Follow Lian, a fun loving seventh grader, as he talks to members of his community and explores the boundaries of his world. Help Lian Interview President Obama
My favorite posts of Lian's are the projects that have him excited to be learning or doing something new. I actually had two favorites and I can't decide which I like more.
I loved watching his face when he saw the colors and they were so vibrant. I love fizzy projects. They always turn out so well even when they don't work, of course, this one worked out very well.
This was exciting because we not only were able to get it to work right the first time, but we also able to make it work a second time (Solar Powered S'mores ). I have the perfect box in storage and I can't wait to expand on this experiment over the coming summer.
For Thursday Things this week, Mom and I made a solar oven in our back yard. I didn't have the stuff to make s'mores like the experiment where I got the idea so I up-cycled crayons. We used the power of the sun to make star shaped crayons, Solar Powered Stars. Get it?
I have re-made crayons in the oven and it takes just about the same amount of time, but you can't watch them cook and it isn't as much fun. I made the ones in the picture for Mother's Day. I think they make great art. I will make a post about the crayons next week.
To make the oven you need:
A box that opens like a pizza box or a shipping box
Foil
Black construction paper
2 Sheet protectors or plastic wrap
A bamboo skewer
tape and/or glue
something to cut with
First have a grown up cut a flap on three sides, in the top of box so that here is a window. Then glue a piece of foil to the bottom of the box and another on the flap. Next tape the construction paper to center of the bottom of the box. Then cut the sheet protector so that it is open and flat. Tape that to the inside of the window under the flap. We only needed one but if you need more plastic use more than one sheet and tape them together with clear tape. Finally tape the bamboo skewer so that it holds open the flap.
This was so much fun. I love how it works. The sunlight reflects off the flap into the plastic window. The light wave changes when it goes through the plastic, so it can't just leave again. It bounces around the inside of the box and the dark paper collects the heat and cooks the stuff. It took about 15-20 minutes to make our crayons, but I thought they were too melted. That is the same as the regular oven. Our thermometer on the table in full sunlight got to 105° and in the box at the end it showed at 120°. That is so great. Mom thinks that the thermometer might have been in direct sunlight inside the box so the temp isn't true and we need to test it again to be sure. We are going to make s'mores next time. I want to try nachos too, but I can't think of what else would be okay to cook and eat in my oven.
I am so happy this worked right the first time. A lot of our stuff takes a few tries to work. I think it is because the directions at the site where I got the idea were so good. You can see that experiment here http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/solar-oven . It is my favorite science site.
Not all projects are successful but they are almost always
fun. Our latest project was to build a river from its source to its
mouth. For this project we used some boards, aluminum foil, trash bags
and duct tape.
It was way harder and more involved than
I thought it would be. I made sketches but I didn't know how big it
would get. First we laid out and duct taped the trash bags to give us a
flood area of the river. Then we folded the foil into a riverbed. It
took a long time and it was really bright. Mom got sunburned on her
front from it.
It totally flooded out in so many places and it never
made it all the way to the end. But it was SO much fun. I have some ideas on how to make it better. I will get the river flowing before summer is over!!!
In the meantime I will work on more projects from my Summer Bucket List. Coming up soon we have prints made on milk, a home made barometer, an underwater viewer, marbleized designs and my first attempt at stop motion animation. This is the best summer ever
One of the most fun things on my blog is doing science experiments. Some of the best ideas we have had we got from Education.com. Last Fall I won their Challenge and I got a $100 gift card. I got a Udraw with that money. It was very cool to win.
What I like best is making videos. Here are some of the funnest.
Balloon Powered Car
Like Molecules
We even added a couple of videos I made before I started blogging
My super favorite is when we played a joke on my Granny. She is super cool and doesn't mind when I put her on my blog. In this video we were showing that air takes up space. We didn't tell her that my bottle had holes in it, so it seemed like she was doing something wrong.
I can't wait to show off what we have planned this summer
According to National Whatever Day, April 11 is National Submarine Day. Some sites say it is actually supposed to be March 17th and others say it is April 17th. No matter what day it is, submarines are so amazing.
A submarine works because it has ballast tanks. To sink it fills the tanks with water and to surface it fills the tanks with air. Last summer I made a submarine out of a water bottle. It was a great time.
It took us a couple of days to make it work but it was really neat. All the kids liked to take turns pumping air to make it rise.
(In the video I said the rock is ballast but really the water is ballast.)
