Fun Summer Science Activities

 Hi everyone!

Some of you may have been on summer vacation for about a month or so, but some of us still have a few days left of the school year. 

Have you hit a rut with activities you can do with your kids at home, and want something quick and fun to do? I've listed below a few things I do in my classroom that might be a little bit fun, and you're more than welcome to try!

1. Red Cabbage Acid-Base Indicator

Red cabbage is a cool, easy, kid safe acid/ base indicator that allows you to determine if a solution is an acid or a base. There is a protein in the red cabbage that changes color in the presence of certain acidic/ basic solutions.

In order to make the solution, all you need is to boil a few leaves of red cabbage until the water turns purple. Take out the leaves, and keep the water. I usually let the water cool a little before playing with it. The indicator can also be frozen in an ice cube tray. 

I usually have my students test small samples of common household solutions in well plates. If you don't have well plates, any small cup or container will work. You can have your child write a secret message in a common household solution (like lemon juice or baking soda dissolved in water). Then, they can read their messages using the frozen red cabbage indicator. 

2. How to Dissolve Alka Seltzer the Quickest

A fun activity I have my students do is try to identify how to make Alka Seltzer dissolve the quickest. They can change anything from the surface area of the Alka Seltzer (crushing it up) to the temperature of the water the tablet is dissolved in. If they start piecing things together, they will try to change multiple factors at once. 

This is best done in some form of a clear container so kids can watch it and take timed trials of their observations. They should use the same amount of water, and the same size tablet (I usually half a tablet for the sake of materials). 

3. Building a Hot Air Balloon

When my students are analyzing gases and the gas laws, I give them a chance to build a hot air balloon. I let them design and build the balloon out whatever materials they think will work, under the condition that it should fly. 

I've used tissue paper and candles, and usually that ends up in a firey ball, so maybe test them outside. This past year, my students used small plastic bags, and it worked a little better. 

This usually takes a couple of lessons, so it might take a day or two for them to design or build, and then another day or two to test, and then make modifications. 

Want to see something else? Let me know if you want instructions for something else!