Monday, April 20, 2009

Science

This week's Unplugged theme was "science," which is awfully broad! So I thought I'd highlight the science experiments we did for our "A" themes...

Hypothesis #1: Ants. If you fill a glass jar with sifted dirt and stuff it with all kinds of nice things like grass and crumbs and sprayed water, and put ants into it, the ants will get busy and create a real cool ant farm that you can watch through the jar.


Conclusion #1: Ants. Ants are miniature Houdinis.

First we hammered nail holes into the jar lid for air. The ants all escaped. Then we covered the jar with aluminum foil and pricked pin holes into it. The ants all escaped. Next time we are just going to forget about giving them any air. Or stick with ladybugs instead.
Hypothesis #2: Apples. If you cut two slices of apple and coat one with lemon juice and put them on a plate on the table, the one without lemon juice will turn brown, and the one with lemon juice will not change color.
Conclusion #2: Apples. If you put sliced apples on a plate on the table, they will disappear. All that will be left is the cores.
We did do this again, making sure Pappa was in the loop this time around. And the hypothesis was correct...

Hypothesis #3: Adam (Creation). When you switch on the light, there will be light.

Conculsion #3: Adam (Creation). You can't tire God out. The light keeps coming on when you switch it on.

Hypothesis #4: Australia (Kookaburra). Kookaburras must have a jolly good life, eating gumdrops all day.

Conclusion #4: Australia (Kookaburra). Gumdrops are hard to stab with toothpicks, so kookaburras must have pretty good beaks to be able to pick up gumdrops. And quite frankly, they are awfully gummy and hard work to chew. I prefer to just suck the sugar off and throw the rest away.

(And yes, I did watch a video all about kookaburras, and Mommy explained that their gumdrops are not quite the same as mine...)

Hypothesis #5: Airplanes. My paper airplane will fly farther than Pappa's because of my secret folding methods.

Conclusion #5: Airplanes. Maybe my paper airplane doesn't fly so far, but neither does Pappa's when I throw it. Let's stick with the real planes, shall we?

Hypothesis #6: Alligators. Alligator stew is awfully yummy. So is alligator pie and alligator soup.

Conclusion #6: Alligators. Alligators are too scary to catch. So we can't cook them.

Hypothesis #7: Avocados. If you plant an avocado seed in a jar of water, it will sprout and grow.

Conclusion #7: Avocados. If you plant an avocado seed in a jar of water, nothing happens. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

So there you have it. Any other scientific theories you'd like me to test for you while I'm on a roll?

11 comments:

momandkiddo said...

Whew! What a lot of science projects. I hope the ants didn't escape into the house!

CristyLynn said...

So and fun! I'm impressed with all your science experiments, Esme!

Crescent Moon said...

You've been very busy! We have 2 avocado seeds sitting on our kitchen counter right now, waiting to be put in water.

One Mom said...

Love your experiments Esme! You always make me smile :)

You just have to be patient with the avocado seed....one day when you least expect it, you will see roots growing!

Rachel said...

Can y'all come to my yard and make all of the ants escape from it?

Fun experiments! I love the apples.

Michie said...

Cute post - I like the disappearing apples experiment! :) You are very busy at your house!

Unknown said...

How fun is this?! You guys must have such a great time...

and the gumdrop pic is priceless.

Bran said...

Thanks for the GREAT laugh! We love science!

ShEiLa said...

those giant gumdrops look yummy.

ToOdLeS.ShEiLa

ps. I love the kookaburra-gumdrop song... I can hear the tune in my head as I type. It'll probably get stuck in there...

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra! Gay your life must be.

Unknown said...

I love it!

dani said...

looks like a lot of fun learning to me... as well as some YUMMY, fun learning!!!
love,
dani xxx