It's important for kids to get involved in science from an early age, as exposure to scientific ideas and the world of exploration as soon as possible is the best way to foster a love for learning in your children that will last a lifetime. At the same time, scientific knowledge is cumulative, so kids have to start with a solid foundation if they are to develop the necessary scientific skills to succeed in school, and perhaps in a future career. Of course, when doing science projects with kids the most important thing to remember is to have fun! Youth science fair projects aren't meant to transform your child into a scientist - they are meant to get the creative juices flowing within your child and help him or her continue to explore the natural world and make use of the imagination.
So where do you find ideas for science projects, if you want to get your child started on something at home? Luckily, these days you don't have to look far to find science projects for your children - simply do an online search and you should be able to find tons of websites containing information and ideas pertaining to science fair projects and science for children in general. These websites list science projects and tell you exactly how to do them and what to do, so the process of helping your child discover science or prepare science fair projects for school is made easy.
In the past, it was easy for parents to become frustrated when helping kids with homework and coming up with ideas for science fair projects - now it's easy to help them out and you don't have to be a science whiz yourself! And if your child demonstrates a natural interest in science, it's even more important that you encourage it from an early age. Whether or not you have to do a project for school, or complete a homework assignment, kids getting involved in science at home is a great idea!
In fact, doing their own science experiments at home is a great way to supplement the regular educational exposure your kids get during the day in the classroom. And if you home school your children coming up with fun and educational science experiments that are easy to recreate at home is the perfect way to help your kids exercise their minds and learn about science while having a lot of fun at the same time.
When you set up science projects for your kids to do at home, it makes learning fun - this will carry over to the child's classroom experience and may even improve their grades overall. Of course, that is not the main goal of doing science experiments at home. Again, do these projects with your children as a fun activity and the learning will spring from that organically. Specifically, when searching for science projects for your kids to do at home it's a good idea to find something your children, and maybe even their friends, will enjoy. Figure out what interests your child and go from there. Involving them in the process will help them naturally discover where their interests are and what type of experiments they'll gain the most from.
You can find the instructions for these experiments for free, although you will have to purchase some basic supplies in most cases. At the same time, materials used in most of these projects are relatively inexpensive and not difficult to find.
Most automobile engines require water to control their temperatures from getting too hot as they run. Way back when, this was difficult because a car's engine runs at a temperature that is greater than the boiling point of water. So if water was put into a hot engine it simply boiled off and had to be replenished with constant stops to re-supply. The invention of the radiator partially cured this problem as the water was kept under pressure which raised its boiling point and kept it from boiling away. But cars continued to have difficulties with over heating even with the radiator.
Autos also had problems when it becomes very cold out. Instead of boiling away, the water froze inside the engine. When water freezes it expands and takes up more space. Years ago, cars had freeze plugs put into them that popped out when the water froze to protect the engine from cracking under the pressure of expansion.
Modern antifreeze additives solved the problems of overheating and freezing. There are many additives that will alter the boiling and freezing point of water, simple table salt will affect these points. Antifreeze solutions have a greater affect on the boiling and freezing point but they come at a price. Most modern antifreezes are not environmentally safe and must be disposed of as a hazardous waste. In recent years a number of environmentally friendly antifreeze products have come on the market.
This investigation will compare their effectiveness compared to traditional antifreeze products. To do this science experiment, you will need some non-diluted environmentally friendly anti-freeze. You will also need some commercial non-diluted anti-freeze. In addition you will require a thermometer, an outdoor stove or burner, and a freezer with temperature controls.
Start your experiment by taking 500ml of pure water. Put it on the stove and bring to boil. Record this temperature, it will be your boiling control group. Be sure to do this outside as antifreeze will produce unwanted odor in house.
Now put in 5ml of traditional antifreeze into 500ml of water (recheck water level each time as some will boil off). Boil this solution and record temperature. Repeat this step using environmentally friendly antifreeze.
Next repeat previous steps using 10ml of antifreeze in 500ml and record your boiling points. Continue this process through 25ml of antifreeze concentrations.
When you have collected your boiling point data repeat the process varying the concentrations of antifreeze but now freeze them instead of boiling them. Start with pure water. Set your freezer to 310 and put thermometer in water. Check periodically, record temperature when ice first starts to form, do not let water freeze completely. Then put in your 5ml concentrations and put back in freezer. If solutions do not freeze set your freezer at a colder temperature and record temperature when ice first appears. Continue this process through your 25ml solutions.
This is a great science fair experiment for those interested in cars, the environment or both.
Both Garry Neale & Mort Barish are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Garry Neale has sinced written about articles on various topics from Virtual Private Network, Human Growth Hormone and Finances. For some easy science project ideas that only require everyday household items, check out the .. Garry Neale's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
Mort Barish has sinced written about articles on various topics from K 14, Education and K 14. Mort Barish is co-founder of Terimore Institute, Inc. Terimore provides hundreds of with step-by-step guides for children in grades K-12 to help them s. Mort Barish's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.