Random Easy Science Projects Using Household Items (13 items)

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  (#1) Hypercooling

  What You Need:
   
  -A metal bucket
  -32 oz. of table salt
  -6 16oz bottled water
  -2 bags of crushed ice and water
  -Thermometer (optional)
  -Patience

  What You Do:
   
  -Take three to six (sealed) plastic bottles of mineral water.

  -Place them in your bucket and pour in a bag of ice; add water so that the ice becomes slushy.

  -The lids of your water bottles should be sticking out the top of the ice/water mixture so you can handle them without freezing your fingers. Make sure they are evenly spaced in the bucket.

  -Pour in the salt, use 26 oz of salt if you only use three bottles and 32 oz for six bottles.

  -If you have a thermometer, place it in the bucket.

  -Wait 35-45 minutes, but keep checking on the bottles, turn them gently to insure that they cool evenly.

  -When time is up, you'll see a thin layer of ice on the outside of your metal bucket.

  -Take the bottle out and turn the bottle on its side. Swing it lightly back and then BANG it against a wall. Watch as the water slowly changes color and turns to ice.

  Alternate Ending:
  
  Take a glass bowl and place a few ice cubes inside. Gently open the lid of your super cooled bottle of water. Slowly pour it onto the ice in the bowl. The liquid water should turn to ice as soon as it makes contact with ice cubes in the bowl. This means that you should be able to produce a tower of ice as you keep pouring.

  The Science:
   
  -When the bottles are super cooled, they are ready for a freezing catalyst. One theory is that the banging creates microscopic air bubbles near the surface in the bottles, and these bubbles act as the impurity/nucleation site.

  -Pouring liquid water that lands as solid ice – this works because of the ice cubes already in the bowl. One of the best nucleation sites that you can use to form ice crystals, is other ice crystals.
• 

  (#12) Build Your Own Hoop Glider

  What You Need:
  -A straw
  -A card
  -Scotch tape
  -Scissors

  What You Do:
   
  Cut two strips of card, one twice the length of the other, both around an inch thick. Make these strips into two loops – one should be much larger than the other – using the scotch tape. Stick the small loop onto end of your straw and the large loop to the opposite end. Your hoop glider is ready!

  The Science:
   
  The two sizes of hoops help to keep the straw balanced as it flies. The big hoop creates "drag" (or air resistance), which helps keep the straw level, while the smaller hoop at the front keeps your super hooper from turning off course. Some have asked why the plane does not turn over since the hoops are heavier than the straw. Since objects of different weight generally fall at the same speed, the hoop will keep its "upright" position.
• 

  (#4) Self Inflating Balloon

  What You Need:
   
  -A used, washed carbonated drink bottle (lid not required)
  -Latex balloon (thinner is better)
  -Elastic band
  -Measuring jug
  -Yeast
  -Sugar
  -Water

  What You Do:
   
  Place 2 teaspoons of yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar and one cup of water into the bottle. Put the balloon over the top of the bottle and secure with the elastic band. Walk away... but keep a close watch on it.

  The Science:
   
  Yeast is actually a micro-organism, which will "eat" the sugar and respire. A product of respiration is carbon dioxide, which slowly fills up the balloon.
• 

  (#7) Hollow Mask Illusion

  What You Need:
   
  -A simple, plastic mask
  -A steady hand

  What You Do:
   
  Take a simple costume mask, present the 'inside' of the mask to your audience. Slowly move the mask around in front of friends/family. The mask will seem to turn itself inside out!

  The Science:
  With a lack of visual stimuli, the human brain is unable to make sense of the image. As the human brain is programmed to recognize human faces, when the 'inside' of the mask is presented to a viewer, the brain recognizes basic features (mouth, eyes, forehead, nostrils) and 'edits' the image to turn it into a face.
• 

  (#8) Find Your Dominant Eye

  What You Need:
   
  -A4 Card
  -Scissors

  What You Do:
   
  Fold the card in half lengthways, then again width-ways. Snip the corner and unfold – you should now have a small hole in the center of the card. Hold the card out at arm's length. Look through the hole while focussing on something in the middle or far distance – a tree or lamp-post will do. Slowly bring the card towards the tip of your nose – make sure you are looking at your focus object with both eyes open. As you bring the card to your nose, a friend will be able to tell you which eye is dominant, even though you think you are looking through the hole with both eyes.

  The Science:
   
  Just as we all have a dominant hand or foot, we also have a dominant eye. You feel like you are using both eyes, even though one eye is doing most of the work – it is an illusion created by our brain.
• 

  (#11) Make Your Own Slime

  What You Need:
   
  -A mixing bowl
  -Food coloring
  -Cornflour (3/4 cup)
  -Water (1 cup)

  What You Do:
   
  Add a few drops of the food coloring to the water and pour the cornflour into the bowl. Add the water to the cornflour a little at a time. Keep stirring and adding cornflour until all of the powder is wet. Keep adding small amounts of water until you create a thick paste. You know you are ready because the harder you stir, the harder the cornflour resists. Just don't pour it down the drain – throw in the trash when finished, as it will solidify as it dries.

  The Science:
  This particular mixture is antithixotropic – this means that any stress or shear applied to the liquid results in an increase in viscosity, or even solidification. When a force is applied, the particles in the slime line up and pack tightly together just as in a solid; with no force, the chains of cornflour can roll past one another like in a liquid.

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