Mrs. Bauman's Gifted Classroom

Scroll all the way down for some easy science experiements to try at home!

Discovery Center Museum Events!

(815) 963-6769 www.discoverycentermuseum.org

Nano Day

Saturday, April 4; 11:00 a.m.-3:30p.m.

Explore science and technology on the atomic scale. Investigate real life applications of nanotechnology including clothes that stay clean, sunglasses that turn clear, and socks that never stink. Check out the possibilities for super-strong ultra-light materials as well as new cures for cancer, all thanks to this teeny tiny science. Included with Museum admission.

Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 11; 10:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m.

$6 children; $6 adults; Members of either museum free!

Discovery Center joins Burpee Museum for this entertaining egg-stravaganza. Kids 9 and under can look for eggs at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.. The rest of the time, kids of all ages can get their hands on some super springtime crafts and delve into egg-cellent fun.

Kids in the Kitchen

Saturday, April 18; 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Enjoy activities promoting healthy meals and snacks. Free. Sponsored by the Junior League of Rockford. Museum admission not included.

Astronomy Day

Saturday, May 2; 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Discovery Center Celebrate National Astronomy Day with free planetarium shows, star maps, and glittery star crafts. Check out the inner workings of a telescope and take a close-up look at our star the Sun with the Rockford Amateur Astronomy Club. Included with Museum admission.

Crime Lab Detectives

Saturday, May 16; 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Solve the crime on opening day of this new traveling exhibition. Sponsored by OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.

Mythbusters Grant and Kari Coming to Rockford

Save the date. Grant and Kari from Discovery Channel's Mythbusters will be visiting Rockford for an exciting Discovery Center Fundraiser on October 3, 2009. Check back frequently as details come available.

GRANT IMAHARA

Before becoming a Mythbuster, Grant Imahara was an animatronics engineer and model-maker for George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic in Marin County, California. He specialized in electronics and radio control at the ILM Model Shop, and has credits on numerous movies, including Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, AI: Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Terminator 3 and Star Wars: Episode III.

He has installed electronics in R2-D2 units for Star Wars Episodes I and II, replacing the halogen light source and rotating color wheel (for the sparkly lights) with a custom microcontroller-based LED circuit that was originally created to make the pulsating lights for the main engines of the Protector, from Galaxy Quest.

Grant has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. He picked up his mechanical skills from the machinists at the ILM Model Shop, many of whom date back to Howard the Duck (1986).

Grant’s skill set includes electronics design and fabrication, machining, welding, woodworking, CAD layout, pneumatics, CNC programming, and laser cutting, as well as some mold-making and paint.

KARI BYRON

Without knowing, Kari Byron had been training her whole life to be a Mythbuster. By the age of 5 she was setting up experiments to test on her sister using dolls as crash test dummies. Luckily for her parents, they always caught her right before little sister took a ride down a laundry shoot or was the subject of 360 on a swing set attempt.

After graduating from San Francisco State and traveling the world, Kari began her career as an artist, working in sculpture and painting and holding successful exhibitions at some of San Francisco's leading galleries. Artist was only one of many hats she held searching for her place in the world. Her sculpting skills and love for odd jobs soon led her into the world of model-making and toy-prototyping and a job with Jamie Hyneman at M5 Industries. It was here that Kari got her first big break with the Mythbusters team.

Kari works with the MythBusters team, using science and Yankee ingenuity to solve the mysteries of today's most compelling urban legends.

Flubber!

In a large container, mix:

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white glue (gallon jugs available at office supply stores)
food coloring (whatever color you choose)

In a small container, mix:

1 1/3 cups warm water
3 tsp. Borax (laundry booster available at Walmart & Target)

Slowly pour Borax solution into glue mixture (make sure each container is thoroughly mixed first!). Stir as you pour. Mix thoroughly. The flubber will thicken and become hard to stir. Remove from container, squeezing out excess water. Store in airtight container. If stored in a bucket or Ziploc bag, your flubber should last 2-3 weeks. I do not recommend keeping it longer as it will begin to separate and gets very smelly! Yes, I'm speaking from experience, it's not pretty! For extra fun, flubber can be cut with scissors and cookie cutters. It also makes an excellent tool for developing fine motor skills and letter recognition for little ones!

Student Opportunities

The Kids Philosophy Slam 2009:

The mission of the Kids Philosophy Slam is to give kids a voice and to inspire kids to think by unlocking their intellectual and creative potential through a unique and powerful philosophical forum. Over $5,000 in prizes are available to students & schools.

2009 Topic: Greed or Giving: Which has a greater impact on society?

http://www.philosophyslam.org/

Submit your creative ideas to Creative Kids Magazine!:

Creative Kids is looking for the very best material by students (ages 8–16). Material may include cartoons, songs, stories between 500 and 1200 words, puzzles, photographs, artwork, games, editorials, poetry, and plays, as well as any other creative work that can fit in the pages of the magazine.

All work must be original. Upon acceptance of a work, CK will request that a legal guardian sign their standard contract granting copyright permission. The contract will be mailed with notification of acceptance. Work may be submitted by the author, parent, or teacher. For more information see Mrs. Bauman or search for "Creative Kids" at prufrock.com!

Easy Science to Try at Home!

Pour ½ cup of milk into a bowl. Add 2 drops of food coloring in four different areas of the bowl (pretend the bowl is a clock and add the drops at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00). Use four different colors. Dip a toothpick into dishwashing liquid. Stick the dishwashing liquid end of the toothpick into the center of the bowl of milk. What happens?

Milk is mostly a mixture of fat and water. The food coloring mixes easily in the water but not in the fat. So, the more fat in the milk the least mixing occurs. The detergent causes the colors to move because of the way the detergent acts with the fat and the water.

Try the experiment with other kinds of milk (powered, skim, whole, lowfat, soy) and see if you get different results.

Rainbow Crow

Draw a stick figure bird using a black marker (vis a vis works best) near the bottom of a coffee filter. Place the coffee filter into a cup with a small amount of water (the end of the coffee filter should just barely touch the water). What happens?

Black is really made up of many different colors. Chromotography is a technique used to separate parts of a mixture. In paper chromatography, you are separating the different colors that make up black.

Check out and read the book Rainbow Crow by Nancy Van Laan at the library.

Cleaning Chemistry

Put one old penny in each of 5 paper cups. Pour lemon juice into the first cup – make sure the penny is completely covered. Wait a few minutes and then use a spoon to remove the penny. What does it look like? Rub the penny on a paper towel? What happens?

Pennies are made of copper. When pennies are around awhile, the copper mixes with the oxygen in the air, forming copper oxide. The lemon juice is an acid which can dissolve copper oxide.

Try it again using soda, milk, apple juice, and water. Use the same amount of liquid. Wait about 5 minutes. Take the pennies out. Which pennies are cleaner? Why?

Swimming Raisins

Put one raisin into a cup of water. Put one raisin into a cup of clear soda (like Sprite). What happens?

The ability of a solid to float or sink is based on its density compared to the density of the liquid. In the water, the raisin sinks because it is more dense than water. The carbon dioxide gas in the soda causes bubbles that act like "floaties" on the solids (raisins), causing the raisin to float. But when the raisin gets to the surface, the bubbles pop and the carbon dioxide gas escapes into the air. This causes the raisin to sink again, and the process repeats itself. The process continues as long as sufficient carbon dioxide is available.

Try using other solids such as a piece of cork, a paper clip, and a popcorn kernal. Why do get different results? Hint: Corks are less dense than the soda. Paper clips are more dense.

More updates coming soon!

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