Author: Maddie Van Beek

Happy Halloween!!!

A few weeks ago, we used candy for a chromatography experiment. This week, we are using simple potatoes to create magic goop that’s fun to play with! This would be a great Halloween activity. The magic mud that you’ll be creating behaves similarly to the slime you concocted in an earlier post. If you missed this fun and messy experiment, check it out here: http://discoveryexpress.weebly.com/blog/two-times-the-slime-fun-with-polymers.


This weird slimy substance that you’re working with today is a non-newtonian fluid. Non-newtonian fluids behave very differently from normal liquids or solids. Instead, they sometimes behave like a liquid and sometimes behave like a solid. When you apply pressure to a non-newtonian fluid, it resists and behaves like a solid. As soon as you release the pressure, the fluid returns to liquid form.

Although many people have experienced creating non-newtonian goop with corn starch, the magic mud you’re creating today behaves in the same way. How will you create the same kind of substance with a potato? Potatoes actually contain starch. You will have to first remove the starch from the potatoes to create your magic mud.

​Here's a video example of what you will be doing:

Below is a picture of what starch looks like. Starch is part of many foods including potatoes and is the most common carbohydrate in the human diet.

YOU WILL NEED:
* Bag of potatoes
* Water
* Food processor (optional)
* Knife (if food processor is not an option)
* Saucepan
* Kettle
* Strainer
* Jar


Here’s what to do!


1. Find an adult to help you with this activity! You may need to use a knife and you will use the stove, so make sure to be work carefully!

2. Wash a bag of potatoes in the sink.

3. Put your potatoes in the food processor and grind them into small pieces, or have an adult help you chop the potatoes into tiny pieces with a knife.

4. Dump the chopped-up potatoes into a mixing bowl.

5. Heat about 6 cups of hot water in the microwave or on the stove.

6. Carefully dump the hot water over the potato bits in the mixing bowl.

7. Stir the potatoes for a few minutes. What do you notice happening as you stir? The water actually changes color.

8. After about two minutes, place a strainer over an empty clear mixing bowl. Pour the potato water through the strainer to separate the liquid from the potato bits. Pay close attention to the liquid in the mixing bowl! What do you see happening? After 10 minutes, the liquid separates into two layers. The bottom of the bowl is white, while the reddish-brown liquid stays on the top. The white stuff you’ve removed from the potatoes is the potato starch. The starch is the necessary ingredient in making your non-Newtonian magic mud.

9. When this separation has happened, dump the top layer of liquid into the dirty mixing bowl. You should be left with just some white goop. The white goop looks a little dirty, so we are going to separate it even further.

10. Stir in about a cup of fresh water with the goop and pour it into a clear jar. Shake it up for 30 seconds and then let the jar sit for 10 minutes. You should notice that, once again, the liquid separates into two layers. The impurities stay on the top while the white goop sinks to the bottom.

11. Dump out the top layer of liquid. This should remove the impurities. You’re left with a milky-white substance. What does this substance feel like? Play with it! What do you notice about it? How does it act when you apply pressure? Try to roll it into a ball. What happens when you stop rolling? You’ll notice that when you stir it or roll it, the substance seems more firm, but when you stop applying pressure, it looks more like a liquid.


Extension:
Now that you’ve created your magic mud, go one step further and make it glow!


YOU WILL NEED:
* Fork
* Tonic water
* Black light


Here’s what to do!


1. Leave your magic mud in the jar for at least 24 hours. It will harden from a goopy slime into a solid.

2. Before you recreate your magic mud, take a look at your tonic water under a black light. Turn the black light on and the lights in the room off. What do you notice about the tonic water? It should be a glowing blue! The reason the tonic water is fluorescent under black lights is because of the ingredient quinine. (Don’t worry, the quinine in the tonic water is totally safe and non-toxic.)

Fluorescent objects absorb ultraviolet light that we can’t see, but they emit light than we can see. Read more here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/shining-science-explore-glow-in-the-dark-water/

The quinine in tonic water causes it to glow under a black light, so anything you mix with tonic water will also fluoresce! We are going to use tonic water to make your magic mud fluorescent. Turn the lights back on and let’s get going!

3. Use a fork to break up the solidified magic mud. It will easily crumble into a white powder.

4. Carefully add tonic water into the white powder. Add small amounts at a time and stir until the powder returns to its former goopy consistency.

5. Play with your new goop. What do you notice? It should behave exactly as it did before you let it dry. Here’s the big difference: When you turn on a black light, your magic mud will now eerily glow blue! For more fluorescent fun: Remember when we used tonic water to concoct glowing beverages for Halloween? Check it out here: http://discoveryexpress.weebly.com/blog/halloween-science).



Image and video credits:
Ord, 2003. Jack-'o-lantern 2003-10-31. Image uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/30/2016. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg/800px-Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg File used in accordance with Creative Commons 2.5 License. Image was not changed.

Thompson, 2014. How to make magic mud - From a potato! Video uploaded from YouTube on 10/30/2016. https://youtu.be/_0J4dRqg7CE

Kalaya, 2009. Cornstarch mixed with water. Image uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/30/2016. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Cornstarch_mixed_with_water.jpg/1024px-Cornstarch_mixed_with_water.jpg File used in accordance with Creative Commons 3.0 License. Image was not changed.

Author: Maddie Van Beek

​What do you think of when you hear the word fall? Brisk air, warm apple cider, boots and scarves... We’ve done a few activities about leaves and why they change color, which is a huge part of fall scenery. If you missed these blogs, check them out here:
​
Leaf blog 1: http://www.discoveryexpresskids.com/blog/why-do-leaves-change-color
Leaf blog 2: http://www.discoveryexpresskids.com/blog/fun-with-fall-leaves-preserve-leaves-for-fall-projects


Another popular activity in the fall is pumpkin carving! Many families enjoy picking pumpkins from a pumpkin patch (or your local grocery store or farmer’s market) and then carving them for fall and Halloween decorations! Today we are going to learn more about pumpkins and explore a few different pumpkin science activities.


What is a pumpkin?
Pumpkins are part of the winter squash family. They can be eaten and are often used as fall decorations. Pumpkins are thought to have originated from North America, and are usually yellow to dark orange in color. You may not have known that pumpkins are a FRUIT (fruits have seeds, vegetables do not). Nutritionally, pumpkins are very low fat and high in vitamin A. Although pumpkins are usually 6-18 pounds, some pumpkins weigh over 75 pounds!

History behind pumpkin carving:
Pumpkin carving started as a tradition to ward off demons! They are often associated with witches, wizards, and Halloween folklore. Although many people carve scary pumpkins, feel free to carve any sort of fun shape or happy face into your pumpkin--make it your own!

Want to carve a pumpkin? Here’s what to do!


YOU WILL NEED:
A pumpkin
Adult help
Knife
Candle
Marker
Match


1. Ask a parent for help!
2. Use the knife to cut a circle around the stem of the pumpkin. The circle should be big enough to fit your hand through. Remove the top of the pumpkin.
3. Out come the guts! The “guts” of the pumpkin are the stringy innards and seeds inside the shell of the pumpkin. You need to scoop as much of this out as possible.
4. Save those seeds--they make a delicious healthy snack! Scroll to the bottom of this blog for an easy pumpkin seed recipe.
5. You may want to use a permanent marker to draw out your design on your pumpkin before cutting. This will make it easier to cut once you’ve started.
6. Use a sharp, long knife to cut your design out of your pumpkin. The knife needs to be long enough to get all the way through the wall of your pumpkin. Pop the cut-out pieces of your pumpkin out as you go and throw them away.
7. When you’ve finished your design, put a candle in the middle of your pumpkin. Light the candle and watch your design come to life! Happy Halloween!


Fun science, pumpkin style!


In a past blog, we learned how to make pumpkin slime! You may have made slime, or “oobleck” before, but in the spirit of fall, we used pumpkins for a fun seasonal twist! The slime that you create in this activity is a non-newtonian substance, which means it sometimes behaves like a liquid and sometimes behaves like a solid.
Check it out here: http://www.discoveryexpresskids.com/blog/fall-fun-make-your-own-pumpkin-slime




Pumpkin Volcanos
You’ve probably seen baking soda and vinegar react in other activities, but today we’ll create a reaction inside a pumpkin for some spooky Halloween fun! Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid. When acids and bases mix, they react and create carbon dioxide gas. In this case, you see the carbon dioxide gas produced by a mountain of foaming bubbles! Let’s try it out!


To learn more about acid-base reactions, check out our blog here:
http://www.discoveryexpresskids.com/blog/experimenting-with-eggs-acid-base-reactions-and-osmosis2648476


YOU WILL NEED:
Baking soda
Vinegar
Food coloring
A small to medium-sized pumpkin
Knife


Here’s what to do!
1. You may use your pumpkin from the previous pumpkin-carving activity, if you wish! If you haven’t yet carved a pumpkin, follow the directions below.
2. Use a knife (with the help of an adult) to cut a circle around the stem of your pumpkin. Make sure the circle is large enough to fit your hand through.
3. Remove the stem of the pumpkin and scoop out the guts!
4. Dump about a cup of baking soda inside the pumpkin. This is the base in your reaction.
5. If you want to make your pumpkin reaction even more exciting, add a few drops of food coloring to your vinegar.
6. Pour some vinegar inside the pumpkin and watch your pumpkin ooze colorful foam! (Remember, the bubbles form from carbon dioxide gas produced in the reaction between vinegar and baking soda). Try adding dish soap to make your reaction even foamier!


Reuse and Recycle: Grow a pumpkin out of a pumpkin!

YOU WILL NEED:
Small pumpkins (fresh, not rotted)
Dirt
Water
Knife


Here’s what to do!


1. Ask an adult for help to cut the top off of your pumpkin. Remove the stem.
2. Stuff the inside of your pumpkin with dirt.
3. Treat your pumpkin like a potted plant--water the dirt daily and wait for your pumpkin plant to start sprouting!
4. Once your plant begins to grow, plant the entire pumpkin in the ground outside. Dig a shallow hole and bury the pumpkin. Continue to monitor growth and water your plant. Soon enough, you’ll have your own pumpkin plant!


Pumpkin Seed Recipe:   
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pumpkin-seeds-recipe.html




References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin
http://thehomeschoolscientist.com/pumpkin-unit-study/


Image Credits
2009. Pumpkin 2007. Uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/23/2016.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Pumpkin2007.jpg File in the Public Domain.


Schoenberger, 2007. CompetitivePumpkins. Uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/23/2016. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/CompetitivePumpkins.jpg/800px-CompetitivePumpkins.jpg File used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. No changes were made.


Vishalsh521, 2011. Pumpkin flower. Uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/23/2016. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Pumpkin_flower.jpg/800px-Pumpkin_flower.jpg File used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. No changes were made.

4. Now, start preserving your leaves. Remember to leave your first leaf unaltered. This is the control. The control has no alterations so you can compare your other preservation methods to the leaf with no changes.  The substance you use for preservation is your variable. Coat your second leaf with PVA glue, cover your third leaf with clear tape, and carefully paint your fourth leaf with clear nail polish. Make sure you cover the full surface on both sides of your leaves with your preservation materials. Remember, what you use to preserve your fifth and sixth leaves is up to you! (If you want to try even more preservation techniques for your leaves, check out these methods and see what works best!
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/preserving-autumn-leaves)

​5. Once leaves 2-6 are coated with their preservation materials, you must wait! Place the leaves with their labels on a surface where they won’t be disturbed, and check back each day for five days to record your observations.

6. When you check on your leaves, record your observations in your chart. What do they look like? Feel like? What techniques seem to be working? Which ones are not working as well? 

7. On day five, make your final observations. Rank the preservation techniques in order from best to worst. 

Extensions: 

Now that you know which technique works the best, go out and find more leaves to preserve! You can do all sorts of activities with your preserved leaves. Make a leaf book, leaf people, or leaf art! 

Google leaf people, leaf projects, or leaf art for all kinds of fun ideas! 

If you want to check out another fun leaf experiment, check out our blog on leaf chromatography: 

​http://discoveryexpress.weebly.com/blog/is-a-black-marker-really-just-black-is-a-green-leaf-really-only-green-these-are-the-questions-well-answer-today-using-chromatography


Image and Video Credits, in order of appearance: 

KentuckyKevin, 2014. Fiery autumn color 11-7-2014. Image uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/14/2016.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Fiery_Autumn_Color_11-7-2014.JPG File used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. No changes were made. ​

References
http://www.science-sparks.com/2015/10/14/preserving-autumn-leaves/

Author: Maddie Van Beek

Halloween is only a few weeks away! That means it's time for some spooky fun with Halloween science activities! 


1. Use your colorful candy to try out candy chromatography! 


What exactly is chromatography? 


Chroma means color and graphein means to write. 


There are a few different kinds of chromatography, but today you are going to be dealing with paper chromatography. When you use paper chromatography, you can separate different inks or dyes into their individual components. For example, a black marker actually has many different colors of dye to create black ink.

​Watch the video below to watch how paper chromatography can be used to separate black ink into its individual colors:

You can use this same idea to separate the dyes of your favorite candies! 


YOU WILL NEED

• M&Ms or Skittles
• Coffee filter paper
• A tall glass 
• Water 
• Table salt 
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Ruler 
• 6 toothpicks 
• Aluminum foil 
• 2 liter bottle with cap

Check out our blog about candy chromatography here for instructions:

2. Create your own glowing beverages! 


Did you know that tonic water glows under a black light? The reason that it does this is because of one special ingredient: quinine. 


Why is quinine fluorescent? Read the link below to find out! ​

Now that you know about quinine, do you know what a black light is? Why is a black light any different from a regular light? They might appear the same as any other light bulb, but they function very differently. Black lights actually produce ultraviolet light. When you turn a black light on, it causes white things to glow in the dark. 


Read about black lights in the link below to find out how they work: ​

YOU WILL NEED

• Tonic water
• Ice cube trays
• Sprite or 7-up
• A black light

​
Here’s what to do! 


The instructions for this activity are very simple. Make ice cubes out of tonic water and then put them in any light colored drink such as 7-up or Sprite. Turn on a black light, turn off the lights, and watch your beverages glow an eery blue!

​
3. Make pumpkin slime!


The slime that you will be creating is a non-newtonian fluid. Newtonian fluids behave as you would expect a liquid to behave. For example, when you hit water, it gives way. You can easily put your hand through it without much resistance. Non-newtonian fluids sometimes act like a solid and sometimes act like a liquid. When you hit a non-newtonian fluid, it resists the impact. How can that be? 


Watch this video to see people experiment with non-newtonian fluid. They even try to bike across it! You’ll be amazed at its power to resist stress. 

YOU WILL NEED:

• One pumpkin
• Cornstarch 
• Mixing bowl
• Spoon
• Cookie sheet or pan
• Food coloring (optional: your pumpkin will already color your slime an orangey tint)

Check out our blog from a few weeks ago to learn more about non-newtonian fluids and create your own pumpkin slime:

References:
https://sciencebob.com/free-halloween-science-ideas/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/shining-science-explore-glow-in-the-dark-water/
​
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/black-light.htm

Image and video credits, in order of appearance: 

Amos, E., 2010. Plain-M&Ms-Pile. File uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/9/2016.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Plain-M%26Ms-Pile.jpg/800px-Plain-M%26Ms-Pile.jpg Image released into the Public Domain. 

Pauller, N., 2014. Paper chromatography - Chemistry experiment with Mr Pauller. Video uploaded from YouTube on 10/9/2016. ​https://youtu.be/ZCzgQXGz9Tg

Hard Science, 2013. Biking across a pool of corn starch - Hard science. Video uploaded from YouTube on 10/9/2016. ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BleCJJAKkgw&feature=youtu.be

Author: Maddie Van Beek

It’s October--the leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting cooler, and you are probably starting to see all kinds of gourds and pumpkins at the grocery store. These days, people seem to like pumpkin flavored ANYTHING. Today, we aren’t going to eat any pumpkin, but we ARE going to use a pumpkin in our science activity to create PUMPKIN SLIME!

Last year, we showed you how to create two different kinds of slime. If you missed it, check it out here: http://discoveryexpress.weebly.com/homeblog/two-times-the-slime-fun-with-polymers

When we create pumpkin slime, we are going to follow similar instructions for the first version of slime that we concocted. In this version, the special ingredient for creating slime is cornstarch. 

The slime that you will be making is called a non-newtonian fluid. Newtonian fluids, such as water, do not provide much resistance when stress is applied to them. If you jump in a pool, the water gives way. Non-newtonian fluids change their viscosity or “flow behavior,” when stress or pressure is applied to them. Simply put, this means that the slime acts like both a liquid and a solid. When you poke it or pick it up and roll it into a ball, it feels like a solid. When you stop playing with it, it runs through your fingers like a liquid. Can you think of other substances that might sometimes act like a liquid and sometimes like a solid? 

Check out this video about non-newtonian fluids to see them in action!

Here’s more information about non-newtonian fluids: http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Science-Stories/Strange-Liquids/Non-Newtonian-fluids

According to the link you just read, what other substances besides slime or “oobleck” are non-newtonian fluids? Can you think of any others?

Now that you know a little bit about the science behind the slime, let’s get started!

YOU WILL NEED:

• One pumpkin
• Cornstarch 
• Mixing bowl
• Spoon
• Cookie sheet or pan
• Food coloring (optional: your pumpkin will already color your slime an orangey tint)

Here’s what to do!

1. Cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the guts and seeds with your hands or a spoon. Put all the pumpkin innards into a mixing bowl. How do the guts feel? Look? Write down your observations.

2. Pour 1/2 cup of water into the mixing bowl and use the spoon to stir the water into the pumpkin guts. Write down your observations. How does adding water to the pumpkin change it? 

3. Measure 1 cup of cornstarch and pour it into the bowl with the pumpkin guts and mix with the spoon until well-blended. What does your mixture look like now? How has the consistency changed? Record your observations. 

4. Optional: add about six drops of food coloring and stir it in. 

5. Place the pumpkin half on a pan or cookie sheet with the hollow part facing upward (The pan is just to keep your play area clean).

6. Now that you have your pumpkin slime all ready to go, dump it back in the pumpkin half for goopy fall play! 

7. Have fun! Pick up your pumpkin slime and play with it! What does it feel like? Look like? Is this what you expected to happen? 


Extension: Try adjusting the amount of water, glue, or starch to see how it changes the quality of the slime.




References:

http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/pumpkin-oobleck-science-sensory-play/

https://sciencebob.com/make-some-starch-slime-today/

https://sciencebob.com/make-some-starch-slime-today-method-2/

http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/mnstep/activities/35866.html

http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/gluep.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Newtonian_fluid

Image and video credits, in order of appearance: 

Moore, K.T., 2015. Silverman's Farm. File uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/3/2016. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Silverman%27s_Farm.jpg/800px-Silverman%27s_Farm.jpg File used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. No changes were made.

The Discovery Slow Down, 2013. Non-Newtonian Liquid IN SLOW MOTION! Video uploaded from YouTube on 10/3/2016. https://youtu.be/G1Op_1yG6lQ

2009. Pumpkin2007. File uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/3/2016. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Pumpkin2007.jpg File released into Public Domain. 

BradBeattie, 2006. Pumpkin seeds in hand. File uploaded from Wikimedia Commons on 10/3/2016. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Pumpkin_seeds_in_hand.jpg/800px-Pumpkin_seeds_in_hand.jpg File used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. No changes were made.

​