Guest blogger Chris Hybels is helping us kick off our new blog series in which we will cover topics and resources that we hope will provide support to students and families during these challenging times. Chris is one of our Marketing and Development Interns, and he graduated from Kalamazoo Public Schools in 2016. After graduating from KPS, Chris went to Michigan State University using the Kalamazoo Promise and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2019. He is now pursuing a master’s degree at MSU in advertising and public relations.
Science projects are a great way for students to take what they learned from textbooks and bring it into the real world. They get to use their hands to explore problems and find the solution to them. However, science projects don’t always have to be about finding solutions, they can just be fun ways to discover how things work! Below are 3 awesome science projects that can easily be performed at home and rely on the skills students have learned from textbooks.
Build A Lava Lamp
Materials:
• A clear plastic bottle, preferably with smooth sides
• Water
• Vegetable Oil
• Fizzing tablets (like Alka Seltzer)
• Food coloring
Instructions:
1. Fill the up to a quarter (1/4) of the way with water.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring into the bottle then swirl around till the water has changed colors.
3. Pour the vegetable oil into the bottle until it is almost full.
4. Break the fizzy tablet into two pieces and drop one of the halves into the bottle and get ready for the colorful bubbly blobs to appear!
5. And you can repeat Step 4 once the tablet is completely dissolved in the bottle.
To a watch video tutorial for this experiment click here.
Make Your Own Rock Candy 
Materials:
• A wooden skewer, or popsicle sticks
• A clothespin, or clip wide enough to sit on the glass
• 1 cup of water
• 3 cups of sugar
• A tall narrow jar or glass
• Food flavoring (optional)
• Food coloring (optional)
• A pot
Instructions:
1. Place the water into the pot, then pour in the sugar. And mix them together to create a sugar solution.
2. Next, dip your skewer into some water, and roll it in sugar. Set aside until it dries
3. Move the pot onto the stove and turn the heat up to high. Stir the solution as it warms up.
4. Once the solution begins to boil, stir rapidly until all the sugar has dissolved into the solution.
a. Stir in food coloring and/or food flavoring at this time.
5. Then, take the sugar solution and pour it into the glass you will be using to grow your rock candy, and let the solution cool for ten minutes.
6. Next, place the wooden skewer coated in sugar into the glass and clip it using the clothespin or clip so it is submerged in the solution without touching the bottom or sides.
7. Place the jar in a warm, dry place to cool. Sugar crystals will begin to grow
8. The process of growing the sugar crystals can last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
9. Check daily to make sure the crystals from the stick aren’t touching the crystals on the bottom. Reposition the stick as needed.
10. Once the crystals have stopped growing, use a knife to break the top shell of your solution, and remove your skewer and place it into another a jar to drip and dry.
11. When the skewer is dry you can then enjoy your rock candy!
To a watch video tutorial for this experiment click here.
Build A Soap Powered Model Boat
Materials:
• A toothpick
• Liquid dish soap
• A cookie sheet, tray, or boat filled with water
• A foam tray (like the kind meat comes in) of non-corrugated cardboard
Instructions:
1. Cut the foam tray or cardboard into a boat shape, about two inches long.
2. Dip the toothpick into the soap, and use the toothpick to place soap on the sides of the notch at the back of the boat.
3. Place the boat in the water and watch it glide across the surface for several seconds.
4. To make the boat move again, rinse off the soap from the boat and start again from Step 2.
To a watch video tutorial for this experiment click here.
Can’t get enough science? Check out some these awesome resources for more fun experiments:
• Science Bob
• Science Fun for Everyone
• We Are Teachers
• The Sci Guys
• Science Max
Tags: activities for the home, Chris Hybels, CIS intern, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Promise, Kalamazoo Public Schools, Michigan State University, science projects
