Summer Science Fun for Kids

Growing YearsSummer is a good time to have a little science fun. Here are two activities for you to try.

Make A Rainbow: A rainbow is usuallly seen as an arc of color in the sky, but can also form in other situations. Rainbows form in the sky when sunlight refracts (bends) as it passes through raindrops, it acts in the same way when it passes through a glass of water. The sunlight refracts, separating it into the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Let’s make a rainbow.

Materials:

– A glass of water (about three quarters full)

– White paper

– A sunny day

Instructions:

Go to a part of the room with sunlight (near a window is good).

Hold the glass of water (do not spill it) above the paper and watch as sunlight passes through the glass of water, refracts (bends) and forms a rainbow of colors on your sheet of paper.

Hold the glass of water at different heights and angles to see if it has a different effect.

Bend Water: Now let’s bend water using static electricity. The static electricity is built up by combing hair or rubbing it against a balloon that attracts the stream of water, bending it towards the comb or balloon like magic! Negatively charged particles called electrons jump from your hair to the comb as they rub together, the comb now has extra electrons and is negatively charged. The water features both positive and negatively charged particles and is neutral. Positive and negative charges are attracted to each other so when you move the negatively charged comb (or balloon) towards the stream, it attracts the water’s positively charged particles and the stream bends!

Materials:

– A plastic comb (or an inflated balloon)

– A narrow stream of water from a tap

– Dry hair

Instructions:

Turn on the water so it is falling from the tap in a narrow stream (just a few millimetres across but not droplets).

Run the comb through your hair just as you normally would when brushing it (do this around 10 times). If you are using a balloon then rub it back and forth against your hair for a few seconds.

Slowly move the comb or balloon towards the stream of water (without touching it) while watching closely to see what happens.