Category:Biology Experiments’

14 DIY Halloween Science Projects for Kids

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

Turn your kitchen table into the coolest mad science lab in the neighborhood. Click on the project name for a link to instructions and to read about the “Science Behind the Fun.” Most of these projects can be found in my book “Kitchen Science Lab for Kids,” the perfect gift for any young scientist!

1. Frankenworms– Bring gummy worms to “life” using baking soda and vinegar.

2. Alien Monster Eggs– Make creepy, squishy monster eggs.

3. Oozing Monster Heads– Combine science and art to create Halloween fun.

4. Bag of Blood– Amaze your friends with this magical science trick.

5. Vampire Rock Candy

Vampire Rock Candy (kitchenpantryscientist.com)

6. Cornstarch Goo

7. Jell-O Eyeballs

Jell-O Eyeballs
kitchenpantryscientist.com

8. Vegetable Vampires

Vegetable Vampires kitchenpantryscientist.com

9. Magic Potion– Make a color-changing, foaming potion using red cabbage and water.

10. Halloween Soda Explosion– The classic Diet Coke and Mentos explosion is perfect for Halloween.

11. Foaming Alien Blood– Bring the X-Files to your kitchen with this creepy green fake blood

12. Mad Scientist’s Green Slime– Because everyone loves slime

13. Homemade Fake Blood– It’s simple to make non-toxic fake blood in your kitchen.

edible fake blood

14. Fizzy Balloon Ghosts– Draw scary faces on balloons and inflate them using baking soda and vinegar.

Homemade Gelatin Printing Plates for Leaf Prints

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

When dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, gelatin molecules trap water to create what scientists call a colloid, or a gel. When glycerin is added to a gel, it becomes slippery, so paper won’t stick to it and can be used to make beautiful prints that capture the character and anatomy of a leaf. I’m obsessed with this fun, easy science/art project. Parental supervision is recommended when adding the boiling water to the gelatin.

You’ll need:

1.5 cups vegetable glycerin ( around 375 ml) (I’d recommend ordering this online, since it’s cheaper.

1/2 cup cold water

112 grams powdered plain gelatin (four 1oz boxes of plain Knox gelatine, near Jell-O in the grocery aisle

1 and 1/2 cups boiling water

heat-resistant mixing bowl

kitchen strainer/sieve (optional)

liquid measuring cup

large, flat container, such as a casserole dish or rimmed baking sheet

paper towels

paper

a small paint roller or brayer

liquid acrylic paint

leaves

Directions”

  1. Place 1/2 cup cold water in a bowl.
  2. Pour half of the glycerin liquid into the water and mix slowly to avoid bubbles.
  3. Sprinkle the gelatin powder into the water/glycerin and stir/mash together.
  4. Add boiling water and stir carefully, mashing up the lumps until the gelatin dissolves.
  5. Put the mixture through the sieve to remove any lumps of undissolved gelatin.
  6. Add the remaining glycerin to the strained gelatin mixture.
  7. Slowly stir to thoroughly blend all ingredients, being careful not to introduce bubbles.
  8. Pour the mixed liquid into the large, flat container.
  9. Use a paper towel to skim any bubbles off the surface of your gelatin mix
  10. Let the gelatin sit undisturbed for an hour or two, and then put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
  11. While the plate solidifies, find some fresh leaves. Use a book or app to try to identify the leaves you picked.
  12. When the gelatin plate is ready, you can leave it in the container or remove it. (I left it in the casserole dish.) Use the roller to apply paint to the gelatin
  13. Lay some leaves on the paint and use a finger to smooth each part of the leaf down into the paint. To highlight the veins on the leaf, lightly roll paint over the leaf.
  14. Carefully put a piece of paper down on top of the leaves and paint. Use your fingers to smooth the top sheet of paper and transfer the paint. Lift the paper to reveal the leaf prints.
  15. Peel the leaves off the painted gel and place them between two sheets of paper to make a positive print. Smooth the paper to transfer the paint and separate the paper to see the images.
  16. The gelatin plate can be reused with different paint colors. Just wash the gel plate with a wet paper towel between uses, and store it between pieces of saran wrap. It should keep for a few weeks.

Invisible Ink

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

Write secret messages using baking soda and water and make the big reveal using a bright yellow spice called turmeric!

(safety note: small children should be supervised around rubbing alcohol. It is poisonous.)

You’ll need:

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1 tsp. turmeric

rubbing alcohol

cotton swabs

paper

Instructions:

For invisible ink, mix 1 Tbsp. baking soda into 1/2 cup water

For revealing paint, mix 1 tsp. turmeric into 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol (isopropanol)

  1. Use a cotton swab dipped in invisible ink to write a message or draw a picture on a piece of paper.
  1. Let the ink dry
  2. Use a second cotton swab dipped in revealing paint to make the message appear, as if by magic.

The Science Behind the Fun:

Baking soda is white, and when it dries, you can’t see it against the white paper because it is camouflaged and blends into the paper. Turmeric is a kind of chemical called an acid-base indicator that changes color depending on whether it’s in a solution with a high pH, called a base, or a solution with a low pH, called an acid. Baking soda is a base, and turns the turmeric bright red where you wrote the message. Paper has a neutral pH (isn’t an acid or a base), and the turmeric on the paper stays yellow.

Five Ways Kids Can Decorate Eggs Using Science

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

It’s fun to create colorful, swirling marbled designs on eggs, and there’s science behind the fun! Here’s a brief description of each. Click on the blue titles for more instructions and science explanations.

Olive Oil Marbling: You’ll need hard boiled eggs, olive oil, vinegar, and food coloring. We used green, yellow and brown food coloring to make robin’s egg colors.

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Whipped Cream Faux Marbling: You’ll need hard boiled eggs, a shallow container, cool whip or whipped cream, food coloring, and a toothpick. (Project from Star Wars Maker Lab -DK Books)

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Lemon-Painted Eggs: Dye eggs with cabbage juice and use lemon juice and backing soda to “paint” pink and blue designs on the purple eggs. (Project from STEAM Lab for Kids- Quarry Books)

Natural Dyes: Experiment with fruit, coffee, tea, spices, veggies and even onion skins to create beautiful, natural egg dyes.

Nail Polish Marbling: This one is obviously inedible, but it’s a fun craft project! You’ll need eggs with the yolks and whites blown out, a container that can be thrown away, nail polish in two or more colors, and water. (Project from STEAM Lab for Kids-Quarry Books)

nail polish marbled eggs

The science behind the marbling fun: Egg dyes and food coloring require an acidic environment to form bonds. That’s why you add vinegar (also called acetic acid) to water and dye when coloring eggs. Things that are less dense than water, like olive oil and nail polish, float on top of water, allowing you to create designs that can be transferred onto your eggs.

Ecology for Kids

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

I’m really excited about my newest book, Ecology for Kids. It’s full of activities perfect for Earth Day, or any day when kids want to get their hands into some fun biology projects that teach them about Earth’s ecosystems. ( Ecology for Kids is available everywhere books are sold.)


Click here to watch a TV segment where I demonstrate how to make terrariums (rainforest ecosystems) and expanding cacti (desert ecosystems). I also illustrate ocean acidification using color-changing purple cabbage juice, baking soda, vinegar and carbonated water.

The book was illustrated by Kelly Anne Dalton and photographed by Amber Procaccini. Here’s a peek at a few images from the book, which contains biographies of 25 inspiring ecologists, paired with projects that help kids explore the work of those scientists.

Wangari Maathai

Prairie Plant Lab

Lesley de Souza
Soil Erosion Lab

Summer Science- Biology for Kids

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

My latest book is out just in time for summer! Biology for Kids pairs short bios, beautifully illustrated by artist Kelly Anne Dalton, with related science projects, including step-by-step instructions and color photographs. (Available everywhere books are sold.) Amazon link here.

Here’s a TV segment where I demonstrate a few projects from the book:

And you can take a peek inside here:

Thanksgiving Food Science: Cranberry Spy Juice

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

(Adapted from Kitchen Science Lab for Kids)

Grab an extra bag of cranberries this Thankgiving! Kids can use it to reveal invisible messages they write with baking soda and water.

You’ll need:

-around 2 cups of cranberries

-water

-baking soda

-printer paper

-small paintbrush, Q-tip, or lollipop stick

Safety tips and Hints:

Boiling the berries should be done by an adult. Keep the lid on the pan, since the air pockets that make cranberries float can also make them explode. Kids can take over once the juice is cool.

When playing with cranberry juice, aprons or old clothes are a good idea, since it stains!

Directions:

Step 1.  Cut a cranberry in half and observe the air pockets that make it float.

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Step 2. Boil the cranberries in about three cups of water for 15 to 20 minutes, covered. Listen for popping sounds as the air in the cranberries heats up and they explode.

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Step 3. Crush the cooked berries and push the liquid through a sieve or colander to collect the concentrated cranberry juice.

Step 4. Allow the juice to cool and pour it into a casserole dish or cake pan big enough to hold a piece of paper.  If your cranberry juice seems thick and syrupy, add a little water, so that it’s thin enough to soak into paper!

Step 5. Test the paper you want to use by cutting a small piece and soaking it in the cranberry juice. If it stays pink, it will work, but if it turns blue or gray, try some other paper.

Step 6. Add a few teaspoons of baking soda to 1/3 cup of warm water and stir well. Don’t worry if you can still see some baking soda.

Step 7.  Using a Q-tip, paintbrush, or a homemade writing tool, use the baking soda solution as ink to write a message on your paper.  It may take a little practice, so don’t get frustrated.

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Step 8. Let your message air dry, or speed things up with a blow dryer.

Step 9. To reveal your message, place your paper in the cranberry juice and see what happens!

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*What other natural acid/base indicators could you use to do this experiment? What else could you use as ink.

The Science Behind the Fun:

Cranberries contain pigments called anthocyanins (an-tho-SY-a-nins,) which give them their bright color. In nature, these pigments attract birds and other animals to fruit.  This is important because animals eat the berries and spread plants seeds from one place to another.

These pigments, called flavanoids, change color when they come in contact with acids and bases.  Cranberry juice is very acidic, and the pigment is pink in acids, but when you add it to a base, it turns purple or blue.

Baking soda is a base, so your baking soda message will turn blue when it comes into contact with the pigments in the cranberry juice.  Eventually, when enough cranberry juice soaks into the paper, it will dilute the baking soda, turning the pigment back to red and your message will disappear!

There are over 300 kinds of anthocyanins which are found in many fruits and vegetables including blueberries, red cabbage, grapes and blueberries.  Scientists believe they may have many health benefits.