celery changed? Use your vegetable peeler to peel the stalk of celery and see how far the change has gone. Write the results in your journal.
• 7. Remove a stalk of celery at the intervals of: 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours (you have 6 glasses, and thus 6 stalks of celery).
• 8. After each interval has passed, remove a stalk and peel it, notating in your journal the changes to the celery after each interval.

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Note

Be very careful cutting your celery! If you're young, you'll need an adult to help you with this experiment as handling sharp objects can be dangerous. Celery is soft enough to cut with a butter knife, so favor that when cutting the stalks.

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Observation

As you peeled each stalk at each interval, what happened to the celery? What was the depth of color after each interval passed? What factors do you believe would influence the feeding process of the plants? What if you were to put the stalks in a darkened room or add sugar to the water?

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Result

Just like people and animals, plants need water to survive. Plants get water from the dirt through their roots. Inside the plants are capillaries that allow the water to travel through the plant. These capillaries are hollow and function as a "straw" for the plants. You can witness from the celery that over an extended period of time the plant draws water through its capillaries all the way through its system. As the water is drawn up a vacuum is formed at the top and the colorful water is forced through the celery stalk, causing the celery to turn color.