Science Storytime: Three Little Pigs

After attempting, without much success, to bring my science club programming to my current library, I decided to begin incorporating science activities into my regular storytimes. This allows me to bring science programming to my preschool patrons in a way that doesn't require them to come to the library on an additional day for a separate program.

At my previous library, another librarian ran STEAM times for toddlers after their regularly scheduled toddler storytime. I decided that this method would make for a too-long morning for my patrons, so I adjusted my regular storytime and replaced the craft with our science experiment.

I did a standard storytime, complete with rhymes, songs, and of course stories, but for the stories I read two different versions of The Three Little Pigs. At the end of storytime, when I usually introduce the craft, I explained that we would be doing a science experiment instead.

I had three tables set out, and each table had a different item on it: standard drinking straws, craft sticks, or DUPLO blocks. The kids and their caregivers collected a worksheet from me and went to each table to construct a house and then attempt to blow it down. It was really neat to watch the kids and their caregivers working together on this project, and I will definitely do something similar again.

Science Club: DIY Marble Run

My science club kids made their own marble runs this week. I was planning to give them scrap paper and masking tape and let them come up with their own design, but then I stumbled upon this website, which has printable plans for a paper roller coaster. I made enough copies so each family could have one to work on together, put out tape and scissors, and let them go at it.

It was neat to see how interested the families were in creating a working marble run, especially as the parents got involved. I showed a video of a 16-ft tall paper roller coaster, which inspired them to work as much as they could on their projects before taking them home to finish later.

Science Club: Reaction Time

This month our science club studied reaction time. This was possibly the simplest experiment we've ever done, but the kids really enjoyed it.

I gave each child a ruler, which they were allowed to keep, and a chart so they could keep track of everyone's results. They tested their parents by dropping the ruler and seeing how fast they could catch it, then trying again while their parents' eyes were closed and again with eyes open but the child talking to the parent to distract them.  Then they switched roles to see if the kids could be faster than their parents. The parents and kids all enjoyed this simple experiment, and it's one that will be easy for them to do again at home.

Science Club: Acids and Bases

This month's science club was all about acids and bases. Before the children arrived, I made sure to have the following items on hand:

• craft sticks for stirring
• clear plastic cups (6-8 per child)
• a Ph chart for each child
• lots of paper towels for cleanup
• masking tape and markers for labeling the cups
• two pitchers for the cabbage juice
• a variety of test materials - lemon juice, Alka-Seltzer tablets, baking soda, citrus-flavored soda, clear-colored shampoo, clear dish soap, etc. I avoided the ammonia, bleach, and HCl I've seen suggested elsewhere since there are a lot of young children who come to my science club

When the kids arrived, I explained what we were doing, and then showed them a video of the Sci Guys explaining how Ph works. Then we did our experiment. I had purchased some red cabbage extract so I could make as much cabbage juice as needed, so I (along with a few parents whom I asked to help) poured 5 or so glasses of cabbage juice per child, then led them through the first two or three substances, showing them how to add a substance and to figure out, based on the color change, whether that substance was an acid or a base. After that, I mostly circulated throughout the tables, making sure kids had the materials they needed and making comments on what they discovered. Kids were more than happy to pour more substances into the cabbage juice, or combine substances, or whatnot. Several children used their Ph charts to note which substances were acidic and which were basic, and they took the charts home with them. Overall, it was a successful science club with only a few spills and a pretty easy cleanup. 

Science Club: Friction

This month my science club studied friction. We watched a brief video about friction, then we had two separate experiments to try.

1. Rice bottle

Supplies: empty water bottles, uncooked rice, funnels and scoops to put rice in bottles, wooden chopsticks

Directions: Use your scoop and funnel (I used a paper cup for a scoop and a rolled piece of paper as a funnel) to fill the bottle with rice.  Tap the bottle on the table to help the rice "settle" in the bottle and then add more.  Your bottle should be as crammed full of rice as you can make it.  Next, stick a chopstick into the bottle. Friction should hold the chopstick in with the rice, which will allow you to pick up the bottle using just the chopstick. If it doesn't stay, remove the chopstick and add more rice.

2. Balloon people

Supplies: paper cutouts of people (or whatever shape you want), balloon

Directions: Inflate balloon.  Rub balloon rapidly on your clothing.  This friction between the balloon and the fabric will create static electricity, which should allow you to pick up the paper people with your balloon.  Hold your balloon over the paper people and watch them "jump" to meet the balloon. Make paper people of various sizes; what's the biggest size "person" your balloon can pick up?

I also gave the kids a handout with an additional experiment they could try at home. Overall, the kids and parents both enjoyed learning about friction this month at the library.

Science Club: Density

This week my science club studied density. We watched a short video by the Sci Guys about density and density towers, and then we tried making our own.

If I were to do this program again, I would make sure, first, to have bowls instead of cups for the main supply of each liquid, since several of the cups fell over during the experiment. Second, I would eliminate the water level.  I tried this at home and it worked fine with all the levels except water.  When the kids added water, it did NOT work the way it did in the video; instead, all the layers in the middle ended up mixing together, which makes sense since the dish soap was supposed to go on top of the water, and we mix those together all the time when we do dishes.

All in all, the kids and parents both loved making the tower, and I made sure to send them home with a handout so they could try it again if they wanted to.

Update: You can access my handout here.  Feel free to use/photocopy/distribute as needed.

Science Club: Slime

This week was our final meeting of our summer science club, and I saved the best (and messiest) for last. We watched a short video about polymers, then it was time to make our slime! Unlike previous weeks, for this program I led the experiment and asked the children and their families to follow along with me.

Each table was set with a tablecloth (plastic, taped down, and disposable), three bottles of regular water, a handful of craft sticks, and several tubes of food dye. I explained what we were going to do, then had some volunteers pass out cups with about half an inch of Elmer's glue pre-measured inside. This allowed me to use the giant bottle of glue we had in the closet without waiting for everyone to pour their own, and passing them out meant that people had to wait to start their experiment so they were actually listening to me while I was talking.

Once everyone had their glue, I instructed them to add an equal measure of water from the bottles on the table and then mix with their craft sticks. Next, we added food dye, in whatever combination anyone wanted. In order to make sure I knew that everyone was with me, I asked the children to raise their hand when they were done with a step. When I had almost everyone's hands up, I would proceed with the next direction.

Next, I had volunteers hand one bottle of water/borax mix to an adult or teen at each table. They were instructed pour some of the mixture into each person's cup, and each person was then asked to stir their mixture again. This is when the glue became slime, and I gave the kids permission to take the slime out of their cups and play with it. I also set up two wipe stations in the back of the room so kids could clean their hands before leaving.

Finally, I asked my volunteers to pass out containers for the slime. I used the plastic "bubbles" that often come from vending machines outside of grocery stores, but you could use Ziplock bags or something similar. The kids played with their slime and eventually stored it into a container to take with them. I gave the parents a recipe card so they could make the slime at home if they wanted to as well.

While I circulated and took pictures, I made sure my volunteers and some older teens were on the lookout for latecomers who would need instructions and help making their slime. At the end, we removed all the extra water bottles and food dye tubes, then rolled the whole mess up into each tablecloth and threw it away. There was very little mess left to clean up.

Science Club: Bridges

This week my science club studied bridges. After a quick video explaining three different types of bridges and the strength of triangles, it was time to get to work. I gave each table a stack of paper and a couple of rolls of masking tape. I explained that we'd have space up front for them to test their bridges, and that I had brought in encyclopedias to use for testing.

Child: "What's an encyclopedia?"

Me: "It's like Google, but in a book instead."

Child: "Ohhhhhhhh."

It was fun to watch how invested the adults were in this project. Many figured out pretty quickly that rolling the paper into tubes would help, and that extra tight/thin tubes made of multiple sheets of paper were probably the best way to go. They then used these tubes to make the parts of their bridges, and finally brought their bridges up front to test them.

Because this was a labor-intensive experiment, I asked the patrons to work together as a table, and it was neat to see different families working together to create their bridges. In the end, happy children tested their bridges and carried them out the door, most with assurances that they were taking them home "to make them even stronger."

 You can access my bridge slide here.

Science Club: Airplanes

My science club studied airplanes last week.  We talked about air pressure and how airplanes are able to fly, then it was time to try some science.  I gave each table a stack of paper, a handful of books about how to make paper airplanes, and some questions, like "How does a long, skinny airplane fly differently from a short, fat one?" and "What could you do to your airplane to make it spin as it flies?"

In order to control the chaos, I designated three locations for throwing airplanes.  Two of them involved hula hoops which I had hung from the ceiling. The hoops gave the children specific targets to aim for, thus reducing a bit of the "random airplanes flying everywhere" that had been haunting my nightmares for the past week. I also suggested that the hallway would be a good place to fly airplanes, especially for children who wanted to test their plane on distance or wanted to race a plane against another plane.  For this area, I gave the children a few common-sense rules: 1) Do not throw your plan if a person is in the hallway. 2) Let the kid who threw first go pick up his plane before you throw your plane.  I explained that we don't want to hit people with our planes, but I wanted them to still be able to fly them.  I've found that kids generally do well when rules are reasonable and explained, so we didn't have any problems with planes running into humans in the library.

The child with the green airplanes is "patiently" waiting for the hallway to clear.

This was another program, like last week's LEGO adventures, that lasted much longer than expected. Kids made several plans and tested them against each other or against planes their friends had made. Many of the display books and instruction books I had at the program were checked out. Happy kids with happy parents exited the library, excited that next week they could come back and try something new.

My interns held the hoop steady to help the kids.

Update: You can access the slides I used for directions / experiment questions here.

Science Club: Race Cars

This week's science club was all about motion.  We studied Newton's Laws of Motion and then had time to build cars.  The task was fairly simple: use LEGO bricks to build a car that can be powered by a balloon.  I gave each child two LEGO wheel sets, one balloon, and a bucket of LEGO bricks to share at their table.

It was really interesting to watch the parents and kids deal with frustration in this task.  Many of the kids had ideas, but the parents all whipped out their phones to see what the internet had to say about this topic. I didn't want to squash their creativity, but in the interest of curbing frustration I made a LEGO car out of four pieces and two wheel sets that did exactly what it was supposed to do: it moved forward when the balloon it held was inflated. I showed this as an example only when a family or kid was so frustrated they were thinking of giving up.

Once kids were able to make a successful car, though, they began experimenting in earnest.  Now they could think about how to change the car and thereby change their results.  Some of them raced each other.  Some built a second car.  It was hard to get everyone to leave at the end of this program, and many mentioned that they'd be repeating this experiment at home.  And that is indeed my end game: inspire curiosity and wonder in kids so that they continue to do science even when they are not at science club.

Science Club: Buoyancy

This week's science club was about buoyancy. After a brief video on what makes boats float, I set the kids a task: create a boat that will stay up and can move through the water when you blow at it with a straw.

It was really interesting to watch the way they approached this task.  Many of them learned from last week's science club and created their boats out of aluminum foil, but there was a wide variety in the shapes and sizes of these boats.  Of course, I had a couple of large tubs near the front of the room so the kids could test their boats on the open waters.

I intentionally placed this activity after the previous one (make a boat that will hold passengers and not sink) and before the next one (make a LEGO car that can be powered by a balloon).  I wanted there to be a logical progression where possible, and these related activities allow kids to try different methods to accomplish similar tasks. Indeed, I fielded far fewer questions this week than I had last week. 

You can access my buoyancy slides here.

Science Club: Titanic

This week in science club we talked about the Titanic. I mentioned how the ship was supposed to be unsinkable and what happened that caused the unsinkable ship to sink. [I did skim over the whole "lots of people drowned and it was really sad" part.] We watched a very short video explaining the compartment system in the bottom of the ship, and then it was time to experiment!

I set out a lot of materials on each table: markers, tape, glue sticks, scissors, foil, string, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, straws, printer paper, etc. The children were told to try to make a boat that can float in water.  If they wanted an extra challenge, they could try to make a boat that would hold a "passenger." I had ten plastic rats I purchased on a Halloween clearance sale, and our rats were going to be our boat passengers. There were three buckets set up at the front of the room so that kids could test their boats, adding one passenger at a time until the boat sank.

This was a very popular experiment. I applauded and photographed the kids and their successful boats, and many of them went on to make another, different boat.  Those who were not successful were still encouraged to try again, and most kids had at least three turns up at that water buckets. Some even made boats that were able to hold all ten rats, so I definitely would want to have a heavier "passenger" option if I repeated this experiment.

Interest in science club is definitely growing. One of the kids told me she had practiced before coming to science club: "I threw an apple in the water and it sank because, you know, it had all its guts inside and was really heavy." [Note: I know that apples generally float, and I didn't get details about why this apple had special sinking guts.] I am hoping to continue this program throughout the school year, perhaps on a monthly basis.

You can access my Titanic slides here.

Science Club: Geysers

Our third science club meeting was all about geysers. I showed a short video on the geysers in Yellowstone, then it was time for science to happen.

For this meeting, I did both a demonstration experiment and a group experiment. The demonstration experiment involved 2-liter soda bottles and balloons.  If you place a balloon inside a soda bottle but use it to cover the opening in the bottle, you can inflate the balloon by blowing into the bottle.  That is, you can do it if the bottle has other holes in it. Otherwise, pressure just builds up inside the bottle and has nowhere to escape.  I used four bottles for this project - two of them had holes in them and two did not. I put blue balloons on the hole-y bottles and red ones on the regular bottles, then called four volunteers to the front to try and blow up the balloons. I explained why it worked (or didn't), and suggested to the kids/parents that they could try this experiment at home as well.

Then it was time for our group experiment.  For this experiment, every table needed a pan or container for water, small water bottles for each child, and lots of Alka-Seltzer tablets.  We broke the tablets, put them in the water bottles, and covered the bottles with our hands to build up the pressure. Then we removed our hands and watched the geysers erupt!  It turned out that this experiment works better if you put the lid back on the bottle and/or shake the bottle a bit, and it would definitely have helped to have more Alka-Seltzer tablets.  I had 72 packets, which was enough to give each child one packet, but most of the kids wanted to repeat the experiment.

One thing I did with this experiment, in light of the drought situation here in California, was I asked the children to empty their extra water and used water into buckets I had placed in the front of the room. I did some research and determined that Alka-Seltzer is not harmful to trees, so when we were all done with the experiment, I had a couple of volunteers take the water outside to give the trees a drink. One of the children at science club actually applauded when I mentioned that I would be doing this for the trees.

If I were to do this experiment again, I would double the number of Alka-Seltzer tablets to make sure there was enough for everyone to have a second try.  I would probably also buy extra balloons for kids who wanted to try the 2-liter bottle experiment.

You can access my geyser slides here.

Science Club: Hot Air Balloons

For our second science club, we studied how hot air balloons work. I followed the same format as before: explanation, video, instructions, experiment.  I also added a looping slideshow on our projector that advertised upcoming library events, which gave people something to look at as they waited for the program to start and also allowed me to promote the many things we have going on for kids and families this summer.

The experiment this time was pretty open-ended: given a helium balloon with a ribbon attached, create a basket that you can attach to the string.  Make it light enough that the balloon still floats. For kids who finish that, I encouraged them to add "passengers" to their baskets - in this case the passengers were pennies that I brought in for them to use.

I gave each table a box of scissors, markers, glue sticks, craft sticks, tape, pipe cleaners, and string, and I also supplied both sheets of aluminum foil and standard printer paper.  It was really neat to watch the way the kids worked.  Everyone had different ideas of what to do and how to make the best "basket."

One parent said, "So, are you going to show us how to do it?" I didn't. I wanted everyone to find out what worked best, and that's better done when I stay out of they way. I gave suggestions to frustrated kids and took pictures of successes.  In the end, everyone left with a helium balloon attached to some manner of basket, and they learned a lot about how the lift of an object can be impeded by the weight of another object.

You can access my hot air balloon slides here.