Archive for the ‘Science Experiments’ Category
My 11 year old daughter Alexis came home from church yesterday wanting to show me something cool. She got a glass of lemon juice, just enough to write a secret message or the next clue to the mystery. She then got a piece of white paper and with q tip or toothpick wrote her message. The next phase let the juice dry a bought 30 minutes.
The final step in this science project is to reveal the message using a heat source of some kind, put it next to a light, boil some water in a cup and place the paper over the cup to revel the top secret message. This is a really fun and simple science activity you can do with your kids of all ages. Take this kid science experiment to the next level and experiment with different juices. Send me your comments on what you found out. Thanks Moorescience
The term used by the science world for tree ring dating is dendrochronology or the science of dating based on the growth of the ring patterns. This tree has 90 rings and has different ring sizes. Normally the rings are thicker in the middle and get skinner as the tree gets older. This is caused by the fact that the tree is young and grows faster in its youth than when the tree gets older. In some cases there can be some thicker rings in the older growth of the tree. There can be many causes for this, like greater rainfall for that year or greater sunlight on the tree.
As the tree gets older it gets larger and it looks as though its growing slower because the tree rings are thinner but if you think about it the trees circumference is increasing every year so it takes more cells to lay down the same growth as the year before. For more ideas of science ideas check out the many science kits to do online. Thanks Moorescience
The day dawned like any other day working on the cornfields for farmer Dionisio Pulido when suddenly out of nowhere a fissure opened in his field and he could smell sulphur rising to the surface. Hot molten lava began to flow in what use to be a corn field, now in its place a cinder cone called Paricutin. In just a few hours you could see the true makings of a cinder cone. What began as a crack in the farmers corn field now stands at 1345 feet above the ground and its lava covers about ten square miles. Paricutin is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
The cinder cone has steep slopes of lava and ash with usually a central vent make the shape of our typical volcano. As the lava explodes out of the central vent it is cooled quickly and builds the steep slopes surrounding the vent. Cinder cones are usually the smallest of all volcanoes and normally are under 1000 feet tall. If volcanoes are interesting to you get volcano kits , that come with lots of fun facts and activities to do. Thanks Mooresciece
A shield volcano is a volcano that has gently sloping sides and form what looks like a shield. These volcanoes are typically non violent and have a central vent with lots of fissures and dikes of hot molten lava running down the side of these volcanoes. Shield volcanoes are gently sloping because the lava flowing from them is very fluid and runny, because of this the lava does not cool as quickly and stays heated longer.
The largest mountain in the world is Mauna Loa rising just 13,000 feet from the pacific ocean but its true height is 33,000 feet rising from the ocean floor.Find yourself a good science kit that explains how shield volcanoes are formed and who knows your son or daughter might just turn out to be a vulcanologist. Thanks Moorescience
Composite Volcanoes are normally steep sided symmetrical cones that have built up over many years, ash and lava from previous eruptions hence the name composite. They normally have a crater or vent at the top. These volcanoes are also sometimes called strato volcanoes.
Some of the greatest volcanoes in the world are composite volcanoes like Mount St Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington. These composite volcanoes form along a convergent boundary or subduction zone that I blogged about before. The lava is thick and tends to get stuck in the vents and fissures of the volcano until gasses building up pressure explode causing violent eruptions. To learn more about composite volcanoes get yourself a volcano science kit and you just might find yourself wanting to be a volcanologist. Thanks Moorescience.
A sag pond is a depression in the land between two tranform faults that are sliding past eachother. As the two land masses stretch and slide past one another the land between them forms a depression. This depression is called a sagpond because many times there is a small body of water that collects in these depressions.
You want some great kids science activities you can do with your kids take them on a feild trip to a sagpond near where you live. Do some research on local sagponds in your area, if there are none take them out to see some geologic sites and enjoy a picnic. Thanks Moorescience
A transform boundary is where two tectonic plates are slideing against eachother. An example of a transform boundary is the San Andreas Fault which divides the north american plate with the pacific plate. This is also whats called a strike slip fault.
This is where the two plates are sliding past eachother. The North American Plate is moving southeast about 1 inch per year while the pacific plate is moving about 3 inches a year. At the curren speed LA will be north of San Francisco in about 100 million years. If this stuff excites you and you want to learn more search the internet for books or kits on plate tectonics. Thanks Moorescience
A divergent boundary is when the earths lithosphere plates are moving away from each other usually caused by magma from the earths crust pushing the plates away from each other. This is common in the oceanic ridge were the magma pushes its way through the plates creating a ridge.
a continental divergent boundary creates a rift valley as the two plates pull apart the land sags and you get a rift. I love the study of how the earth works and how new land is created or destroyed. I learned to value the earth and the study of it as I read books on the plate tectonic theory. If you have any questions ask. thanks Moorescience
A convergent boundary is when one tectonic plate collides with another and is forced down into the mantle. Another term used for this kind of boundary is called the subduction zone where the oceanic plate is forced back into the earths mantle when it collides with the continental plate. The world is constantly in motion though most of the time this motion is so small we can not even notice it.
What are some of the events that occur at these convergent boundaries, the oceanic rock is forced into the mantel melting and forming hot molten magma. This magma then rises to the surface and forms the volcanic chains that you see along these convergent boundaries. A great way to learn more about these boundaries is to check out some books on plate tectonics theory. Thanks moorescience
Well Crazy is what most of the scientific community said to Alfred Wegener as he gave his theory on continental shift. His theory was that about 200 million years ago the continents as we know them now were joined together and formed a super continent he called Pangaea. Take a journey back in time with me say 200 million years ago, you are standing in whats now known as South America and I am standing on what today would be the west coast of Africa but 200 million years ago it was the same land back then. He did not now exactly how the continents were shifted but he had plenty of evidence to back it up.
Like a puzzle he noted south America and Africa look liked they once were joined together. Geologist then went and found same rock types that were both in Africa and South America. The scientist then researched fossil records from both areas and found similarities. Though not very liked by the older scientists Alfred Wegener is a true revolutionary in the field of geology. As science progresses we find more evidence every day that Alfred was was the true pioneer in the development of plate tectonic theory. To learn more about plate tectonics check this out