Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!
Overview: Today we are going to take a look at some fun science experiments that you can do at home! Time to look around your home and turn some everyday items into science tools. These experiments will demonstrate some basic things that are going on in our environment today.
Everything you will need today should be found in your home and if not I will give some alternative materials and tools you could use instead!
Grade Level: 2-4
Theme: Scientific Activities
Supervision needed? No
Essential Questions:
What is air pollution and how can we detect it?
Materials Needed:
Vaseline
Sheet of clear Plastic*
Tape
* The plastic can be anything that is see-through
Cup
Thermometer
Plastic bottle
2L soda bottle, seltzer bottle, gatorade, ect.
Standards:
Air Pollution Experiment
This experiment takes a look at what is in our air. We always hear about air pollution, but has any one actually seen it before? In some areas there is smog, which is visible pollution; in other places the air looks completely clear. This experiment helps us collect the pollution that we can’t see with our naked eye and it only takes 3 steps and time! Check out the video below so see how to conduct this experiment!
Materials:
Vaseline
Sheet of clear Plastic*
Tape
* The plastic can be anything that is see-through
**** You might not see a big difference between my before and after picture. Mine did not turn out the way I thought it would, but that’s ok! When doing an experiment, you never know what your end results might be; that is why it’s called an experiment.***
Some questions to answer before the experiment:
What is air pollution?
How does pollution get into our air?
Make a hypothesis (guess). How will the sheet of plastic look after a few hours?
What else is in our air other than physical particles?
There are other pollutants in our air aside from what we found in our last experiment. Air pollution can come in solid, liquid and gas forms. In our last experiment we saw the physical pollution stuck to our piece of plastic. In this next experiment we are going to see what pollution in the form of gas does to our environment.
Materials:
Cup
Thermometer
Plastic bottle
2L soda bottle, seltzer bottle, gatorade, ect.
Experiment 2:
Step one: Get all of your materials together; glass cup, thermometer, plastic bottle
Step Two: Find a sunny spot to place your cup and thermometer
Leave your cup in front of a sunny window for one hour, then record the temperature.
Step Three: Cut the bottom of the plastic bottle off.
Next we are going to do the same thing just with the plastic bottle over the top of the cup and thermometer. Make sure the cap is on the bottle!!
Record the new temperature.
What did we find?
What was the difference between the two temperatures?
What group of gases does the plastic bottle represent? (hint: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ gas effect)
After watching the Youtube video below, try to draw our Earth and the greenhouse effect
Check out this video below for the answers:
Reflection:
After conducting these two experiments, we saw two different types of air pollution; particulate matter and gases. Both are harmful for our atmosphere and our health. What are actions you can take in your everyday life at home to reduce pollution?