Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Primary Productivity and Plankton
The oceans contain both the earth's largest and smallest organisms. Interestingly they share a delicate relationship linked together by what they eat. The largest of the ocean's inhabitants, the Blue Whale, eats very small plankton,...
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Science Buddies: The Viscosity of Motor Oil
The insides of a car engine get very hot when the engine is running. Motor oil lubricates the moving parts, to keep the engine operating smoothly. Learn what happens to motor oil as the engine temperature goes up.
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Science Buddies: Measuring Height or Distances With a Camera
If you know or calculate the field of view for your camera, you can use it to measure distances and the height of almost anything. It's all a matter of basic trigonometry.
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Science Buddies: Only if They Think They Can Get Away With It?
How many times have you noticed someone who looks perfectly healthy using a parking space reserved for the handicapped at a busy shopping center? If this behavior gets you steamed, you might be interested in studying how to discourage...
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Science Buddies: Fallen Arches: The Surprising Strength of Eggshells
Arches have been used for structural engineering since ancient times. This experiment tests the strength of a naturally occurring arch shape: the shell of an egg. How much weight do you think an eggshell can support?
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Science Buddies: Drawing Circles Around Ants
Do ants sometimes ruin your picnic? There are some chemical ant repellents you can spray to keep them away, but who wants to spray poison all over their food? In this experiment you can investigate some less toxic solutions that may be...
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Science Buddies: Coke & Mentos Nucleation Goes Nuclear!
You may have seen it on You Tube and David Letterman - the exploding Coke and Mentos experiment? But what is it that makes the reaction happen? In this experiment you will see if tiny dimples called nucleation sites have anything to do...
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Science Buddies: How to Make a Piano Sing
The renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz once said, "The most important thing is to transform the piano from a percussive instrument into a singing instrument." In this lab, you will learn about sympathetic vibrations, a method used to...
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Science Buddies: Weather and Climate in Your Neighborhood
Do you live in an area where the weather changes a lot from season to season throughout the year? Or do you live in a place where the weather stays pretty much the same all year long? How dynamic is the weather, and how does it compare...
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Science Buddies: Squishy Robot Simulator
Robots come in many shapes and sizes. Everything from the Mars Rover to a toy dinosaur is a well planned machine designed to suit its purpose. In this experiment you will test different robot designs with an online simulator.
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Science Buddies: Building the Tallest Tower
Skyscrapers are impressive structures. What does it take to design a building so tall? Engineers use strong materials and innovative design to push the limits of gravity. In this experiment you will use LEGO components, rubber balls, and...
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Science Buddies: Solving a 'Windy' Problem
The wind is a powerful force, enough to erode whole hillsides over time. Building structures in windy environments challenge civil engineers with special safety concerns. A wall in a windy area can either shield you from the cold or fall...
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Science Buddies: Using a Laser to Measure the Speed of Light in Jello
Think it takes expensive, sophisticated equipment to measure the speed of light? Think again. Outfit yourself with a simple handheld laser pointer, a protractor, and Jell-O, and you're ready to get started.
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Science Buddies: Paper Chromatography: Advanced Version 2
Chromatography is a method used to separate mixtures of compounds and to identify each compound in the mixture. You may have separated the different inks in a black marker by using a strip of paper and water. There are many different...
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Science Buddies: Measuring the Surface Tension of Water
Did you know that when you dip your finger in water and pull it out, the water is actually pulling back on you? Here's a way you can measure how much.
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Science Buddies: Cabbage Chemistry
This experiment is for all the kids out there who love boiled cabbage. Even if you don't like cabbage, perhaps you will like this amazing color-changing liquid you can make with cabbage. You'll learn which solutions around your house can...
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Science Buddies: A Soluble Separation Solution
Have you ever mixed together salt and pepper? Isn't it fun to see how all of those tiny grains of salt and pepper mix together. But what if you had to separate them out again? Do you have nightmares of tiny tweezers, a magnifying glass,...
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Science Buddies: Slip Sliding Away: Experimenting With Friction
As you headed up the mountain to enjoy your last ski trip, you may have noticed a sign reading: Hazard. Icy Roads Ahead, Put On Your Chains. Putting chains on car tires increases the resistance between the tires and the road allowing the...
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Science Buddies: Balancing the Load: The See Saw as a Simple Machine
Have you ever tried to pull out a nail out of wood with your bare hands? Or have you tried to shove a staple through a stack of papers without a stapler? A hammer's claw, a stapler, a pair of pliers and a shovel are each examples of...
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Science Buddies: What Goes Up, Must Come Down
Standing on a balcony near the top of the 179-foot tall Tower of Pisa, a young scientist dropped two iron balls into the crowd below. The scientist, young Galileo, was not trying to knock his fellow professors on the head, but was trying...
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Science Buddies: Swing Low: Investigate the Motion of a Pendulum
Kids love to ride the swings at the playground. The back-and-forth motion of a swing demonstrates the physics of a pendulum. In this experiment, you will investigate the factors that affect the speed and duration of a pendulum's swing.
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Science Buddies: Outer Space, the Silent Frontier: An Experiment on Sound Waves
In outer space there is utter silence. There are no sounds of traffic jams or thunderstorms or crashing waves. No buzzing bees or babies crying. Just silence. In this experiment, you will discover why empty space is void of sound.
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Science Buddies: Centripetal Force
What keeps you in your seat of a giant loop-de-loop roller coaster? Surprisingly, it is not the seatbelt but the seat. It works because of something called centripetal force and it does much more than make a great roller coaster. In this...
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Science Buddies: Radiant Radish Seeds
We all know that plants need sunlight and water to grow big and tall. But did you know that inside seeds are baby plants, and that the fragile baby plant inside the seed needs to be protected? If you've ever had a sunburn, you also know...