February Outings

I’ve already planned most of our activities for February.
I was very glad to discover the website sciencechicago.com this past month, as it includes tons of links to activities in the city of Chicago that are either free, or not very costly. They do have more expensive classes listed on there, mostly for adults, but for now we do not need those.

From that website I was able to find, “A Quantum Journey”, which happens every first Sunday of the month, and where you get to ask scientists all of the burning questions you might have gathered throughout the month. From Quantum theory to how the Big Bang occurred, all questions are answered. I’m very excited about this, as this is something that I think we will come to rely on quite a bit. Especially since the teen years of, "but my parents aren't always right!", are poking their noses out.

Then one Wednesday of the month we will be going to the Ryerson Observatory to look at the stars. Which is why we are studying simple astrology as well throughout the month. The Observatory is free to go to every Wednesday night as long as the skies are clear, which is amazing for us.
What always astonishes me is that places like this are available all over the city, and yet, I would have passed up so many of them without proper research.

Then Garfield Park Conservatory has sweet Saturdays all throughout the month, where we can visit tropical treat stations where we learn fact and sample sweet tastes brought to us by plants, which should be a fun outing for the kids.

And then there is this amazing Meet the Scientist expo at one of the hotels where you can get in for free and attend classes about a variety of subjects and sciences.
For example there is a talk about where the bees have gone, a new dinosaur eating crocodile discovery, mysteries of space and the dark universe, x-ray vision: not for superman anymore, and many more…
I’m sure the kids will love it, and Nigel and I will thoroughly enjoy the experience.

We’ll probably also be going to the Museum of Natural History since we are buying a membership, and maybe once to the Zoo if we can find the time.
That’s about all we could fit for the month, as during the last two weeks of February we are going to a few shows during the week-end where Nigel will be selling his art. It’s also Auna’s birthday towards the end of the month, so we’ll probably have an easy going week for everyone as part of the birthday celebration.

Fun Experiments that do not require many things, and will make your kids laugh.

These are the experiments planned for February, only a few, but fun little things that we will be doing on the week-ends, or on evenings. We will also be making bath bomb fizzies with Auna, and Xavier, if he feels like helping.

The Copper Nail Experiment:
You will need:
-1/4 cup white vinegar
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-20 copper pennies
-An iron nail
-Baking Soda
-Sponge
Pour vinegar and salt in a jar, stir well. Put pennies in for 3 minutes. Clean nail with baking soda and sponge. Rinse well. Drop clean nail in solution, wait fifteen minutes.
The pennies should be bright and shiny, and the nail should be coated with copper.
-Why? The acetate in the vinegar (acetic acid) combines with the copper on the pennies to form copper acetate, which then adheres to the iron nail. (Great for studying the properties of copper and iron).

Electric Lemons
You will need:
-Wire cutters
-5 stiff copper wires, 16 inches long, 14 grade
-4 galvanized nails
-4 lemons
-Bulb holder
-1.2 volt flashlight bulb
With the wire cutters strip 1 inch of insulation off both ends of each wire. Wrap 1 end of 4 wires to its own nail. Squeeze the lemons to loosen the pulp and juices inside. Insert the nail end of the first wire into the first lemon. Insert the bare end of the second wire into the first lemon, insert the nail end of that same wire into the second lemon, and so on. Don’t let wire and nails touch inside the lemon. Attach the remaining two wires to the bulb holder and insert bulb. It lights up!
-Why? The citric acid in the lemon juice acts as an electrolyte, conducting an electron flow between the copper in the wire and the bit of steel in the nail, turning each lemon into a battery.

Exploding Life Savers
You will need:
-Wint-O-Green Life Savers
-Ziploc bag
-Hammer
-Wooden block
Place 1 life saver in Ziploc bag. Seal bag and place on wooden block. In a dark room or closet look directly at the life savers as you smash it with the hammer.
You will see sparks of light.
-Why? Crushing a crystalline substance, in this case the synthetic wintergreen (methyl salicylate) emits light. The phenomenon is called triboluminescence.
Apparently you can also do this while crunching the candy in the dark, but this is the best way to go if you don’t want to risk your kids loosing a tooth.

Fried Marbles
You will need:
-Frying pan
-Bag of clear/transparent marbles
-Large pot
-Cold water
-Ice
Place marbles in the frying pan and wearing over mitt, heat them over high heat stirring with wooden spoon. Fill large pot with cold water, add ice and let cool. When marbles are piping hot pour them into ice water. Let them cool off, then dry off. The marbles will be cracked on the inside.
-Why? When glass goes from extreme heat to extreme cold, it cracks from the inside out.

We will also be planting both a tomato plant and a potato plant, in order to create our very own “Pomato!” Apparently by grafting both of those plants you can achieve getting both tomatoes and potatoes from the same plant. This should be interesting.

As I said I will be making bath bombs with Auna, and possibly a group of new friends as a play date.

Bath Bombs:
You will need:
-Baking soda 8 ounces
-Citric Acid 4 ounces
-Corn starch 4 ounces
-Salts (Coarse) 4 ounces
-Water .75 Tablespoon
-Essential oils 2 Teaspoons
-Oil (vegetable) 2.5 Tablespoons
-Food coloring 1-2 Drops
-Round molds
Blend all dry ingredients in glass bowl. Whisk or pestle clumps out for smooth consistency. Blend wet ingredients together. Use a small jar and shake wet ingredients up. Then, while whisking add small amounts of the liquid to dry ingredients (very small). If mixture starts to foam you are adding liquid too fast, quickly whisk with more dry ingredients. When all is added you should have a mixture the consistency of wet sand that will clump together. Pack each side of a ball then add some on top and press two sides together. You can actually take the balls our of the molds right away and lay on plate to dry. If you have any left over press in cookie/candy molds for smaller fizzies. Try to work quickly especially if humid, otherwise the mixture will puff up.

All of these recipes or experiments were found either in “The Mad Scientist Handbook” by Joey Green or on Instructables.com