We are a team of student volunteers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst who are eager to spread a love of science and learning for students in grades K-5
Experiments
Experiments are organized alphabetically by what the main science behind them is. However, we can perform any combination of them for your class depending on what they are learning or are curious about! Many of our experiments also explain multiple different phenomenons and we are happy to approach it in whatever way works best for your needs! Our overarching themes are: center of gravity, electricity, energy, optics, pressure/states of matter, and weather.
Below are the experiments we offer about center of gravity:
Gravity Toys
We have toy birds that show students how center of gravity works. The bird will balance on its beak because the center of gravity is directly underneath it.
We also have a bottle that, when placed through a hole in a wooden plank, will stay in the air despite looking like it should come crashing down.
Gender Challenge
We have students remove their shoes and take 3 steps (heel to toe) away from the wall. Then they bend at a 90 degree angle so that their head is touching the wall. After they are in position we place a chair or stool underneath them and tell them to lift it up to their chest. Usually, boys with bigger feet have a center of mass that is likely in front of their toes, so they cannot stand up. Girls who have smaller feet have a better chance of having a center of mass behind their toes, which makes it easier to stand up.
​
Below are the experiments we offer about electricity:
Energy Stick
This is a stick that uses the human body to create a circuit! When only one side of it is held, nothing happens. However, when both sides are held it creates a circuit and the stick lights up and makes noises. This is a great experiment that the whole class can participate in to create a class-wide circuit!
Van de Graaf​​
This machine works by creating static electricity with giant rubber bands and felt. When enough electricity is generated and your hand is touching the ball on top, your hair starts to stand on end.
We also have a portable Van de Graaf that uses the same principles, but instead of having our hair stand on end we can repel little bits of foil into the air.
​
Below are the experiments we offer about energy:
Chinese Spouting Bowl
This bowl has special patterns all around the inside, and when the handles are rubbed the right way it causes the water in the bowl to spout out. The kinetic energy from the demonstrator's hands travels through the bowl and creates sound energy which is what makes the water spout.
Fire Syringe
This involves putting gunpowder cotton in the bottom of a glass cylinder. There is a piston that goes into the cylinder, and when pressed down really fast it creates a spark inside the cylinder. The increase in pressure increases the temperature inside, and the kinetic energy is being converted into light and heat energy.
Below are the experiments we offer about optics:
Concave Mirage Mirrors
These consist of 2 parabolic concave mirrors. The light inside the mirrors bounces all around, which reflects the object sitting inside the mirror (usually a plastic pig or bug) and makes it look like it's sitting on top of the mirrors.
Disappearing Beaker
For this one, we put a Pyrex beaker inside of a glass container filled with oil. As you submerge the beaker in the oil, it appears to disappear because the index of refraction of light is the same. This means that the light travels through both the glass and the beaker at the same time and renders the beaker "invisible".
Below are the experiments we offer about pressure/states of matter:
Liquid Nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen is a cryogenic fluid that causes rapid freezing of anything that comes into contact with it. We usually bring some fruit or a balloon with us to submerge in the liquid nitrogen to show how a banana will get hard or a balloon will deflate when it comes into contact with it.
Hemispheres​
We attach a vacuum pump to two hemisphere plates. When the vacuum is turned on it sucks all the extra air out which essentially seals them together until the vacuum is turned off. This is used to show the forces of atmospheric pressure on a small scale.
Water Cup
This is a classic experiment where we fill a cup about halfway with water and then place a styrofoam plate underneath. When you flip the cup upside down, the plate sticks and nothing spills out. This shows the power of air pressure and water pressure.
Bell Jar
We attach a vacuum pump to a bell jar that has a deflated balloon inside. Once you turn the vacuum on, the balloon begins to inflate because the pressure inside the jar is decreasing, which allows the balloon to take up more space.
Below are the experiments we offer about weather:
Blue Sky, Red Sunset
This demonstration shows the effects of light scattering in water (similar to the atmosphere). We use a mixture of powdered milk and water to scatter the blue wavelength more than any other color, and show students why the sky is blue.
Cloud in Bottle
This uses a plastic soda bottle with a small amount of ethanol in the bottom to demonstrate how clouds form. We pump air into the bottle to increase the pressure and force the ethanol to compress. Once we remove the cork from the top all of the air can escape and allows the vapor to condense and form a "cloud".
Tornado in a Bottle
This experiment is made up of 2 soda bottles attached to each other that are filled with water. We swirl the bottles and watch as a vortex forms and swirls down into the other bottle.
​