Amazing 9-Layer Density Tower!

Amazing!  We did something similar in General Science Module 1, but this is fantastic.  And way prettier.  =)

Source of pic, with instructions and explanation
Used with permission from Steve Spangler

Video demo of how to do this experiment.


Steve Spangler is on facebook

Water Molecules!

While searching for videos for Physical Science Module 5 today, I came across these that go great with Module 4!
Embedding into a website is disabled, so you will have to click these links to watch them.
They have also been added to the Physical Science Module 4 post.

• Water Molecules - part 1 is a great video animation that shows that water molecules are polar, and will hydrogen bond.  Hydrogen bonding is what enables water (H2O) to stay in a liquid form at room temperature (instead of a gas like other H2__ substances).

• Water Molecules - part 2 shows the state of water molecules in liquid form, as a solid, and as a gas.


Basically atoms and elements are the same thing. 

An atom is just the smallest amount of an element.

Read this ice cream analogy.

Secret Messages! Disappearing Ink!

You can also apply heat from another source, such as a toaster.
►Read more here about how this works and how to get the ink to reappear.

Find the Hidden Colors of Autumn Leaves

Just found this link and I'm saving it for when we do Biology again.  Posting for whoever needs it now.  =)
Find the Hidden Colors of Autumn Leaves.  
Looks pretty neat!  =)

Candy Experiments!

Came across this link this morning.
Candy Experiments.
I want to try the skittles one!  =)

Watching Paint Dry

Watching paint dry isn't boring when you do it with a microscope! =)

Total Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice

There is to be a total lunar eclipse tonight, nearly at the same time as the Winter Solstice.  It has been 372 years since these occurred on the same day.  The Winter Solstice is the moment at which the North Pole is tilted the farthest away from the sun.  This is the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
These two events are unrelated, but they do not usually happen on the same day.
You can see the eclipse if you don't mind staying up awhile!
I'm telling my kids that if they want to stay up, then they have to look up some information first and tell me a few things they've learned, hee hee!
The moon starts into the earth's shadow at 1:33am EST and will be totally eclipsed from 2:41 to 3:53 EST.   This is when the moon will be red. 
You lucky people in the Pacific Time Zone!  Your clocks will be three hours earlier than mine!
I hope I can stay up!  Maybe I need a nap.  Zzzzz....
Thanks to Apologia posting this on Facebook.

Total Lunar Eclipse on Aug. 28, 2007, seen from Kapiolani Park in Honolulu, Hawaii. Shot thru a telescope, about every 5 minutes.


Why does the moon turn red?  Simply put, it's for the same reason that sunsets are red.
White light is made of red, green, and blue. Our atmosphere filters out the shorter-wavelength light (blues, greens), so right on the edge of the earth's silhouette, the light from the sun that is hitting the moon is red.
If you were on the moon during a lunar eclipse, you would see a red ring around the silhouette of the earth.
The moon has no light of it's own and reflects whatever kind of light from the sun hits it.
--Last year in Physical Science, we did a very simple experiment (sheet of paper, red marker) that shows how the light spectrum works this way.  (Scroll down -- it would be the last one, of course!)



►At EarthSky.org, watch a video and/or read why "there won’t be a total lunar eclipse this far north on the sky’s dome until December 21, 2485."
Scroll down for specific times for different time zones. 
►More information on Lunar Eclipses, including a list of future eclipses, and from what region of the earth they can be seen.  Scroll down.
♦Learn more about light and why you see a rainbow the way you do. 

UPDATE: Here is the eclipse from yesterday.

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Gregor Mendel's Punnet Squares

Punnet Square with rabbits

   
Printable Punnett Worksheet
Printable Introduction, Worksheet, and Quiz
Save to Microsoft word, then open and print worksheet
Save to Microsoft word, then open and print worksheet - a little more difficult.
Example 1

 Example 2

Gregor Mendel first experimented with garden peas, which is a self-pollinating plant.  (The stigma of the flower receives pollen from its own flower.)
"In order to cross-pollinate these plants, Mendel removed the anthers (with pollen). Then, he transferred the pollen from another plant to the stigma of the first plant. He always kept very careful records on these plants.
Mendel noticed that when he allowed pure tall plants to self-pollinate, they always produced pure tall plants. He also noted that dwarf plants which were allowed to self-pollinate produced only dwarf plants. Whenever he crossed a tall plant with a dwarf plant, the first generation was always tall. He said that tallness was a dominant trait and that dwarfness was a recessive trait."  (SOS)
Even though a crossed plant produced a tall plant and looked just like a pure tall plant, it actually was a hybrid.  Two hybrid tall plants will not produce tall plants 100% of the time.
"Genetic Symbols. Inherited traits are controlled by genes. Scientists use letters to represent the genes. Because genes occur in pairs, two letters represent the genes inherited from each parent. A capital letter is used to represent the dominant gene. A small letter is used to represent the recessive gene.
The first letter of the name of a trait is generally used. Mendel's tall peas could be represented by capital T for tall. The dwarf or recessive gene would be little t. Since genes occur in pairs, tall peas could be TT or Tt. TT is purebred for the tall characteristic. Tt is a hybrid for the tall characteristic. Tall plants with TT genes would look exactly like those with Tt, but the recessive gene (t) is hidden. For the plants to be dwarf, both genes must be recessive (tt)." (SOS)
Quotes are from Switched on Schoolhouse, 6th grade lesson "Inheritance."