1. Fluid Mechanics & Archimedes's Floatation Principle: Fill a
bathtub with water and explain that if she were to sit in that bathtub,
you can tell how much she weighs. Curiosity piqued, (because she wants
to know how Daddy got so smart) you can then ask her to sit on the tub,
carefully displacing the water as she does so. Collect the displaced
water, weigh it and you should have her weight in kilograms or pounds,
depending on your country 's metric system. She will be highly impressed
by your intellect (who knew Daddy hung the moon after all) and you will
have her attention long enough to explain Archimedes's Floatation
Principle and the enchanting way the scientist himself tried to take a
bath and had a sterling breakthrough, so profound the poor dude lost his
man and ran into the streets naked. Why do we always get out best ideas
in the toilet, huh?
2. Exothermic Reaction: While doing laundry, your child will almost as try to help. By getting in your way, throwing down the box of detergent, emptying bleach on coloured clothes and setting the washing machine to 'destroy'. Engage your young one by using the all-time favourite trick: wet one of his palms. Put some detergent in it and ask him to close his palm. Ask him if it's warm or cold. He will say warm (or some more creative word to that effect). Explain to him then that a chemical reaction has taken place in his palm. The wet palm and the dry detergent produced heat in what is called an exothermic reaction. This release of heat (he might not be able to say 'exothermic' for now) occurs also when the trash is not taken out for long and is allowed to sit there. The only drawback now is that you have to fight harder to keep him out of the laundry room, harder to keep him away from the detergent during laundry or when you're housecleaning. But the hardest fight might be keeping him out of the trash. He might want to see for himself, this heat release, this exothermic reaction.
3. Energy Conductors & Temperature Difference Between Objects: Luckily you can distract him with point number 3. Every parent knows the angst of telling a child repeatedly to wear shoes. Growing up, my mother got exasperated and bought all four of her children shoes with straps and buckles; shoes you couldn't take off yourself. She wanted your feet shod at all times because you never know when there's a broken glass on the floor, a pin my elder brother left there because he was making his 7th telephone for the day or when I spilled my drink and left it for my.younger sister to trip on it and earn a broken arm. To make wearing protective soles interesting for your child, do this. Explain the scientific principle of conductors and none conductors of electricity. Take him to the living room. Have him place one foot on the bare cold floor and the other foot on the rug. Ask him "do you know why the floor is so cold but the rug is warm even though you're standing in the same room?'. To which, he will say no. Then you can explain thus: the human body (i.e) his body is full of energy and allows energy to flow through it. As well as the floor but the floor has less energy than his body. So when his feet touches the floor, the floor quickly collects some of the heat in his feet away. But if he were to stand on the rug in the living room, the floor won't be able to connect to his feet because the rug is a non-conductor. The rug protects his feet from the floor. When he understands this, take it further. Tell him his shoes are like the rug, only mobile. So if he wears his shoes, his energy will be protected from the floor just as the rug protected him in the living room. This is also the same reason he can't touch wires, hot pots and fire without a non-conductor (if he's old enough to hold understand the risk). Still, keep all harmful objects out of reach of children.
4. The Brain's Biochemical Triggers: Hunger is a permanent event in a child's life. It's a great way to teach even greater science. Here goes: say she's hungry and wants to eat. While you prepare her meal, you can strike up a conversation asking if she knows why she's hungry.
You: why are you hungry now even though you had breakfast this morning?
She: (be prepared for a hilarious, hunger-induced answer)
You: Do you know that it's your brain that's hungry and not your stomach?
She: (with disbelief ) my Brain?! How? I feel hungry in my stomach.
Then as you set down the plate of lunch in front of her, you can proceed to paint a picture of the glorious demanding master called the Brain who has first dibs on the energy in the body, especially the glucose. So when the energy level is down, the Brain presses the hunger alarm in the body and then her stomach begins to feel hunger. The Brain is the master that determines when the energy level in the body is low and sets off the hunger she feels.
Be prepared, however. The next time she's hungry, she might inform you that her 'Brain is hungry'.
5. How A Steam Engine Works: Inform your child you and she are to have a fun experiment together. Get her a lab coat, a thermometer, some goggles, a notepad and her crayons (or pencil if you prefer). Wear the same thing with her. Tell her you're going into the laboratory then take her by the hand to the kitchen. Take a selfie before commencing (which you will print and stick on the fridge later with the inscription 'world's best scientists').
Next, have her fill a pot with water from the sink and put it on the gas cooker / stove. Let her take the temperature of the water and note it down together. Light the fire and start a timer with her phone or stopwatch. As the water begins to boil, stick the thermometer in and take the temperature of the water again. Note it down. Then cover the pot back and tell her to watch the lid. Very soon, it will begin to rise. That's what you've been waiting for to explain. Measure the temperature of the steam and then note it down together. Then, ask her why she thinks the lid of the pot is rising. Listen to her answers. Children are smart and she may glean it has something to do with the difference in temperatures as shown by the thermometer.
Make it fun by linking it to a character on TV: Incredible Hulk. Explain that at room temperature, water cannot do much to lift the lid. But at boiling point, it has been transformed like Incredible Hulk and can now lift things it couldn't lift before. You're explaining a ton of scientific facts here: change of state in liquids, heat capacity, and how steam engines work. But your child will not remember those by tomorrow. She will remember however, that steam is water with muscles.
Look for creative ways to explain the wonders of life and especially science to the little ones. There's a marked decline in enthusiasm in schools because teachers need to make science fun, memorable but above all, what can be easily understood.
2. Exothermic Reaction: While doing laundry, your child will almost as try to help. By getting in your way, throwing down the box of detergent, emptying bleach on coloured clothes and setting the washing machine to 'destroy'. Engage your young one by using the all-time favourite trick: wet one of his palms. Put some detergent in it and ask him to close his palm. Ask him if it's warm or cold. He will say warm (or some more creative word to that effect). Explain to him then that a chemical reaction has taken place in his palm. The wet palm and the dry detergent produced heat in what is called an exothermic reaction. This release of heat (he might not be able to say 'exothermic' for now) occurs also when the trash is not taken out for long and is allowed to sit there. The only drawback now is that you have to fight harder to keep him out of the laundry room, harder to keep him away from the detergent during laundry or when you're housecleaning. But the hardest fight might be keeping him out of the trash. He might want to see for himself, this heat release, this exothermic reaction.
3. Energy Conductors & Temperature Difference Between Objects: Luckily you can distract him with point number 3. Every parent knows the angst of telling a child repeatedly to wear shoes. Growing up, my mother got exasperated and bought all four of her children shoes with straps and buckles; shoes you couldn't take off yourself. She wanted your feet shod at all times because you never know when there's a broken glass on the floor, a pin my elder brother left there because he was making his 7th telephone for the day or when I spilled my drink and left it for my.younger sister to trip on it and earn a broken arm. To make wearing protective soles interesting for your child, do this. Explain the scientific principle of conductors and none conductors of electricity. Take him to the living room. Have him place one foot on the bare cold floor and the other foot on the rug. Ask him "do you know why the floor is so cold but the rug is warm even though you're standing in the same room?'. To which, he will say no. Then you can explain thus: the human body (i.e) his body is full of energy and allows energy to flow through it. As well as the floor but the floor has less energy than his body. So when his feet touches the floor, the floor quickly collects some of the heat in his feet away. But if he were to stand on the rug in the living room, the floor won't be able to connect to his feet because the rug is a non-conductor. The rug protects his feet from the floor. When he understands this, take it further. Tell him his shoes are like the rug, only mobile. So if he wears his shoes, his energy will be protected from the floor just as the rug protected him in the living room. This is also the same reason he can't touch wires, hot pots and fire without a non-conductor (if he's old enough to hold understand the risk). Still, keep all harmful objects out of reach of children.
4. The Brain's Biochemical Triggers: Hunger is a permanent event in a child's life. It's a great way to teach even greater science. Here goes: say she's hungry and wants to eat. While you prepare her meal, you can strike up a conversation asking if she knows why she's hungry.
You: why are you hungry now even though you had breakfast this morning?
She: (be prepared for a hilarious, hunger-induced answer)
You: Do you know that it's your brain that's hungry and not your stomach?
She: (with disbelief ) my Brain?! How? I feel hungry in my stomach.
Then as you set down the plate of lunch in front of her, you can proceed to paint a picture of the glorious demanding master called the Brain who has first dibs on the energy in the body, especially the glucose. So when the energy level is down, the Brain presses the hunger alarm in the body and then her stomach begins to feel hunger. The Brain is the master that determines when the energy level in the body is low and sets off the hunger she feels.
Be prepared, however. The next time she's hungry, she might inform you that her 'Brain is hungry'.
5. How A Steam Engine Works: Inform your child you and she are to have a fun experiment together. Get her a lab coat, a thermometer, some goggles, a notepad and her crayons (or pencil if you prefer). Wear the same thing with her. Tell her you're going into the laboratory then take her by the hand to the kitchen. Take a selfie before commencing (which you will print and stick on the fridge later with the inscription 'world's best scientists').
Next, have her fill a pot with water from the sink and put it on the gas cooker / stove. Let her take the temperature of the water and note it down together. Light the fire and start a timer with her phone or stopwatch. As the water begins to boil, stick the thermometer in and take the temperature of the water again. Note it down. Then cover the pot back and tell her to watch the lid. Very soon, it will begin to rise. That's what you've been waiting for to explain. Measure the temperature of the steam and then note it down together. Then, ask her why she thinks the lid of the pot is rising. Listen to her answers. Children are smart and she may glean it has something to do with the difference in temperatures as shown by the thermometer.
Make it fun by linking it to a character on TV: Incredible Hulk. Explain that at room temperature, water cannot do much to lift the lid. But at boiling point, it has been transformed like Incredible Hulk and can now lift things it couldn't lift before. You're explaining a ton of scientific facts here: change of state in liquids, heat capacity, and how steam engines work. But your child will not remember those by tomorrow. She will remember however, that steam is water with muscles.
Look for creative ways to explain the wonders of life and especially science to the little ones. There's a marked decline in enthusiasm in schools because teachers need to make science fun, memorable but above all, what can be easily understood.
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