Being able to do silly experiments is all part of the fun of learning science. There’s no better teacher than practical experience and allowing the homeschool students to come up with experiments is a great way to let them gain some experience. Here are a set of simple yet fun, scientific experiments that you could encourage your homeschool students to conduct.
What Boils Fastest?
This is an experiment best done with adult supervision. Have your homeschool student list three drinks that they want to use for the experiment. Good ones to start with are milk, apple juice, and lemonade. Get a glass of each set out on the table. They should be measured on a digital kitchen weighing scale to be the same weight. Now take a food thermometer and ensure that all of them are at the same temperature to start with. Use the same vessel or saucepan to heat all the liquids individually. Check for the temperature when they begin to boil. Write down the observations for all three drinks. What boiled the fastest?
What Freezes the Quickest?
This is similar to the experiment above, but instead of the time taken to reaching the boiling point, we are exploring the time taken to reach freezing point. You can use the exact same three drinks of milk, apple juice and lemonade for the experiment. Here you will need plastic containers which can go into the freezer. After you have ascertained that they are all at the same temperature to start with, you can pour them into the covered plastic containers and place them in the freezer. Check after every ten minutes to see which drink begins to freeze over first. Which was the one to freeze the fastest?
Create an Erupting Volcano
Start with the body of the volcano, which can be made with modeling clay. Or you can use the dough made out of all purpose flour from the kitchen. Now work on the lava which needs to flow out of it. Whether you use mentos to create a geyser, or baking soda with vinegar, try and come up with the volcano which gives the most consistent and highest eruptions.
