Really Easy and Quick Science Demonstrations

Teaching science is enhanced when students have high-interest teacher demonstrations that make important science facts easier to understand.

1. Point: heat is the movement of molecules

 Procedure: put 400 ml cool water (50 F) in a beaker and an equal amount of 100 F in another beaker. While students watch, put one or two drops of food coloring into each. The food coloring in the warmer beaker will diffuse through the beaker with warm water within minutes due to the faster motion of the molecules.

2. Point: to see how colors mix to make difference colors

Procedure: cut a strip of paper towel about one inch by 12 inches. Using a blue water soluble maker (E.g.: Vis-à-Vis) and make a dark mark about one inch from one end of the strip. Suspend the paper towel in a beaker of water so that it just touches the water below the blue mark. As the water is soaked upward by capillary action, it will separate the different colors in the blue dye and move them slowly up the strip. Allow 5 to 10 minutes for the separation. Blue works best, but green and read are interesting as well.

3. Point: Effect of evaporation on cooling

Procedure: wrap the bulb of a lab thermometer in a single ply of toilet tissue. Wrap around only one or two times and wet the tissue. Note the temperature of the air in the room before beginning. Gently wave the thermometer around or back and forth, stopping every 15 seconds or so to note the temperature which should drop as water evaporates and cools the bulb. This works well when the air is dry (humidity < 50), but will usually produce results inside on any day. After two or three minutes the temperature will level off. Compare on a rainy day and the temperature drop will be less. Students can do this as a simple experiment.

4. Point: How density affects buoyancy

Procedure: pour a clear carbonated drink (like Sprite) carefully into a clear, tall drinking glass. Add about 10 fresh raisins. Initially, the raisins will tend to sink because they are denser than the drink, but as bubbles of carbon dioxide attach to the raisins, they reduce the density and cause the raisins to float to the top. The bubbles will burst at the surface and the raisins will sink again. This will continue for several minutes until the carbonation (CO2) has been lost.

5. Point: demonstrate magnetic field

Procedure: Use ceramic neodymium magnets to show how magnetism can penetrate matter. A small pair of can be obtained at stores like Walmart, some tool outlets, Radio Shack, etc. They are strong enough to separate iron from cereal (like Total) after cereal has been mashed to crumbs and added to water in a Ziploc bag. Hold the magnet against the outside surface of the mixture and tiny particles of iron will be attracted to the magnet. Neodymium magnets of about one cm diameter have a magnetic field strong enough to allow one to be placed on the back of the hand and hold on to another one on the palm of the hand. Be careful! They can snap together with such force that they can pinch! 

6. Point: The "sound" of contracting air (best in cold weather)

Procedure: Have students collect two-liter soft drink bottles -- with caps-- until each student can have one bottle for the demonstration. On a cold day -- 45 F or colder outside -- have student screw the caps on the empty bottles and walk outside. As the cold air outside cools the air in the bottles, the air in them will contract causing outside air pressure to push the sides of the plastic bottles inward creating "crackling" sounds. The contraction of the bottles will be visible as dents. When they return to the classroom, the effect will be reversed and the bottles will expand. Be sure students screw the casps on tightly.

7. Point: Observing with the ears

Procedure: Students often think that observation is done with the eyes only. Place a common object (paper clip, rock, coin, key, etc). Conceal the object in a small box or can. Ask students to try to identify the object by the sound it makes when the container is shaken or gently rotated. Call attention to the types of clues they are using to make their conclusions.

Involving Students in Science

Children learn science by doing science.

Teachers need not be science majors to teach young minds. For the beginning students -- for all of us -- science is the closest thing to magic there is. Teachers must remember to DO science, not just talk about it. Young minds especially like to do things that involve creating new things. Teachers should tap into the natural curiosity and discovery. 

Improving Elementary Science Instruction

1. Show students something every day and explain the science behind it. A piece of science equipment like a beaker will do, and if it’s unfamiliar to students it will grab their attention and they anticipate something new when they enter the class.
2. Include simple, quick demonstrations in those initial class activities, especially activities that students can do at home. Seeing things happen is innately interesting.
3. Relate science topics and objectives to events and objects familiar to students. Make science relevant! Every grade will demand new examples as students become more academically sophisticated.
4. Decorate the classroom in an eye-catching science theme and change it periodically. Invite students to help.
5. Fill the room with science magazines and books. Allow some time for students to read. Some of the reading matter may be simply related to science – e.g., science fiction or cars ­– but expect students to discuss how science is involved.
6. Bring science news to class. When a particularly interesting news item pops up in the news, bring it to class and share it by reading to students.
7. Stress with every grade that science is fundamentally about force, motion, and energy. This is important in all aspects of science, because science, whether biology or geology, are interrelated by force, motion, and energy. Students need to become comfortable early with these three concepts because they will become increasingly complex and important.
8. Help students understand that science is a quest for simple explanations. For example, pick an example like evaporation and discuss how increasing kinetic energy makes the water molecules speed away into the air seeming to disappear.
9. Stress to students that science is a process more than a body of knowledge. Demonstrate that process ­– the Scientific Method ­– as often as possible and ask students to give examples.
10. Science is a great "show and tell." activity.

Elementary Science Links:

Science Buddies
Hand-on Science
Elementary School Science Fair Project Ideas
Kids Science Projects
Elementary Science Experiments
Penny Drops