STEM – Pod of One

The Science of Colors

Amelia and I open up a science kit and explore colors.

To continue our science obsession, I pulled out a fun science kit I picked up at a yard sale. I was going to choose one of the projects it came with, but after Amelia really enjoyed mixing white and red to make pink with our crystal project, I figured I would continue with that theme.

The kit I have came with a collection of kid-safe test tubes, droppers and other scientific items. So I grabbed some water, food dye of the primary colors and small bowls.

I had Amelia add two drops of each color to the bowls.

Even though she knows the color combinations from school, we started our experiment by drawing a grid that she filled out as we went along. At first it was simple, so we checked out what red plus yellow made, and yellow and blue, and so on.

I drew out circles so that she could record the results, which she also enjoyed because she felt like she was performing a real scientific study.

The grid we created to record our results.

I have to say it was a lot of fun for both of us. Amelia got such a kick out of using the test tubes and droppers.

As you can see on the grid, eventually we started mixing the new colors (secondary colors) with others to see what would happen. To be honest, most of them made a greenish-brown color. We tried to match the colors up with her Crayola Crayons as close as we could.

The bottom line is Amelia got some experience using the lab tools, and she quickly (after a minor spill) learned the importance of being careful along with proper care of the equipment. Mixing the colors proved what she had been taught in school, that yellow and blue make green, and so on. She thought that was pretty cool. It’s always good to find ways to reinforce the lessons kids learn in school.

Walden University perfectly summarizes the importance of science in the classroom . “…there are individual benefits to learning science, such as developing our ability to ask questions, collect information, organize and test our ideas, solve problems, and apply what we learn. Even more, science offers a powerful platform for building confidence, developing communication skills, and making sense of the world around us—a world that is increasingly shaped by science and technology.”

I saw a lot of this in our science experiments this week, although Amelia’s favorite part was definitely using the test tubes. My favorite was at the end when she said “Daddy, I think I want to be a scientist.” How cool is that?

SOUND OFF: What are some projects you have used with your kids that involve mixing colors? Let us know in the comments. Amelia and I are always looking for new projects.

Growing Crystals

Amelia creates her own crystals for the first time and the final crystals are AWESOME.

Last week, Amelia and I decided to focus on science. We started with a crystal kit. Yes, the kit is listed as 10 years old and up, but I figured we could handle it. The boiling water was probably the reason for this, so make sure you help any kiddo under ten.

It was pretty simple. We had to boil water and measure it out. Then we added chemicals to the boiled water and stirred.

After that, we had to let it cool a bit. Then we added it to smaller cups, where the crystals would grow. The next step was to choose colors. Of course, Amelia wanted pink. So she made one pink, one white (because to make pink we had to add powder that was red and white) and I got to choose the third color. I chose red since we were already using it for the pink.

Now we just had to wait. Surprisingly, by the next morning we already had this:

And this, which is harder to see because it’s Amelia’s pink one:

Two days later, the crystal started to grow out of the cups. After some research, this is when we should have carefully dumped the chemicals out. We didn’t, so they got a little mutated:

You can see, from the first group of photos to the second, that they started to look a little bit like coral.

Eventually, we dumped out the liquid (and my fingers became a bit stained pink for a few days). But the final product was very cool, considering it was our first time growing them.

We wanted to know how and why this happens, so we watched this video:

I also wish I saw this project first. Childhood 101 has a really cool project that is similar, but uses pipe cleaners shaped like hearts. I absolutely love this project and am hoping to do this one with Amelia. I think she will love it. Here is a photo of their final project:

What did we learn from this project? Measuring. We had to carefully measure the water and the chemicals that created the color. We could have also measured the crystals as they grew, and figured out their growth rate. We also had to exercise patience, knowing that the crystal would grow slowly. Honestly, I was surprised at how quickly the crystals grew. I thought it would be days before we saw any action, but after ten hours there was already a bit of formation.

Overall, we had a last and got some really cool crystals we made ourselves. I thought the white one turned out the coolest, personally. Amelia loved her pink one. Next time we will be creating the heart-shaped ones.

Food Coloring Flowers

We had a really cool project that just requires white flowers and food coloring.

On one of our many walks, Amelia and I collected flowers from a tree at the playground. Ours had the tiniest of pink pigment, so they weren’t perfect, but give me a break. We were in the middle of a full quarantine!

Then, we added food coloring and watched the flowers slowly change colors.

This was a GREAT project we had seen a friend do and decided to mimic. First we learned a bit about plants. Scholastic helped us out with that again. We reread From Seed to Plant and learned all about how plants grow and how they drink water.

Then I asked her, if a flower drinks blue water, will it turn blue?

She scrunched her nose in thought, and eventually decided that no, it would not.

I asked if we would turn blue if we drank blue water. She answered with a confident “no!” and I wondered why.

“Because mommy drinks that brown drink [coffee] every morning and hasn’t started changing color…”

Touché, Amelia.

So we added different colors, all of her choice, to water and put a flower or two in each one.

After a little while, they did start to change color. She was really surprised, and I was just glad the project worked.

If you want to do the project, it’s pretty much as easy as putting white flowers into water with food coloring, and then exercising patience. But they MUST be white. Ours had the tiniest bit of pink, which made it less obvious.

Here is a video that will help:

This is a really fun activity that everyone can enjoy. For older kids, you can discuss why and how it happens. For younger ones, it’s about how plants grow and the fun of seeing them change color.

And if you want to explain how it happens, Go Science Girls has a great explanation.

Either way, it’s a great project that is simple and takes items you probably have around the house (or neighborhood) anyway.

Saving Worms

Ever notice how there are worms slithering around on sidewalks after a rainy day?

Amelia noticed. She spotted them on one of our many really hot days and asked what would happen to them.

“Daddy, what happens to them in the sun?”

“They dry up and die.”

“That’s sad. Let’s save them!”

So we decided to spend the morning rescuing the worms. And let’s face it, worms are great for our garden, so it was win-win. Or if you’re a fan of The Office, win-win-win.

We got a small beach toy and started picking the worms up and placing them inside. Amelia decided she didn’t want to touch them, so she used a very colorful zip tie to put them in. I used my hands.

And then we freed them. We talked about how worms make the soil better, and since I didn’t know much about the science behind it, decided to watch this video:

I love when her questions lead me to new knowledge. Because let’s face it, our kids are going to ask a lot of questions that we do not know the answers to. And on this particular day, I realized that a lot of good lessons for our pod of one could come from her questions.

We also HAD to watch (for the hundredth time) the Coyote Peterson episode where he searches for bloodworms. It really is one of our favorites:

This was something Amelia brought up to me. She wanted to know if the worms on our porch would bite like the do in the video, and I quickly told her no.

She taught me something that day. Sometimes, it’s nice to let her take control of a morning and see what happens. Her wish to save these worms, and her question, brought us both a bit more knowledge. Nothing wrong with that, right?

If you’re looking for a lesson with a little more structure, Growing Minds, Farm to School has some great ideas for lessons and a few books to read.