‘90s FAMILY : Simple Science : The bathtub. The back yard. The kitchen. Science is everywhere, so unlock the door to your home laboratory and feed your child’s natural curiosity.
My kids levitated out of their seats when “Bill Nye the Science Guy” inflated a latex balloon on his TV show using baking soda, vinegar and an empty plastic soda bottle.
“Please find a balloon, Mom,” begged 7-year-old Tristan.
“I know where an empty bottle is,” squealed 3-year-old Emelia.
I can’t resist doing a science experiment, especially when my children are eager and the project is simple. Call me “Ms. Wizard,” but I have fun with science. Yes, fun. Forget the dry high school lectures and dreary chemical formulas you hated to memorize. Today’s kid science is hands-on stuff. Instead of periodic tables think of bathtub, bubbles and bread.
“One of the most important things about science and kids is to get them involved,” said Ann Muscat, deputy director of exhibits and education at the California Museum of Science and Industry. “Children come with a natural curiosity. It’s important to support your child in that exploration.”
A recent science education study sponsored by the Bayer Corp. and conducted by the National Science Foundation found that 96% of parents want to help with their children’s science education, but most don’t know how to do it. Thirty-two percent did not consider themselves proficient in science.
Lisa Marlow, a Woodland Hills mother and preschool teacher, was intimidated by science until she took some workshops for teachers. “I hated science in school,” she said, “but I love doing it with the kids.” She now conducts a science class for preschoolers at Pierce Community College.
You don’t have to be scientists to have fun with science at home. All you need is some initiative and a willingness to support your child’s natural desire to find out “Why?”
Science is all about observation, asking questions and searching for answers, said Anne C. Petersen, a National Science Foundation deputy director and the mother of two college-aged kids. Observe your environment and listen to your children’s questions, she advised. Don’t worry about knowing all the answers. After all, scientists don’t.
Science is everywhere, so unlock the door to your own home laboratory. Science is in the bathtub when kids test what sinks and what floats. It’s in the back yard when they blow a soap bubble and watch the surface tension on it before it pops. It’s in the kitchen when they mix and measure.
“Be open to your children’s interests and see where they go,” said Paula Dersom, a mother of three who is also an elementary school teacher specializing in science.
If your child likes art, mix colors together. Your young children can use tempera paints to dip one color into another. Explain what primary colors are and talk about rainbows. Look at light through a prism. Drop food dyes in a clear glass of water and watch the colors change.
Your older children can drop red food dye in a glass of water and put in a celery stalk with leaves. During the day they’ll see capillary action as the color rises from roots to leaves.
Kids are eager to be kitchen chemists. Bake breads using different rising agents--yeast, baking soda and baking powder. Watch which one rises the highest. Test for taste and smell. Slice each loaf and see the difference. Honeycombed bread means more air got trapped inside.
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Recognize that children have different interests, Petersen said. Some children like to hunt for bugs, others enjoy gazing at the moon, baking cookies or building bridges with Legos. All offer ways to introduce science.
“My daughter from the word go was interested in animals,” Petersen said. “It was wonderful exploring with her. My son was interested in mechanical things. He loved to take things apart.” Today her daughter is in veterinary school and her son will study engineering in college.
Joy Griffith, a Sylmar mother, recognizes this difference in her sons, 4-year-old Corey, “the mechanic,” and 5-year-old Casey, “the artist.”
“We found a mosquito and looked at its wings under a microscope,” Griffith said. “Corey wanted to pluck the wings and Casey wanted to paint them.”
For parents who haven’t a clue how to get started, or who have already bumped the edge of the scientific envelope, there are plenty of examples of hands-on projects in any number of eye-catching science guides. There are pop-up books, sticker books and science-themed kits that come with magnifying bug bottles, magnets and meteorites. One even shows you how to grow bacteria.
Miriam Perlitsh--mother of Claire, 5, and Aaron, 6--favors educational supply catalogues and specialty stores for unusual supplies like floating magnets, prisms and butterfly hatcheries. But most of Perlitsh’s at-home science experiments use common items such as magnifying glasses, vinegar, baking soda and glue.
This summer her family will visit area science museums and spend lots of time in their garden. In the kitchen the kids will make their own peanut butter and jelly, and concoct a gooey substance similar to Nickelodeon’s Gak product.
“I want to expose my kids to what makes things happen,” Perlitsh said. “I hope they will not be satisfied with the one-dimensional surface view. I want them to always ask why.”
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Experiments
Hot-Air Balloon
You’ll need:
1 empty plastic soda bottle
1 latex balloon
1 funnel
2 tablespoons baking soda
1/4 cup vinegar
Make sure balloon has no holes. Place funnel into neck of bottle and spoon in baking soda. If you don’t have a funnel make a paper cone. Pour in vinegar and remove the funnel. Quickly fit the balloon over the neck of the bottle. Watch how a liquid and solid combine to make a gas that fills the balloon.
Volcano
This uses the same concept as the hot-air balloon.
You’ll need:
1 paper cup
Red liquid food coloring
Several tablespoons baking soda
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup vinegar
Sandbox or other outdoor ground area
Put vinegar in a container that you can pour from. Drop in red food coloring. Make a volcano shape in the sand and push the paper cup into the top. Put several tablespoons of baking soda inside, then pour in the red vinegar. Stand back! The volcano will erupt.
When doing experiments like these, you might want to have library books on hand that discuss hot-air balloons and volcanoes.
Help for Getting Started
The California Museum of Science and Industry, (213) 744-2533, is the ultimate resource for families and it’s free. There are dozens of hands-on exhibits to get everyone excited about science exploration. Learn about electricity, earthquakes, ecology and other topics.
Get a free copy of the museum’s “Science Explorers” sheet, which details hands-on experiments and activities. Send the request to the museum, Communications Department, “Science Explorers,” 700 State Drive, Los Angeles, Calif. 90037.
Summer science workshops for kids in kindergarten to eighth grade are also available. The weeklong and one-day courses include rocketry, robotics, astronomy, aeronautics, bugs and biology. Parent-child classes are also offered. Fees range from $38 to $68. To get a summer workshop brochure, contact the museum’s education department at (213) 744-7444.
A vibrant visual excursion into science awaits you at the museum’s IMAX theater. For shows, times and ticket prices, call (213) 744-2533.
“Making Science Make Sense,” a survival guide for parents, is provided free by the Bayer Corp. Fun and instructional chemistry and biology experiments include color separation, making play putty and air pressure. A growth chart lets kids monitor changes in their development.
Send a self-addressed, business-size envelope with two 32-cent stamps to “Making Science Make Sense,” Bayer Corp., One Mellon Center, 500 Grant St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219-2507.
“Helping Your Child Learn Science,” published by the U.S. Department of Education, is also free. It simplifies science concepts, has several easy hands-on projects and lists science resources from magazines to museums. Contact the publications department at (800) 424-1616.
