SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL

Presented by Free World U

Science experiments make learning fun. They also enhance learning by offering hands-on experience to increase the understanding of how things work.

The experiments in this book are all safe for children to do but should be done with the permission and supervision of an adult. They require just common items you probably have around the house.

The experiments are listed by grade level with a link to an appropriate lesson to make the experiment more meaningful. It is up to you whether you view the flashcards before or after you do the experiment.

Though the experiments are listed by grade level, this does not mean that you shouldn’t try several or all of them. They were chosen for their entertainment value as much as their educational significance.

Remember to be courteous when doing these experiments. Always ask permission, and if you make a mess, clean it up.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Kindergarten: Our Five Senses

First Grade: Parts of Plants

Second Grade: Magnets

Third Grade: Solar Energy

Fourth Grade: Cause and Effect

Fifth Grade: Salt Water

Sixth Grade: Volcanoes

Seventh Grade: Stimulus Response Times

Eighth Grade: Density Columns

Our Five Senses

We see with our eyes.

We smell with our nose.

We taste with our mouth.

We hear with our ears.

We touch with our skin.

We use our five senses to learn about the world around us. Our senses work together to help us enjoy things.

We can taste and smell a sweet, tangy orange. We can feel the bumpy skin of the orange. We can see its bright orange peel and the dark green leaves.

If we sit outside on a warm summer day, we can feel the heat of the sun on our skin. We can smell the grass and the wildflowers. We can see a butterfly fly by. We can hear the birds sing in the trees. We can touch the soft, velvety petal of a flower.

Experiment

In this experiment, you will see how our senses work together.

Do you think you can taste the difference between a potato and an apple? You might be surprised.

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

someone to help you

a small piece of peeled apple

a small piece of peeled potato

Instructions:

Close your eyes and hold your nose. Have your helper hand you either the piece of potato or the piece of apple.

Eat the piece and try to guess which one it is.

No peeking!

Remember to hold your nose tightly enough that you cannot smell anything.

You probably could not tell the difference, and here’s why:

We taste and smell foods at the same time. This is because our nose and mouth are connected through the same airway. Our sense of taste allows us to tell the difference between salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. When you add your sense of smell, you can tell many other differences.

Holding your nose takes away your sense of smell. This makes it hard for you to tell differences in flavors.

Learn all about the five senses in kindergarten Science/Investigation and Experimentation/Using the Five Senses.

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/Using-the-Five-Senses—6620

Parts of Plants

Many kinds of plants grow in our world. There are fruits and vegetables. There are plants with pretty flowers. There are herbs and grasses.

Plants provide food for animals and people. When you eat a salad, corn on the cob, or a carrot, you are eating part of a plant.

Plants need sun and water to grow. They need good soil with nutrients.

Each part of a plant has its own job. The roots of a plant pull water and nutrients from the soil for the plant. The stem of a

plant carries water and nutrients up from the roots to the leaves. The leaves of the plant take in sunlight and make food for the plants to live and grow.

Experiment

This experiment will help you see how water moves up a plant to its leaves.

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

a tall clear glass

water

red food coloring

scissors

a celery stalk with leaves at the top

Instructions:

Fill a tall, clear glass half full of water.

Put in a few drops of red food coloring and mix it well.

Cut straight across the bottom of a stalk of celery. Just trim off enough to make a straight line.

Put the celery in the glass of water.

Now you can watch the celery “drink” the water. It won’t happen right away, but within a few hours you will see the colored water begin to creep up the stalk of celery. Leave it overnight and see how far the coloring goes.

Learn all about plants in 1st grade Science>LifeSciences>Functions of Plant Parts.

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/Functions-of-Plant-Parts—4980

Magnets

A magnet is an object that has the power to pull things made of iron and other metals toward itself. All magnets have two ends called poles. There is a north pole and a south pole.

Magnetism is an invisible force that can push and pull some metal objects.

There are many experiments you can do with magnets to learn about how they work.

Experiment #1

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

a magnet (any shape is fine for these experiments)

a paperclip

a piece of stiff paper or cardboard

a pen or pencil

Instructions:

Draw a path on your paper with a start and finish line. Lay your paper clip on the start line.

Use the magnet to hover over the paperclip and see if you can pull it along the path to the finish line. After you have done this, hold the magnet underneath the paper or cardboard and see if the magnet will still pull the paperclip.

If you have a friend who has another magnet and paperclip, you can have races to see who can get to the finish line first.

Experiment #2

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

a magnet

a clear glass with straight sides

a paperclip

Instructions:

Fill the glass with water.

Drop the paperclip into the water. It will sink to the bottom.

Use the magnet to retrieve the paperclip by holding it on the side of the glass near the magnet. You should be able to slide the magnet up the side of the glass and pull the paperclip to the top.

After you have done this, put the paperclip back into the water and see if you can make it move around and “dance.”

Experiment #3

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

a magnet

5 or 6 paperclips

Instructions:

Use the magnet to pick up a paperclip. Since the paperclip becomes magnetized by its contact with the magnet, you should be able to pick up another paperclip with the first one.

See how many paperclips you can pick up before the magnetic force becomes too weak to hold any more.

Learn all about magnets in 2nd grade Science>Physical Sciences>Magnet Motion

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/Magnet-Motion—6631

Solar Energy

Energy from the Sun is called solar energy. Solar energy is a renewable source of energy. We call it renewable because we cannot use it up. Solar

energy comes to us through heat and light.

Earth would be too cold for humans, animals, and plants if we did not have the Sun.

Experiment

In this experiment, we will see how different colors absorb sunlight.

For this experiment you will need:

Six 3x3 inch pieces of construction paper in these six colors: black, white, yellow, green, blue, and red.

6 ice cubes that are the same shape and size

a sunny day

Instructions:

Find a sunny spot outside. Make sure all papers receive an equal amount of sunlight.

Lay your six pieces of paper on a flat surface.

Put one ice cube on each piece of paper.

Watch to see which ice cube melts the fastest.

Here’s what will happen:

The ice on the black paper will melt the fastest because black absorbs the most warm sunlight. The ice on the white card will melt the slowest because white reflects most of the light.

Learn all about solar energy in 3rd grade Science>Physical Sciences>Solar Energy

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/Solar-Energy—6651

Cause and Effect

A cause and effect relationship is one in which one thing makes another thing happen. Here are some examples:

My alarm did not go off, so I was late for work. (The alarm did not go off is the cause. I was late for work is the effect.)

It was raining, so I took my umbrella when I went to work.

I got into trouble because I broke the vase when I was playing ball inside the house.

My dog was hungry because I forgot to feed him.

We will look at cause and effect by using a few simple materials to create a beautiful display of color and movement.

Experiment

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

a flat pan like a cookie sheet

whole milk (low-fat or skim milk will not work for this experiment)

food coloring in at least three colors

dish soap

Instructions:

1. Pour enough milk to cover the bottom of your dish.

2. Put five or six drops of the different food colors into the milk. (put some in separate areas and cluster some together)

3. Put a drop of dish soap in the middle of each drop of food color.

4. Watch as the colors move and swirl and blend together.

The effect of this experiment is the movement and blending of the colors.

So what was the cause?

Liquid dish soap goes after fat and breaks it down. This action is needed to break down the fats left on dishes and clean them. There is fat in whole milk. When you drop the liquid soap onto the tray, it tries to break down the fat in the milk. This causes the colors to move around.

Learn all about cause and effect in 4th grade Science>Investigation and Experimentation>Predictions Based on Cause and Effect

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/Predictions-Based-on-Cause-and-Effect--6699

Salt Water

Oceans cover about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface.

About 97 percent of all water on the Earth is salt water.

All water, even the rain that falls, contains dissolved chemicals.

These chemicals become concentrated in the ocean when the Sun causes evaporation of the fresh water from the surface of the oceans and leaves the chemicals behind.

Rain also causes erosion of the land and rocks which washes minerals into the rivers and streams that flow into the oceans.

Sodium and chloride, which are the ingredients in table salt, make up about 85 percent of the dissolved solids in seawater.

Have you ever tasted saltwater? It tastes very different than freshwater. There is another difference between fresh water and salt water: salt water is more dense than fresh water.

Density is the measure of how much matter something has compared to the amount of space it takes up. Think about this. How much space would 10 pounds of cotton candy take up? How about 10 pounds of iron? That would be a lot of cotton candy, wouldn’t it? But not much iron.

Experiment

You can do an experiment to see for yourself how salt makes water more dense.

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

two tall clear classes

water

an egg

salt

Instructions:

First you will fill the glass with tap water from your sink. Leave about an inch at the top so none spills over.

Next gently put the egg into the water.

What happens?

The egg will fall to the bottom of the glass.

Now, let’s try something different.

Fill the second glass half way with tap water. Stir in six tablespoons of salt.

Now slowly and carefully fill the glass up to about an inch from the top with tap water. Try not to mix the salt water with the tap water.

Gently place the egg in the glass.

What happens when the egg reaches the salt water?

If you have not mixed the salt and fresh water, the egg will stop in the middle of the glass where the salt water begins. This is because the salt water is denser and can support the weight of the egg.

You can have fun with this experiment! Tell your friends that you have a specially trained egg that you have taught to float. Prepare two glasses of water ahead of time, one salted and one plain. Drop your special “trained” egg into the salted water then allow you friends to drop another egg into the unsalted water. They will be totally impressed with your skills as an egg trainer.

Of course, you can explain the experiment when they ask how you did it!

Learn all about salt water in 5th grade Science/Earth Science/Salt Water

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flashcards/ViewFlashcards.aspx?FlashcardCategoryId=6556&FlashcardId=192119

Volcanoes

A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s crust that allows molten lava, rock fragments, ashes, dust, and gases to be ejected from below the Earth’s surface. The debris that is ejected often forms a cone-shaped mountain.

The Ring of Fire is an area where the most volcanoes and earthquakes take place. Three-fourths of the Earth’s volcanoes are found there. The Ring of Fire lies in an arc along the margins of the Pacific Ocean. There are 542 volcanoes in this area!

A volcanic eruption occurs when magma rises up from deep inside the Earth. The magma fills a hollow chamber below a vent blocked by cooled and hardened rock. Gas and water mix with the magma, which forms an explosive mixture. The pressure builds up in the chamber which causes the magma, gas, and steam to be forced upward and through the vent.

When magma reaches the surface of the Earth, it is called lava.

Experiment/Project

You can make your own volcanic eruption by creating a simple chemical reaction.

These are the things you will need for this experiment:

baking soda (4 tablespoons)

vinegar (1/2 cup)

a few drops of dish soap

food coloring (optional)

an empty 16 oz. soft drink container (clean and dry)

a funnel

a baking dish such as a cake pan, pizza pan, or cookie sheet

measuring spoon and cup

air-drying clay or salt dough (you can make your own with the recipe at the end of this experiment)

This experiment can be messy! Before you begin you might want to lay out several layers of newspaper or an old towel to work on.

Instructions:

The first thing you will need to do is create your volcano. To do this, take the clean soda bottle and set it in the middle of the baking dish and begin applying your clay. Cover the entire bottle, making sure you do not get anything inside of the bottle where it would interfere with the chemical reaction you will be creating. Create the shape of a volcano around the soda bottle with the clay.

Remember, the thicker the clay structure, the longer it will take to dry. It will dry faster if you set it in a warm dry place.

When your volcano has dried, you can paint it and add twigs and pebbles to make it look realistic if you want to.

Using the clean, dry funnel put 3 to 4 tablespoons of baking soda into the bottle.

Add a few drops of dish soap.

Add one-half cup of water.

Measure one-half cup of vinegar. To make your eruption more colorful, you may add a few drops of red food coloring to the vinegar.

Using the funnel, pour the vinegar into the bottle and remove the funnel. You volcano will erupt immediately.

What caused this eruption?

A chemical reaction between the vinegar, which is an acid, and the baking soda, which is a base. When the two are mixed together, carbon dioxide gas is formed which create bubbles that push the “lava” up and out of the bottle.

Learn all about volcanoes in 6th Grade Science/Plate Tectonics and Earth's Structure/Faultlines, Volcanoes and Fissures

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flashcards/ViewFlashcards.aspx?FlashcardCategoryId=6581

Salt Clay Dough Recipe

Salt dough can be used in many projects. This is a simple, basic recipe that will work for making decorations, beads, ornaments, and other things.

1 cup of salt 1 cup of flour 1/2 cup of water

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the salt and flour. Mix well. 2. Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water 3. Knead until smooth. 4. Shape into a ball 5. Until ready to use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight

container

To add color, add food coloring and knead it into the dough.

The dough will dry in around two days in the air. Keep any dough that you are not using sealed in an airtight container.

If you are making ornaments, beads, or other small objects, the clay may be dried in the oven to make it less fragile. Set the oven at around 200 degrees and bake for one to two hours depending on the size of the objects being dried.

Note: Because the volcano has a plastic bottle inside it, you cannot use the oven drying method for this project.

Stimulus and Response Comparisons between the Eyes and Ears

We use our eyes and ears to navigate through our lives. The information we take in visually and audibly helps us to get where we are going and to keep us safe.

Questions to answer with this experiment:

Which sense elicits the faster response time, seeing or hearing?

Is there a difference in reaction times between males and females?

These are the things you will need for this experiment:

calculator

meter stick

blindfold

notebooks for recording results

as many willing subjects as you can find—the more the better

Instructions:

Repeat these steps each time you test a person.

Test the subject’s visual reaction time first.

1. Hold the meter stick with your thumb and index finger above the 100 centimeter mark on the meter stick.

2. Ask your subject to place his or her thumb and forefinger on either side of the meter stick at the 0 centimeter mark.

3. You will drop the stick, and your subject will try to catch it by closing his or her thumb and forefinger.

4. Record the distance (in centimeters) that the stick falls before the test subject is able to stop it.

5. Do this five times and calculate the average score.

Now test the subject’s auditory reaction time.

1. Blindfold your subject. 2. Hold the meter stick the same as you did before and help

your subject place his hand in the correct place. 3. Drop the stick in the same way that you did before but say

the word “drop” as you let go of the meter stick go. 4. Do this five times and calculate the average score.

Each time you perform the test, record your results with the following information: Subject’s name, gender, and time.

Tally the number of times a subject responds faster to visual response or auditory response.

Study your results to look for patterns in response times. The more times you perform the experiment, the more accurate your results will be.

Name  Gender 

Visual score average 

Auditory score average 

Jeff Brown  M  21 cm  49 cm 

Caitlyn Trip  F       

           

           

Learn all about eyes and ears at 7th grade Science>Structure and Function in Living Systems>The Eye and Ear

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/The-Eye-and-Ear--5977

Density

Density is mass per unit volume. Density of liquids is expressed as grams per milliliter. Density is calculated by dividing the mass of a substance by its volume.

In this experiment, you will create colored solutions that will each have a different density. You will then create a colorful density column by layering the solutions from most dense on the bottom to least dense on the top.

Here’s what you will need for this experiment:

5 similar clear glasses or plastic cups

tablespoon

4 colors of liquid food color (gels are much harder to mix)

sugar

very warm water

Instructions:

First

Line up five glasses.

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the first glass.

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the second glass.

Add 3 tablespoons of sugar to the third glass.

Add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the fourth glass.

Leave the fifth glass empty.

Second

Add 3 tablespoons of very warm water to each of the first 4 glasses.

Stir each solution until the sugar dissolves.

Third

Add 2 or 3 drops of red food coloring to the first glass.

Add 2 or 3 drops of green food coloring to the second

glass.

Add 2 or 3 drops of yellow food coloring to the third glass.

Add 2 or 3 drops of blue food coloring to the fourth glass.

Mix the food coloring into each solution.

Fourth

Now we make a rainbow colored density column using the different density solutions. Fill the fifth glass, which you left

empty, about ¼ full of the blue solution.

Fifth

Carefully pour the yellow solution on top of the blue solution until the glass is about half full. Do this by putting

a spoon in the glass just above the blue solution and slowly pouring the yellow solution over the back of the spoon.

Sixth

Repeat step five with the green solution. The glass will now be about ¾ full.

Seven

Repeat step five with the red solution. The glass will now be full.

What makes the colors stay separated?

Each layer is a different density because of the amount of sugar that was added. The layers are stacked from heaviest on the bottom to lightest on the top.

Will the layers remain separated?

No, because all the layers are made of the same two chemicals, water and sugar, so eventually they will blend together. Check

your glass periodically to see how long it takes for all the colors to blend.

If you mix all the solutions, will they eventually separate again? No, because they are each made from the same chemicals.

Learn all about density at 8th grade Science>Density and Buoyancy>Density

http://www.freeworldu.org/Flash-Cards/Density--6412