The Sound of Science

This week we have been doing more science experiments - this time to do with sound.  This is one of the cheapest and easiest activities we've done, but be prepared to talk about molecules and how sound travels if your children are anywhere near as full of questions as mine ...

What you need: some tissues / kitchen roll, a couple of forks, a plastic cup (the kind you have at parties), a pot of water, some string and some scissors.  Oh, and a table.

Experiment 1: tie one of the forks onto the end of a piece of string.  Hold the other end of the string onto your ear - you have to push quite firmly, but don't put the string actually into your ear.  Then swing the fork at the bottom so it hits the edge of the table.  The fork will make a thudding noise to everyone else but to the person holding the string on their ear they will hear chiming like church bells.  The sciencey bit is that because the molecules in a solid (ie the string) are more closely packed together than those in a gas (ie the air) they carry the sound much better and less is lost between the fork and your ear.

Experiment 2: make a hole in the bottom of the plastic cup and put a piece of string through it.  Tie a knot in the string on the underneath of the cup so that it hangs out the end you would drink out of.  Then dampen one of the tissues / pieces of kitchen towel and slide it down the string (you have to squeeze it quite hard).  it will make a noise which sounds a bit like quacking.
The sciencey bit is that the sound travels up the string and vibrates around the cup, making it louder.  No idea why it sounds like quacking, however.

Burst Painting

Having looked at the weather report today I decided that if I want to do outdoor activities with the kids I needed to do them this week, so today we have been Burst Painting.  To do this you will need:

A large sheet of paper, some liquid paint, a pack of balloons, and a bowl of soapy water and a cloth (this last one isn't necessary for the activity, but is necessary if you don't want paint-covered children tramping through your house!)

Step 1: Put some paint in a balloon, I left it dribbling for approx 5 - 10 seconds as an approximate amount.

Step 2: Add a few more colours, then blow up and tie balloon.  You very quickly learn to make sure you are blowing AT ALL TIMES when the balloon is not being pinched.  Liquid paint does not taste nice.

 

Step 3: Put the balloon on the sheet of paper and burst with a pin.  Be prepared for very painty-legged children and a lot of pieces of balloon all over your garden.

Step 4: Repeat as many times as you like, with a variety of colours.  This is our masterpiece:

Mummy's Hairdressing Salon

 I have always cut the kids' hair so they have always been curious about what a hairdressers' is like.  Today we created 'Mummy's Hairdressing Salon' which essentially constisted of a sign on the kitchen door:

 A 'waiting room' - including a print out of some hairstyles I found online which I thought I might be capable of achieving.  When they arrived I offered them drinks and then asked them about their holidays etc.  They did imply that they thought I might have gone completely mad:

 All the hairstyling stuff I could find in the house:

 A front desk (the bottle of wine is not an intentional part of this setup!) I checked them in when they arrived by opening a random file and then closing it again.  I'm fairly sure nobody noticed ...:

The 'salon' (aka a mirror and a stool.  And also some more booze I've just noticed.  I probably should have moved that before I took all the pictures (hic)):

Appointment cards (I filled these in and then they got to practice their telling the time skills to make arrive for their 'appointment' on time):

And a price list (they added up what they were having and then paid with play money, working out the change.  How very educational ...):

The finished hairstyles looked like this.  Even if you don't trust yourself to cut your kids' hair, you can still style it and have some fun.  My kids have loved this today and have pranced around for the rest of the day wafting their hair about (or as far as it will 'waft' with the amount of hairspray I put in it!):

Making Birdboxes

This week we've been making bird boxes.  I promised the kids they could make some about three years ago and finally got round to doing it.  It's pretty easy and it only took them a couple of hours (although they're both pretty handy with a drill and a screwdriver).

First we cut out and sanded all the pieces of wood we needed.  The kids measured and marked the wood (metal rulers are much easier than tape measures for children I have found) and I cut it out.  I'll let them use electric drills and sanders, but I draw the line at circular saws.  Pieces are as follows:
1 x 45cm (back)
1 x 11cm (base)
1 x 20cm (front)
1 x 21cm (roof)
2 x 20cm on one side, 25cm on the other (sides)

Next we attached the sloping sides to the back, long side against the wood.  Usually birdboxes are nailed but the kids find screws much easier and I don't fear for my fingers so these are screwed together.  Doesn't matter whereabouts on the back piece these pieces go so long as they are roughly central and the same on each side.

Then we drilled a hole in the middle near the bottom of the front piece and glued in a dowel so the birds have somewhere to stand.  We used No More Nails, but you have to make sure it is a tight fit for the dowel or it won't set properly.  Better to make the hole slightly smaller than the  dowel and bash it with a hammer to get a good tight fit.

 After that I sat the front on, marked and cut the top to slope the same as the sides so that the roof would fit properly.

 Then we drilled a 28mm hole.  The size of the hole varies depending on what sort of birds you are trying to attract (or in this case on what size drill bit you can find).  It needs to be central and a little above the dowel.  Incidentally it takes ages, especially if you have a small child in charge of the drill so we had to stop for a break partway.

 We screwed the front on and I had to trim the bottom piece so that it would fit snugly in the bottom.  We glued this in.

 The last step was to screw on the roof.  Then all it needed was a hole in the top and bottom of the back and somewhere to attach it up.  I have been advised not to paint or treat the wood as the birds will not use it if you do.

  Now all I need to do is wait and see if they get used next year.  We've placed them so they are next to a tree for first flights and protected as well as possible from our cat.  To be honest though, the children will probably have forgotten all about them by next Spring ...