Table of Contents AN INTRODUCTION TO BRICK SCIENCE 1 Tips for Using this Book A Note for Parents Educators 1 For Kids 2 Meet the Brick Scientists 2 EXPLORING EARTH SCIENCE WITH BRICKS 5 DIY Brick Dinosaur Dig 7 Learning the Layers of the Atmosphere 13 Creating a Model of the Water Cycle 19 Making 2D and 3D Bar Graphs 23 Telling Time with a Brick Sundial 27 Building a Rain Gauge to Measure Rainfall 31 Building Constellations 35 BRICK BIOLOGY 39 Creating Your Own Brick Insect 41 Designing a Bug Hotel 45 Brick Worm Viewer Habitat 49 Animal Armor Engineering an Exoskeleton 55 Exploring the Parts of a Leaf 59 Constructing a Brick Plant Cell 63 Exploring the Science of Taste 69 BRICK PHYSICS 73 Spell That Again The Science of Reflection 75 Water Refraction Science Experiment or Magic Trick 79
Brick Shadows Experimenting with Light 83 Fast Moving Bricks Ramps Speed 87 Can You Hear Me Building a Brick Megaphone 91 Weighing Objects with a Balance Scale 95 How to Defy Gravity Centripetal Force 99 Can You Make Your Bricks Fly Balloon Launcher 103 Testing Buoyancy Do Bricks Sink or Float 107 BRICK CHEMISTRY 111 What’s in the Water Saltwater vs Fresh Water 113 Brick Camouflage Growing Salt Crystals 117 Don’t Make Me Sneeze Surface Tension Experiment 121 Rescue Mission How Fast Does Ice Melt 125 Can You Make a Brick Scientist Disappear 131 Wake Up Ada How to Create a Gas 135 Brick Model Elements of the Periodic Table 139 RESOURCE SECTION 143 Categories of Science Activities 143 Recommended Project Learning Levels 145
An Introduction to Brick Science Welcome to Brick Science The projects and activities in this book will inspire kids to explore different areas of science as they create experiment and build with bricks Tips for Using this Book A Note for Parents Educators Kids will be introduced to science concepts in the areas of biology physics chemistry Earth science astronomy and more while they learn through play and engineering along with trial trial and error Most of the projects and activities are what we call an open build concept meaning that kids can put their own twist on how they will create and build their models and experiments If specific items or ingredients are required the details will be listed in the Supplies area for that activity Each project also includes a Be a Scientist Explore More area to encourage kids to dive deeper into the science concepts Each activity includes a science vocabulary list to introduce children to scientific terms Most projects can be done either inside or outdoors but a few do require outdoor only environments environments to test the project such as the brick sundial and rain gauge The Resource section will help identify which projects are considered beginner intermediate intermediate and advanced regarding the science concepts incorporated into the activity Typically beginner projects are used with preschool through 2nd grade Intermediate projects with 3rd 5th grade and Advanced projects with middle school ages However if your child has an interest in a project do let them try it Desire to try a project should always outweigh the age recommendations 1
