Hi, Friend!
One quick bit of housekeeping: this newsletter will be off the rest of 2020 to recharge and plan for 2021. We have some new ideas planned, and others that we’d like to elaborate on. It’s been great to get feedback on our experiments, and we’d like to take the next step in growing this community of likeminded scientist educators. We’ll take the rest of the year to plan how to do that, as well as build some things we’ll be excited to announce in early 2021.
Now, to a couple of experiments that are a sneak peek from our upcoming release, Esther the Detective Investigates…, that only require a clear glass of water, an arrow, and a straw…
Story
Esther was helping Mrs Noblegas with her garden. As thanks, Mrs Noblegas brought Esther a glass of water and a straw. But, Esther took a look at the straw and was confused. Is this a special straw? Let’s help her figure it out…
You Need
A clear glass or cup of water
A straw
A piece of paper
A marker or two
That’s it!
Now, give yourself a little space to back up and look at what you’re doing (today’s experiments are heavy on observation), and get started!
Place the straw in an empty glass and observe what it looks like through the glass. Remove the straw from the glass.
Measure the glass about half full of water.
Place the straw in the glass again.
Observe: What does the straw look like when you look at it through the glass? How big is the part of the straw under the water? And how big is the part of the straw that is sticking out of the water? What does the straw look like at the point where air and water meet?
Observe the straw from different sides of the glass. You can also move the straw in the glass and see what happens.
Interpret: How did the straw look different when it was in an empty glass and in a glass with water? Did something happen to the straw itself? What substance changed how the straw looks like?
Esther thought that Mrs Noblegas had brought her a special straw. However, that seems to be not true. What could you tell Esther about your findings?
“As you probably noticed, water sometimes changes how we see things. Esther would be delighted if we could present her with another example of this phenomenon. Let’s see what we could do with a pen and some paper!”
Draw an arrow pointing left or right on the bottom of the paper.
Measure water in the glass so that it’s half full.
Set the paper upright, right behind the glass of water. Make sure you can see the arrow through the glass.
Look at the arrow through the glass and make observations: What happens to the arrow? Which direction does it point at?
Then move the paper further back. Measure the width of three palms and hold the paper there. You can mark the spot with a piece of tape.
Set the paper on the marked point behind the glass and make an observation: To which direction is the arrow pointing now?
Lift the paper up and observe: Which direction is the arrow really pointing at?
Try to move the paper back and forth behind the glass, what happens? Interpret: When does the arrow change its direction behind the glass?
Now pour out the water from the glass and see whether the arrow still changes its direction when seen through the glass.
Interpret: What substance caused the arrow to change its direction?
Now, want to blow some tiny minds? We need to understand something about seeing in general. The reason we cannot see anything in the dark sounds clear – there is no light. But the reason light is important?
We don’t actually see the objects themselves, but we see the light reflecting from the surface of the object. As light reflects from the surface of the object and travels to our eyes through air, we can see it. But light travels differently through water, as well as through glass. Actually, the glass and water together form a type of lens, making the light change its direction as it refracts. So when there is anything but air between the object and our eyes, we must be careful in trusting what we see.
If you have too much wine at your holiday celebrations, a similar excuse might get you out of some otherwise less-than-ideal behavior.
Have a great holiday season, stay healthy, and we’ll see you in the 2021!
-The Kide Science Team