“I’m bored,” Katy said sitting at the kitchen table.

Her mother dried her hands on the kitchen towel and sat down at the table next to Katy. “Why don’t you play with your dolls?”

“They’re tired,” Katy said.

“Why don’t you go and find Bernie?”

“He doesn’t want to play with me.”

“Hmmm, “ Katy’s mother thought. “I have an idea. Let’s you and I make a guitar.”

“A guitar? Like the rock bands on TV?”

Katy’s mother smiled. “Not exactly, but it will play music. What do you think?”

Katy jumped to her feet.” Yeah! Let’s go!”

Want to make a guitar with Katy and her mom?

Here’s what you need:

1. A piece of wood
2. A Hammer
3. Some rubber bands
4. Some nails

First, Katy’s Mom helps her pound the nails into the board. She pounds two on one end of the board and two on the other end of the board. You can pound three or four nails on each end depending on the number of strings that you want your guitar to have.

Make the nails on the other end to be at different distances like this:

Katy takes a rubber band and strings her guitar by slipping one end of the rubber band over the nail and then pulling the rubber band to reach the other nail at the other end of the board directly opposite it.

Can you string your guitar?

Now Katy is playing her guitar! Can you play your guitar?

When your guitar makes a noise, what are the rubber bands doing?

___________________________________________________________

Do your strings make the same sound?

___________________________________________________________

Which string makes the higher pitched sound? Which makes a lower pitched sound?

___________________________________________________________

How can you use the same string to make different pitched sounds?

___________________________________________________________

Katy’s off to find a drummer and a singer – She’s making a rock band!!!!

See you later!!!

For more fun science for kids make sure you see our whole site and feel free to create a free account to use all of the fun science features such as science worksheets and science coloring pages.

“The storm last night was terrible. Did you sleep okay, Katy?” Mrs. Reynolds asks Katy when she wakes up.

Katy pushes the curtain to the side to look out on the sunny morning. “Sure, I slept okay, Mom.” She knows it had rained a lot last night, but the sidewalk and road are dry. “Where has all of the rain gone?”

“It has evaporated,” her mother says.

“Evaporated? What is that?

Katy’s mother smiles. “I know just the activity to help you understand evaporation. Let’s go outside!”

Do you want to do this activity with Katy and her Mom?

Here is what you will need:
Water
Chalk

Pour some water on the sidewalk and spread it around with your hand.
Then use the chalk to draw a border around the water spot.

It should look like this! Did you draw as carefully as Katy?
Now leave it for a few minutes. Go back and check it. What happened?
___________________________________________________

Here is Katy’s water spot.

What happened to Katy’s water spot?
___________________________________

Try your experiment again in a sunny spot.

What happened?
____________________

Which disappeared faster, the one in the shade or the one in the sun?
___________________________________

Katy and her Mom put a water spot in a place where the wind blew and then another one in a place where the wind didn’t blow. Can you do that? What happened?

___________________________________

Katy learned a lot about evaporation. Did you? She hopes so!

For now she says-

“Bye, see you next time!!”

You could also expand the activity by looking at the depth of the water. If the depth of the water is more, evaporation will take place slower. The reason for this is that evaporation can only take place at the surface as the water molecules are able to “jump” into the air. If the water is deeper, or the surface area smaller, than less molecules have the chance to jump so evaporation slows down. 

For more fun science for kids make sure you see our whole site and feel free to create a free account to use all of the fun science features such as science worksheets and science coloring pages.

Katy sat at the table, her lunch long finished. She began tapping her spoon on her half empty glass of juice.

“Katy, you’re making such a racket!” her mother complained.

“No Mom, listen,” Katy said. She hit her spoon against the side of the glass and it made a pleasant ringing noise. ”It’s music!”

Katy’s mother laughed. “Yes, maybe it is!!”

“I think I know how to make music now,” Katy said. “Come on Mom, let me show you!”

Do you want to make music with Katy and her Mom? Let’s go!!!

What you need      

- Some glasses with water in it
- A spoon

Katy filled each glass with different amounts of water and then hit each with a spoon.

Is the sound the same in each glass?

___________________________________

How are the sounds different?

_____________________________

Does changing the amount of water in the glass change the sound? Try it!

_____________________________

Collect 8 glasses and try to make the notes in the scale- Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do- Can you do it!!! Give it a try!!!

Katy had fun making music with her glasses- did you?

 ”I’m off to make more music- SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!”

Several large organs inside your body keep you alive.  They are often called large or vital organs because without them, you could not live.  The heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, brain, stomach and intestines are all necessary for you to live a healthy, normal life.  But what do they all do? The heart pumps blood through the veins.  The blood travels through veins and arteries, bringing oxygen to your body, as well as vitamins and nutrients.  Your heart pumps between 50 and 90 times every single minute of every single day.  It pumps even while you sleep! Your liver is the organ that has three important tasks.  It cleans the blood, eliminating all of the bad ‘gunk’ that can get in to it.  The liver also produces bile, which is a digestive juice.  The digestive juice is stored in the gallbladder and is used when you have a fatty food that needs to be processed.  The bile breaks it down so it can travel through the bloodstream.  Lastly, the liver stores glycogen, which is glucose.  It is an extra energy source for when your other stores get used up. One organ that you actually have two of is your lungs.  There are two lobes of the lungs that bring air in and out of your body.  The trachea or windpipe comes down from your esophagus and splits in two, entering each lung.  Inside the lungs are thousands of bronchiole, which are about the width of a hair.  These take air to the alveoli or air sac.  They inflate – you breathe in.  They deflate, you breathe out.  Your lung will breathe for you all night long, even as you sleep. 

Another organ where you have two of is the kidneys.  They are towards your back and are the clean up men.  The kidneys main job is to clean the blood out.  The kidneys have about 1 million tiny filters, called nephrons, which work to rid the waste products from the bloodstream.  The waste they filter out is mixed with water, resulting in urine.  The urine slides down a tube called the urethra and in to the bladder.  When your bladder feels full, you know it is time to go to the bathroom!  It is possible to live with only one kidney. Is your stomach growling?  That means your stomach is empty!  The stomach is an organ that processes all of the food you eat.  The stomach is one of the first stops in the digestive system.  The stomach then moves food to another organ in your body, the intestines.  The intestines break food down in to liquid form so it can be processed throughout your bloodstream.   Last, but not least, and perhaps the busiest organ in the body is the brain.  The brain controls the signals for every organ, muscle and movement you make.  Did you blink?  You brain told your eyelid to do that. Did you swallow?  Your brain told you mouth to.  Do you have to go to the bathroom?  Your bladder signaled your brain that it was time to go.  Your organs all work in tandem together to make a healthy you.  Take care of your organs by eating healthy foods and exercising often.  You can learn more about your organs by visiting our Human Organs section here: http://www.sciencewithme.com/worksheets.php?cid=5.
Print and color our Science With Me! science worksheets on the Human Organs.  See how nice they look? For more also see our science coloring books for information on our skin which holds it all together.

Bernie’s got a problem. His father, Mr. Reynolds, says beans sink, but Bernie knows full well that beans float- he’s seen them with his own eyes! Bernie knows how to solve the argument though- he is going to set up an experiment! Do you want to help him?

What will you need?

• a big bowl or bucket
• a bag of dried beans
• a collection of objects to test ( examples: a fish sinker, a bowl, a hair roller, a nail cutter, etc)

Bernie fills the bowl with water. Fill your bowl too!

Now Bernie throws in a handful of dried beans. Bernie’s Dad throws some beans in too!

Did you throw your beans in the water?

What happened?

_________________________________________________________________

Who is right- Bernie or his father?

__________________________________________________________________

Look at the beans. What can you say about beans that float and beans that sink?

_________________________________________________________________

Mr. Reynolds asks, “I wonder what else floats and what else sinks?”

Bernie says, “I can show you, Dad!”

Bernie starts placing his objects in the water one by one.

Put your objects in the water with Bernie!

Use the table below to show which objects sink and which float.

Bernie and his father have learned a lot about things that float and things that sink. Bernie hopes you’ve learned a lot too!

See you next time!!

Bernie and his father have learned a lot about things that float and things that sink. Bernie hopes you’ve learned a lot too!

Parents’ Corner

How did your dinner taste tonight?  Did your mom call you from outside to come and eat?  Did you see the steam come from the food?  Did it smell good? All of these actions are a result of what your senses picked up.  Without senses, you probably wouldn’t have noticed anything! Your body has five different senses that are always working.  They work to allow you to hear, touch, taste, smell and see.   The senses use different organs on your body to perform their function. Hear:  Your ears are responsible for picking up any sounds near you.  The ears filter in vibrations and send messages to the brain so it knows what it heard.  Loud noises, quiet noises and in between noises are processed through tiny hairs that filter the noise in to the ears.  The sense of hearing can be diminished by too many loud noises.  Can you hear anything right now? Touch:  Your nerves are responsible for your sense of touch, not just your fingers.  Often, your fingers are the first thing to touch something, but they aren’t solely responsible for feelings.  Your toes, your elbow, your knee or any body part with a nerve ending (which is every part) can feel something.  What happens when you hold ice? 

Taste:  The tiny taste buds on your tongue are responsible for your sense of taste.  There are about 10,000 taste buds on everyone’s tongue. Different areas on the tongue are set up to filter different tastes, which are sour, sweet, salty and bitter. What does your favorite food taste like? Smell.  Your nose is the only organ on your body that can sniff out a scent.  The scented particles float around in the air and the filters in your nose are the only ones capable of interpreting them.  The nose processes the information it receives and sends a message to your brain to determine what the smell is.  Have you ever smelled burned popcorn?  You won’t ever forget it! Sight: You eyes are responsible for your sense of sight.  The eye takes in images and filters what it sees to the brain.  The brain interprets the signal so you know what is in front of you.  For example, what are you looking at right now?  If you have one sense fail, whether it is short term like a cold plugging your nose or long-term damage, like blindness, the other senses will compensate.  That means, if your sense of sight is gone, your other senses will become stronger.   Check out our Five Senses science worksheet here: http://www.sciencewithme.com/worksheets.php?cid=1 and have fun figuring out what you can hear, touch, taste, smell and see.

For more science worksheets and fun science projects visit Science With Me!

The food that you put in your mouth tastes yummy!  Do you know where it goes after you have finished chewing it?  And what does it do inside your body? Food is processed in your body by the digestive system.  This large system begins with your mouth.  You chew your food and swallow it, where it begins its descent in the esophagus.  Food slides down the esophagus, which is about ten inches long and in to the stomach, where it will be broken down in to smaller food particles by stomach acid.  Stomach acid isn’t as bad as it sounds.  Your saliva is part of the stomach acid, just a different form that begins the whole process. The Big Mixer The stomach is a stretchy sack that holds food, turns it to liquid and moves it down to the small intestine.  It works like a slow mixer as it churns the food and stomach acid.   The stomach acid is made up of enzymes, which are special chemicals that break up the food and turn it in to liquid forms of vitamins and nutrients.  The stomach acid can also kill bacteria or other harmful elements that have entered your body via the food.  Depending on what you have eaten will determine how long it takes to process.  Some food is processed quickly in a matter of minutes.  Other foods like breads and heavy doughs will require a few hours.  Drinking plenty of liquid also helps to keep your digestive system moving regularly. As the food is broken up, it moves in to the small intestine. The Intestines The stomach evenly sends the processed food, now a liquid, to the small intestine.  The liquid food moves through the small intestine and down in to the large intestine.  As it travels, it is absorbed by the body through the wall membranes.  The walls are a very thin membrane on purpose so the liquid food – now nutrients, vitamins and proteins – can be picked up by your bloodstream and moved throughout all of your body.  This is the energy that fuels your body.   Waste The particles of food that aren’t absorbed by your body become waste.  They pass through the end of the large intestine and collect as waste.  Waste builds up and exits through the anus.  You know what that is!  A bowel movement or more likely what you call poop.  Your digestive system works day and night to keep your body full of energy.  You need energy so you can walk, talk and think!  Take care of your body, feed it healthy foods, and drink plenty of water so the digestive system works well.  Color the worksheet Where Does My Food Go When I Eat It to show you know all about your digestive system!

For more science worksheets and fun science projects visit Science With Me!

Did you know you there is actually three parts to your ear the work together for you to hear?  There is the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.  Each one has a separate function it performs every minute of every day for you.

The Outer Ear
The very edge outer ear is also called the pinna.  It is large, circular and what people go and get pierced!  The pinna is large and cylinder shaped because it traps the sound waves and filters them down to the ear canal.  The ear canal is also where you can find ooey, gooey earwax!  Earwax is actually a chemical that stores up dirt that tries to get in.  The wax pushes it out and anything else that does not need to be in your ear, like germs and viruses.  Without earwax, you might get sick a lot more often!  The ear canal leads to the eardrum, which is the “door” to the middle ear.

The Middle Ear
The eardrum has a thin piece of skin covering it that picks up the sound waves that were turned in to vibrations in the ear canal.  The vibrations pass the eardrum and proceed on to the middle ear, which is made up of three very small bones.  These bones are called the anvil, the stirrup and the hammer.  Each time the eardrum vibrates it moves the sounds to the hammer to the anvil and then to the stirrup.  These three bones push the sounds in to the inner ear. 

The Inner Ear
Once the bones have pushed the sound in the inner ear, they enter the cochlea.  This is a small tube, curled and shaped in a semi circle.  It is also filled with liquid, which the sound vibrations turn in to waves.  Inside this semi circle is thousands of teeny, tiny, microscopic hairs.  The vibrations cause the hairs to move either fast or slow, causing different types of waves and wave signals.  Your brain interprets those wave signals and allows you the ability to hear different sounds.

Above the cochlea are the semi circular canals, which are three smaller loops.  They are also filled with liquid and thousands of hairs.  The hairs and liquid inside these loops moves the same as your head does.  This function allows you to keep your balance. 

Watch our HEAR HERE! science animation found here:  http://www.sciencewithme.com/category.php?cid=1 and learn all about the parts of your ear.
Then print out our ‘What’s inside my ear?’ science worksheet found here: http://www.sciencewithme.com/worksheets.php?cid=1 and see if you can locate all of the parts of the ear.  Color the parts and see if you remember what each one does.

Have fun! Fun science projects!

grokit

Spring is just around the corner.  Soon, flowers will begin to bloom and grow in gardens all across town.  Even though you won’t see any flowers for a couple of months, the plant is hard at work under the ground, preparing to grow.

Dormant
Plants go dormant in the winter.  Dormant means that the roots of the plant hibernate, just like animals.  They are deep underground sleeping, waiting for warm weather to wake them up.  Once they wake up, they stretch down deep and look for water to feed their thirst.  Roots need water or the plant will not be able to grow properly.

Sprout
Once spring arrives and the ground warms up, the roots will shoot up a sprout.  That sprout will grow taller and thicker and turn into the flower’s stem.  Some stems are skinny and others are thick and hollow.  A stem can be brown, yellow, dark green or light green.  The stem is kind of like a straw for the flower bud.  It provides a way for the roots to send water and nutrients up to the top of the plant so the blossom can form.

Leaves
Leaves will grow out from the stem at various intervals.  Depending on the type of plant that is growing will determine how many leaves appear.  Every plant is different.  Some plants have round leaves, some have long, skinny leaves.  And other plants have a lot of fern like leaves making it look like a bush.   Certain plants have very few leaves while other plants are covered in leaves.

Leaves are like water and nutrient reservoirs for the plant.  As water passes up through the stem, extras are stored in the leaves.  If the ground dries up and the flower needs a drink, it will pull extra out from the leaves. 

The Blossom
The flower might not grow on a plant for several weeks after the stem and leaves are showing.  Flowers take time and many nutrients to form.  The flower will be tightly closed and called a bud until it is ready to open.  When it opens, it is called a blossom.  Flowers range in all shapes and sizes.  Their colors run from white to dark purple, pink to blue and light yellow to deep gold.  Flowers come in thousands of varieties!

Flowers smell wonderful and look great in gardens.  If there aren’t any flowers in your yard to enjoy, look online and see how many types of flowers grow in your region.  Then, print out our plant science worksheets, color and label the plant on the worksheet and show it to your parents.  You know all about plants now!

For more fun plant science projects for children and other science fun visit our science for kids website, and register for free!

The Blue Whale is believed to be the largest animal on the planet.  Scientists have studied these enormous creatures underwater for decades, however, determining the exact size and weight is difficult!  There aren’t any scales big enough to weigh them; there isn’t a tank big enough to hold one alive.  So, how do scientists know how big a Blue Whale is?Scientists have estimated the Blue Whale’s size in a variety of ways.  First, when whaling was allowed and whalers caught a Blue Whale, they cut them up in smaller pieces to bring on their boats.  They weighed the individual pieces, but in the cutting process, fluids and other smaller parts were lost in the oceans.  Thus, the total weight of the smaller pieces was not accurate, but close. 

Secondly, scientists measure the length and width and estimate how much weight per foot or inch the whale weighs.   They estimate that whales between 95 and 98 feet long weigh close to 200 tons, or 400,000 pounds!  That is even larger than all of the dinosaurs.Everything about the Blue Whale is B-I-G.  When a calf is born, it is already the size of a full-grown hippopotamus and weighs between 5,000 and 6,000 pounds.  Fully grown blue whales are long, between 85 and 110 feet long.  The whale’s flippers alone measure 10 to 14 feet long on each side.  Its heart is as large as a small car. The Blue Whale’s tongue weighs 6,000 pounds. Fifty people could stand on its tongue.  Imagine that!  The Blue Whale has amazing adaptations that help them survive in the ocean. Blue Whales don’t sleep like you and me. If they did, they would drown. Instead, they take very short naps, often floating near the surface of the ocean. Their color is a medium blue to grayish tint, with lighter shades on the underbelly.  So when you look down in the water, it is hard to see them, even if they are floating towards the surface.     Even though the size of the Blue Whale is large, it doesn’t eat large food.  Their diet is mostly krill, which are small crusty ocean creatures.  The krill come in through the mouth opening, which is no larger than an average sized beach ball.  Blue Whale calves nurse on their mother for seven months, and drink as much as 400 liters of milk every day.Due to commercial whaling in the 1800s and early 1900s, the Blue Whale was close to extinction.  Whaling for Blue Whales was banned in the 1960s due to the extreme low numbers of the mammal.  The populations have recovered slightly, but the Blue Whale remains on the endangered species list.  Since the whaling ban, ocean traffic and global warming have also become a threat to their population.   Whales have crashed in to ships and warmer waters have affected their food supply. With careful observation and continued enforcement of the whaling ban, the Blue Whale does have the ability to recover its numbers.  The Blue Whale is needed within the life cycle of the oceans.See our worksheet here: http://www.sciencewithme.com/worksheets.php?cid=12 and color the picture of a Blue Whale.   
For more fun science projects and kids science games with animals and more you can use our Educational Kids Website.