Science Activities & Demonstrations for Elementary Students
Science can teach elementary school students how exciting the world around us can be. By formulating various activities and demonstrations for the students to watch, they will be inspired to go out and learn about how our surroundings work and affect us. Use proper safety protocols for all experiments, especially those involving matches.
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Cloud Chamber
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Using a clear glass or plastic jar, a rubber glove, matches and water, you can demonstrate how clouds form. First, show your students that nothing happens when you seal a jar with a glove and place your hand inside the glove. Next you should remove the glove, drop a few lit matches into the jar and close the jar back up with the glove and pull your hand out. As you pull your hand outward, fog will be created within the jar. The change in water pressure and thermal energy leaves the water molecules manifesting as a cloud. This activity can demonstrate the facets of weather, pressure and water molecules.
Long-Distance Call
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The simple childhood game of connecting two cups with 10 meters of string can be made into a scientific demonstration. Punch a hole in the bottom of two cups or yogurt tubs and connect a string between them. Try talking through the cups while the string is loose and while it is tight. Ask the students which method works better and why. The sound vibrations on the taut string cause the sound to be carried to the other cup. This activity can be preceded or followed by an explanation of sound in general.
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Egg in a Bottle
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For this activity you will need a long-necked glass bottle, a few matches, and a peeled hard-boiled egg. Light three matches and place them in the bottle. Then place the egg on top of the bottle. The heat from the matches causes the air to expand. As the air cools, it contracts and pulls the egg inside. This activity can demonstrate air pressure and how heat affects the air.
Float an Egg
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This quick project also utilizes an egg. Demonstrate how an egg will not float on water in a glass. Hypothesize that if you add salt to the water, the egg will float and ask your class why they think that is the case. Ask them how much salt you think that it will take for your hypothesis to be correct. Add salt one teaspoon at a time and continue to test the egg to see if it floats. This activity allows you to demonstrate the properties of water, salts and density.
Static Electricity
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Static electricity is a major attractive force that can cause your hair to stand up and for you to receive a shock when you touch a doorknob. Demonstrate the power of static electricity by using several different breakfast cereals, a Plexiglas sheet and a wool hat. Spread some cereal on a table and place some wooden blocks down on either side so you aren't pressing the Plexiglas directly into the cereal. Rub the wool hat back and forth over the Plexiglas and eventually some of the cereal particles will begin to be attracted to the sheet. Test this out with each cereal. Ask your students why they think some cereals are more susceptible to this phenomenon than others. Talk about static electricity and other real-life examples of its use.
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References
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