Milk, soap, and food coloring



An easy experiment to show how fats move in liquids.

How does soap work?  What do hydrophilic and hydrophobic mean? This is a good experiment to start some of these discussions.  The fats in the milk are oil based (technically, they're called lipids) and the water in the milk is well, water.   Fats and oils are hydrophobic, which translates into "water fearing".  These fat molecules will clump together so that as few of them touch the water as possible.

Soap is a molecule that has a hydrophobic side and a hydrophilic side. (Hydrophillic ==  water loving. This is useful in our daily lives because the hydrophobic side of soap molecules will bind to oil and grease, and the hydrophilic side of the soap molecule will bind to the water molecules.  Then, when you wash your hands, as the soap gets washed away, the oils and grease are dragged away along with the soap.  

So, back to the experiment.
When you add soap,  you'll see food coloring expand away as all the fat molecules push the food coloring out of the way to get closer to the hydrophobic soap molecules.   Kids of all ages will enjoy "painting" with soap in the milk.  Older kids can start to grasp the concept of hydrophobic vs hydrophilic.

Materials:
Plate
Milk (skim milk works best, but whole milk will also work)
Half and half
Soap [not all soaps work.  Joy dish soap does]
Q-tips or Toothpicks
Food coloring

What I do:
I pour milk into one of the plates. Then, we drop a few drips of food coloring around the plate.  The kids dip their Q-tips into the soap and then poke one of the food coloring drops.  The result should be to see the food coloring expand away from the soap.

To make this an experiment, I get another plate and pour in half-and-half (or a milk with a higher fat content than the one I previously used.).  Before the kids dip their soap into the new plate, I ask them whether the colors will spread more or less than last time, and I ask them why.  This is called 'making a hypothesis' and is crucial to running an experiment.   Then I let them test it out.

What this activity teaches:
Scientific Method.  It's important to have your kids guess (make a hypothesis) about what will happen.  To encourage more experimentation,  ask them what they think would make the colors expand faster?  I.e does warm milk vs cold milk work?  What about adding more dish soap vs adding a little bit?  See what they come up with first before you give them hints.

Hydrophobicity.   Certain materials repel water.  This is a great experiment to start the conversation of what hydrophobicity is, and how it is useful in everyday life.

How to answer 'Why' questions


Before I had kids, I planned on being the perfect parent. I was going to read to my kids every night, make them home cooked meals, and I would answer all their questions honestly, and scientifically.

Yeah, none of that has happened.








Observe the following discussion I had with my 5 yr old:

Wes: Mom, what's that?
Me: A grasshopper?
Wes:  Why?
Me: .... Um, why is it a grasshopper?
Wes:  Yeah
Me: Well,  because somebody named that species of insect a grasshopper.
Wes: Why?
Me:.... Um,  because someone saw it hopping in the grass, so they decided to call it a grasshopper.
Wes: Oh ... [pause]...  if it's hopping on the sidewalk, is it still a grasshopper?
Me: ...Yes...
Wes: Why?
Me:  I don't know, go ask your father!

I did what I swore I would never do, I punted on a question.

*Sigh*  It's not the only time this has happened. 
I was prepared for scientific questions like, "Why is the sky blue?" or, "Why is the grass green?" I wasn't prepared for the philosophical questions like, "Why is it called blue? or "Why are there 24 hours in a day?" After discussions with some older, and wiser moms, I came up with a plan.

I built a repertoire of response strategies: 
[The scholarly approach]                     "Hmmm,  Good question. Google it and see what comes up"
[Distract with a new topic]                   "Look! a blue car" 
[The silly approach]                              "Because calling it a red dancer would be silly" 
[Creative and critical thinking]              "I don't know, why do you think it's called..."

Wish me luck for next time!
If you've got another strategy that you'd like to share, or a funny example of the questions your kids ask.  Please share in the comments so that we can all learn and laugh.

-Heather Douglas
NerdMom

Giving Credit where Credit is due:
Photo of Grasshopper by Tudsaput Eusawas from Pexels https://www.pexels.com/photo/insect-grasshopper-42367/

How to teach the phases of the moon





An activity and toy that teaches kids the phases of the moon.  The kids got a ‘remote controlled moon in my room’ over the summer.  It’s pretty cool. It changes phases which prompted Wes and Rems to start learning the phase names.  We took this learning opportunity one step further and set up a lamp + globe + styrofoam ball in the living room and let Wes play around with how the phases change as the moon rotates around the earth.  I’ve since bought this toy for numerous friends. The kids love it, and we love it.

The Uncle Milton Moon in my Room is available on Amazon: http://bit.ly/2qhxyjsMoonInRoom

Music :
Fanfare for Space. By Kevin MacCleod.
Available here: http://bit.ly/2Cj6eDgFanfareForSpace

What is the zone of proximal development



The Zone of Proximal Development is what your child can do with help.  For example, your child might be able to name only four animals on her own, but can name 15-20 if you're there to jog her memory by mimicking animal sounds and movements.   That leap from naming four animals to twenty animals is called the Zone of Proximal Development.

Working within the Zone of Proximal Development is the key to helping a child master a NEW skill.  Working below the zone can help enforce an old skill.  Working above the zone can stretch a child's understanding.  But, to truly master a skill you'll need to identify and work within the Zone of Proximal Development.


So how do I do that? 
Imagine you are teaching your child long division.

First, be present.
The Zone of Proximal Development is often paired with a term called 'scaffolding' which refers to creating temporary learning supports around a child. Social interaction is key in scaffolding. The teacher is present and works closely with the child to guide his learning. The high level of support slowly tapers off as the child masters the new skill.    [LearnNC.org].

Second, model what you want your child to do. 
For instance, show your child how to solve a couple long division problems, explaining each step as you go along.  Do this a couple times.

Third, slowly allow your child to take the lead.
Maybe have him tell you what the next step is.  Then give him the pencil and allow him to solve the problem while you remain by his side.  As confidence grows, you can fade away into the background and help only when he asks you.


 Giving credit where credit is due.
I first heard about the Zone of Proximal Development in a blog by Amanda Morgan at NotJustCute.com.  Her blog is a wonderful resource for parents looking to learn more about child development. I highly recommend it.

Photo credit
Homework by JessicaDawnDykstra

Resources for incorporating scaffolding:
Edutopia - Six strategies to create scaffolded lessons

Primary Research links:
NC archive:

Sink or swim

Kids test whether their toys sink or float.

This is a really good introduction to the concept of buoyancy.  Before dropping the toy in the water, I made them guess whether it would float or sink.  Then we can talk about some of the similarities of the things the float and the things that sink.  For example, plastic toys seemed to float and metal toys seemed to sink.  I did this experiment indoors, but it's probably best to do it outside if you have concerns about getting your floors wet.  It was also fun (as a parent) to see what my kids decided to test.

 Materials:
A large container (clear is best, but any will do),
Random household objects

 What I do:
I asked the kids to collect some toys that they wanted to test (no batteries, and no stickers).  Before they dropped their toy, I asked them whether they thought it would sink or float, and why.  Then we tested their hypothesis.  If you want to make it seem more like a science experiment, have the kids write down their guess and their results in a "lab notebook"

What this activity teaches:
Scientific Method.  It's important to have your kids guess (make a hypothesis) about whether their toy will sink or float.   For older kids, its easy to have them keep track on a sheet of paper as to which items sunk or float.  Then, ask them for their conclusion as to why something might sink or float.  (Hint: buoyancy is based on whether an item is heavier than the amount of water it displaces)

Buoyancy.  This can be deceptively easy concept.  It's easy to say light things float and heavy things sink,  but then why would a heavy boat float while a penny would sink?  It's all about density and weight vs volume.  This activity is a good introduction to this concept, and gets kids thinking about what makes something float.

Teardown electronics with kids


Learning electronics by taking things apart.

Almost every electrician, engineer, and scientist I know loves to take things apart to see how they work.  If you've got some old electronics lying around, spend an afternoon dissecting them before you throw it away.  You'll be surprised how much you know about inner workings of things.  And what you don't know, you can always look it up on the internet.

Safety Tips:
Remove any batteries, and don't mess with leaky batter fluid.  I prefer to use rubber gloves to remove leaking batteries.

A capacitor (these typically look like grain silos in your electrical boards) can hold a small to large shock.  To avoid any unpleasant shocks, you can "ground" the capacitor by touching the ends to a table, chair, or anything thing that touches the ground.  This allows any residual electrical charge to move from the capacitor to the earth.

Do NOT take apart an old TV monitor (the ones in the large boxes.  Flat screens are fine).   The capacitors in those screens are able to hold a lethal shock.  It's best not to mess them, especially around children who like to touch things.

 This activity teaches:
Electronics & Engineering & STEM.  Kids can pick up the basics of electronics, and identify how electricity flows through the system by following the wires.  If the toy has moving parts, you can play with the pieces to see how they work and affect each other.

Curiosity. Let's face it, you might not know what every piece in the toy does.  That's okay.  This is the type of activity that will peak a kids interest and get them googling for the reason behind different colored wires and how a speaker/radio works.  It's okay to not know, it's even better to look it up and find the answer on your own.

Rush Hour Logic Game



Ice cream trucks, buses, and fire engines. Oh my!

Rush Hour Traffic Jam Jr. is a game that teaches kids problem solving skills.   A deck of cards displays various "problems" and the kids have to figure out how to move the vehicles around the board so that the ice cream truck has a clear path to make it's delivery.   I've recommended this game to a couple families and it's been a hit everytime. 

This toy teaches:

Problem solving skills & pathfinding.  It can take anywhere from 2 to 20 maneuvers to get the ice cream truck from point A to point B.  This task involves problem solving such as being aware that moving one piece in a certain direction may affect how another piece may be moved.  It also involves pathfinding as kids must look at the whole board and plan out a series of steps that will maneuver the ice cream truck to where it needs to go.

You can buy this $20 toy from Mindware via: http://bit.ly/2D40mi7RushHourJr

The above link from Mindware is an affiliate link through the program VigLink.  If you buy this product after clicking the link, we receive a small referral fee. 

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