Fun Science Activities

It was that time of the year; the joyful Christmas season. The kids wished to make some ornaments for their Christmas trees. To involve science in this activity [as usual ;-) ], I planned to show them 'crystal snowflake ornaments'. Materials needed  1. Borax powder - 3 tbsp 2. Water - 1 cup 3. Pipe cleaners - 2 [colors of your choice] 4. Strings - 2 5. Pencils - 2. 6. Bottles - 2. 7. Food colors - 2 drops (optional) Procedure 1. Boil a cup of water and mix the borax powder in it to make a borax solution. 2. Add food color [optional]. 3. Take a pipe cleaner and twist it into a star shape to give it a snowflake figure. 4. Pour the borax solution into a bottle or a glass. 4. Hang the pipe cleaner inside the borax solution using a string and a pencil. 5. Leave this setup undisturbed in a place for a day or two. 6. Your beautiful crystal ornament is ready for hanging! Cut 3 equal pieces of a pipe cleaner Twist them together to make a star ...

Last week, kids had requested for some interesting Chemistry experiments. I decided to surprise them with some yummy treats and I readied some sugar and salt crystals for them to see. It was pretty easy for them to guess that the experiment was with crystals. What is a crystal? Crystals are solids that form by a regular repeated pattern of molecules connecting together. In crystals, a collection of atoms, called the Unit Cell, is repeated in exactly the same arrangement over and over throughout the entire material. Materials needed We discussed about different crystals , their structure and where you will find them. Then it was time to do hands on work. We prepared a saturated solution of sugar by dissolving: 1. 1 cup of water 2. 3 cups of sugar Sugar dissolved in hot water Procedure  Boil 1 cup of water and dissolve  3 cups sugar in it. Beyond a certain point the sugar will not dissolve and forms a 'saturated solution'.  After cooling a bit, pou...