The Super Duper Book of 101 Extraordinary, Exciting, and (Occasionally) Explosive Science Experiments
WHAT IS SCIENCE That’s a great question Science is everywhere it’s the reason your microwave works the reason that a struck match creates a flame even the reason that your bottom doesn’t fall through the chair that you’re sitting on Science is all about having a question and searching for an answer You form your hypothesis conduct experiments to determine how something works and study the results to determine how correct your hypothesis is As the wise folks from Mythbusters once said the only difference between science and messing around is writing it down We’re here for the cool stuff We want to see the explosions and color changing experiments that make us think that we’re performing magic from the convenience of our own kitchen But the goal here is to perform science not magic so get yourself a composition lab notebook and take some notes Scientists are always careful note takers because well every aspect of the experiment is important Information that you may not think is valuable now might be crucial in the future But if you don’t want to write anything down that’s ok too Grab your supplies and get going on those experiments WHAT'S NEXT I hope you’re excited for what awaits in the chapters ahead We will be exploring five different areas of science geology astronomy biology chemistry and physics Find out which one is your favorite Most of the materials used in this book can be found in your home though anything that you don’t have can be found at your local hardware store All of these experiments are designed to get you to think about why stuff happens so every experiment has an explanation in regards to the science behind it Try this think about an experiment after you do it Try to come up with your own explanation and see how it compares to the one in the book That is the first step in the scientific process You might not be right but scientists rarely are their first time around 8
UH OH SAFETY Ensuring safety is important in performing a successful experiment If you are working with an experiment that uses heat be sure not to burn yourself If you are working with chemicals make sure that you have an adult around The same goes for any experiments involving fire Breathing in too many fumes or getting copper sulfate near your mouth will NOT be fun And under NO circumstances should you eat anything that isn’t listed as being edible We definitely don’t want that For the experiments that are edible make sure that you’re working in a clean environment so as to avoid ingesting any not so friendly chemicals Lastly science can get MESSY Make sure you always have a lab coat or apron handy especially for any experiments with food coloring SAFETY IS the most important thing NOW GO GET ON WITH SOME SCIENCE AND ENJOY YOURSELVES 9
GEOLOGY 10
Geologists study the Earth rocks and any form of terrestrial process that changes over time That can include rocks plate tectonics climate change mineral resources oil and even the geology of other planets or bodies Geology even extends to the moon as NASA is likely still studying the moon rock brought back by Harrison Schmitt the first geologist on the moon after his Apollo 17 mission several decades ago The moon actually has a lot of geological background When you go out at night look up at the full moon you’ll notice a lot of different colors and shapes Back in the 1890s a man named Grove Gilbert was looking at the moon when he wondered how the craters and colors were created in the first place He hypothesized and later found proof that supported that other rocks in space called meteoroids hit the moon creating the craters Just imagine a rock zooming toward the Moon hitting it creating an impact crater and disturbing all of the dust and surface of the moon It seems like science fiction but it’s not It’s real and its geology In this section you will discover how rocks form why compasses always point north and how to make clouds All of this is stuff that geology studies in great detail Think about the Earth and what makes it unique A magnetic field for example We can use a compass because somewhere thousands of miles beneath your feet is a huge molten iron core swirling and turning about at the center of the Earth This twirling creates a current like a current that flows through a wire which creates a magnetic field which allows us to use a compass Here you will become your own geologist you will delve into research in a way that is similar to how science is done on a larger scale Remember science is all about discovery SO GEAR UP AN GRAB SOME ROCKS 11
