Fall is a great time to learn together indoors or outdoors with some simple STEAM experiments! Here are three seasonal experiments that can be done using household items that are probably already in your cabinets. Try these five-minute science experiments at home, and share your results with us! Be sure to talk together about the science behind the experiment and how yours was different from our example videos. Look at our questions to ask to keep the conversation going and get ideas for how to experiment further. Check out our STEAM playlist on the EVPL YouTube channel for even more experiments to try together.
Dancing Ghosts
You are using static electricity to make your ghost dance and fly! In electricity, opposites are attracted to each other. When you rub the balloon on your hair, the balloon is gathering electrons. Electrons are invisible negatively charged particles. The negative electrons build up on the outside of the balloon. The negative electrons are attracted to positive particles called protons. The electrons (-) on the balloon are attracted to the protons (+) on the ghost making it rise up and try to come together.
Is oobleck a solid or a liquid or both? Oobleck is actually called a non-Newtonian fluid meaning it has qualities of both a liquid and a solid. You can pick up your oobleck creation and squeeze it like a solid but you can also pour it out of your container like a liquid. The viscosity of oobleck, or how fast/slow it flows, changes when you put force on the particles. Other examples of non-Newtonian fluids include quicksand, silly putty, honey, and ketchup!
A chemical reaction is happening inside of your pumpkin between the baking soda and vinegar! The chemical name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is a base and the chemical name for vinegar is acetic acid. When the acid and base interact inside your pumpkin, the reaction produces carbon dioxide or CO2 and water. The carbon dioxide gas is part of what makes the reaction bubble up and why it looks like your jack-o-lantern is erupting like a volcano. Try your experiment again with only the baking soda and vinegar to watch the reactions more closely.
With 8 locations throughout Vanderburgh County, EVPL is ready to discover, explore, and connect WITH you! We encourage you to uncover new things, revisit old favorites, and to engage with us along the way.
200 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Evansville, Indiana 47713
Administration: ceo@evpl.org
Card & Account: circulation@evpl.org
Feedback & Ideas: marketing@evpl.org