5 Fun Science experiments you can show your kid (Age 8-10)
It is not an easy task to involve your kids in their studies. Especially when the subject is science. Not all kids have interest in science. As parents we can indulge them in some fun science activities that help them learn and experience the lessons. Let us see some fun science experiments that will remain as a great learning experience for your kids.
Home-made lava lamp:
Things required:
Transparent clear Plastic bottle, vegetable oil, water, fizzing tablet (Alka-Seltzer tablet), food colouring, flash light
Method:
- Take the transparent bottle and fill it with water for ¼ th of the bottle.
- Add vegetable oil until it almost fills the bottle. Allow the mixture to sit so that the water and oil separates as two layers.
- Now add your favourite colour of artificial food colour. The food colour travels straight through the oil into the water.
- Now add half of the tablet and can see the bubble fizz on the top.
- To make it more fun, switch off the lights, add another half of the tablet and use a flashlight to illuminate the bubble foam.
Inferences:
- The oil has less density when compared to that of water. So, the water settles down. The same for food colouring solution too.
- When the tablet is dropped, it forms carbon-di-oxide gas which is lighter and foams out of the bottle lime lava.
Surface tension experiment:
Things required:
A small dish, glitter or cocoa powder, water, liquid hand wash.
Method:
- In a small petri dish, pour water and sprinkle glitter or cocoa powder on the surface.
- Now either put a few drops of liquid soap on the water in the petri dish or ask your kid to dip his finger in liquid soap and insert it in the water.
- You will be amazed to see the glitter or cocoa powder move away quickly from the area with liquid soap or away from the area where the finger is immersed.
Inference:
Surface tension concept can be easily explained. The water molecules are held tight under tension, however, introduction of soap breaks the surface tension of the water and pulls away the molecules further towards each other.
Light Refraction Experiment:
Things required:
Piece of paper, marker, glass filled with water.
Method:
- Draw two arrow marks, one at the top of the paper and one towards the bottom facing the same direction.
- Now place the glass jar with water in front of the paper.
- In the reflection, one of the arrows will be pointing in the opposite direction.
Inference:
When light travels from one medium to another, it bends and travels. In this case, it first travels from air to glass, then glass to water, and then again from water to air. So when we look at the reflection through water, the arrow will point in the opposite direction. This is called refraction through different mediums.
Capillary action experiment:
Things required:
3 transparent glass beakers/containers, food colour solutions of your choice (pref use one or more of red, orange, red and blue), water, celery.
Method:
- Fill more than half of the glass containers with the food colouring solutions.
- Now cut the celery stem near the fresh area and put each stem in the glass containers.
- Let it sit for a few hours and over time you can notice the leaves changing colours.
Inference:
The coloured water travels through the vessels in the celery due to capillary action similarly, blood in the human body travels to the other body parts through our blood vessels because of the capillary action.
Conclusion:
The above given are a few fun science experiments where the students can experience the lesson. When the student understands the lesson beyond just learning, they will be able to apply the lesson in different dynamics. The students will enjoy their lesson. It will remain as an experience in their life and not just as any other lesson. Ekya, one of the best international schools in Bangalore, had adopted the method of experiential learning for their students. They have schools spread across the city offering different curriculums like CBSE, ICSE, and IGCSE.