Festive Fun from CREST. Crystal Egg Geodes. Geodes can be grown without using egg dye. The resulting crystals are clear to milky white, like quartz. While large chicken eggshells are suggested in this process, larger eggshells can be used. Simply increase the size of the plastic or glass container and double or triple the amounts of dye (1 packet), alum (3/4 part), and water (2 parts) used to create the growing solution. This Easter craft from Jim "Figgy" Noonan doubles as a science project, offering an opportunity to show kids the crystallization process at work.
Resources: If you don't want to blow your own egg or would like to try a larger eggshell, pre-blown shells are available from The Eggery Place. Cardboard Hovercraft. This photo originally appeared in FamilyFun Magazine Total Time 1 to 2 hours Ages school-age Crafted from cardboard, this nifty vessel runs on the same principles as the hovercrafts that ply the English Channel, and it has a great physics lesson stowed away in its simple design. First, have your kids push their hovercrafts across a table without blowing up the balloons. They don't move very far because of the friction between the two surfaces. When the balloon is inflated, it creates a cushion of air between the cardboard and the table so the balloon zips along. "Kids will come up with their own experiments," says Shari Hartshorn, a Science Museum of Minnesota employee.
By Rani Arbo What you'll need 4- by 4-inch square of corrugated cardboard Magazine cuttings or stickers Glue stick Pencil Hot glue gun Plastic thread spool Balloon How to make it Decorate one side of the cardboard square by attaching stickers or magazine pictures with a glue stick. Static Tinsel Levitating Orb. 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide PVC Pipe about 24 inches (60cm) long. You can also use a regular balloon if you do not have PVC pipe. Mylar tinsel for Christmas trees. There are many types of tinsel - you should look for the thinnest and narrowest possible. The tinsel used in the video is about 1 millimeter wide. If it is much wider than that, the orb may be too heavy to levitate. 1.
It is all about static charges. The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. 1. CLICK HERE to watch student-made videos of the static orb in action. Straw Hoop Plane. A regular plastic drinking straw 3 X 5 inch index card or stiff paper Tape Scissors 1. Cut the index card or stiff paper into 3 separate pieces that measure 1 inch (2.5 cm) by 5 inches (13 cm.) 2. Take 2 of the pieces of paper and tape them together into a hoop as shown. Be sure to overlap the pieces about half an inch (1 cm) so that they keep a nice round shape once taped. 3. 5. Can we really call that a plane? The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. 1. 2. 3. 4. CD Hovercraft. An old CD or DVD disc A 9” balloon A pop-top cap from a liquid soap bottle or a water bottle A hot glue gu If you are using the cap from a water bottle, cover the center hole of the CD with a piece of tape and poke about 6 holes in the tape with a push-pin or small nail.
This will slow down the flow of air and allow your hovercraft to hover longer. Use the hot glue gun to glue the cap to the center of the CD or DVD disc. Create a good seal to keep air from escaping. Blow up the balloon all the way and pinch the neck of it. The air flow created by the balloon causes a cushion of moving air between the disc and the surface. The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. 1. 2. 3. Magnetic Silly Putty. Make a Snowflake. What you'll need: String Wide mouth jar White pipe cleaners Blue food coloring (optional) Boiling water (take care or better still get an adult to help) Borax Small wooden rod or pencil Instructions: Grab a white pipe cleaner and cut it into three sections of the same size. Twist these sections together in the center so that you now have a shape that looks something like a six-sided star. What's happening? Crystals are made up of molecules arranged in a repeating pattern that extends in all three dimensions.
When you add the borax to the boiling water you can dissolve more than you could if you were adding it to cold water, this is because warmer water molecules move around faster and are more spread apart, allowing more room for the borax crystals to dissolve. When the solution cools, the water molecules move closer together and it can't hold as much of the borax solution.