Public Service Announcement: Dihydrogen Monoxide

Watch out for this substance... Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO)

From the Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide....

Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

You can also visit DHMO.org for more information and ways to get involved.

Public Service Announcement: Dihydrogen Monoxide: UPDATE!

April Fools*!!

Dihydrogen monoxide is another name for water - dihydrogen means 2 hydrogen atoms and monoxide means 1 oxygen atom - H2O!

Share the information from the Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide with your students and see if you can get them going - some of them will jump right on board!  (You probably work with some people who would join the crusade as well)

It's another lesson in making sure you think and evaluate as you read and listen - everything stated in the "article" is true, but I don't think anyone really wants to ban water. 

I've also used this activity with students learning about the rules of compound nomenclature and it has the same effect, whether it's April Fool's Day or not.


*Yes, I know April Fool's Day isn't until tomorrow, but if I waited until tomorrow to share this gem, you would have to wait a whole year before sharing with your students and that just didn't seem right.

Plants: Grow a Carrot Top

Sometime, when you cut up some fresh carrots, try this activity.

Place the cut off carrot top on a small plate.  Pour some water on the plate.

Leave the plate in a warm, bright spot for a few weeks and observe - a new carrot starts to sprout!

Earthquakes: A Letter to the 3 Little Pigs

After learning about earthquakes and earthquake resistant structures, have your students write a letter to the 3 Little Pigs, suggesting ways they could build their houses to be earthquake (or wolf) resistant.

The letter could be written from a friend  -
a personal letter passing along information that might be helpful

Or from a government official -
a letter outlining city or state requirements for earthquake resistant structures

The letters should include at least 5 suggestions. 

Encourage students to get creative in their writing and also in their presentation - written on a piece of stationary or as an email if it's a letter to a friend, written on a piece of "letterhead" if it's from a government official. 

Measurement: The Symmetrical Human Body

Practice measuring length while learning a little more about your body.

The human body is proportioned with almost exact symmetry.  This symmetry allows a ballerina to leap gracefully, an athlete to run fluidly and a child to stop suddenly.  It also gives each of us the balance we need for our organs to function healthfully.

The human body's proportions are often expressed in terms of the length of your head.  Measure the following lengths and see how closely your body fits the mold. (These measurements are for adults, your students might not fit them yet as proportions change as we grow into adulthood).

Record all measurements in cm.

Measure the length of your head. ____ cm

The height of an adult is 8 times the length of the head, or 8 "heads".  Your height is ____ cm, which is ____ heads.

The distance from your hips to your feet is 4 heads.  This distance on you is ____ cm or ____heads.

The length of your head should equal the width of your waist.  Does it?

Your knees are 6 heads from the top of your head.  This length on you is ____ cm or ____ heads.

The width across the shoulders is 2 heads.  Your shoulder width is ____ cm or ____ heads.

The length of your foot equals 1 head.  Your foot length is ____ cm or ____ heads.

The length of your forearm from the inside crease of your elbow to the wrist bone equals 1 head.  This length on you is ____ cm or ____ heads.

Your waist is 3 heads down from the top of your head.  This length on you is ____ cm or ____ heads.

Your hands reach the middle of the thigh, or 5 heads down.  This distance on you is ____ cm or ____ heads.


**See what other proportions you can come up with.  For example:
--Your forearm is the same length as your foot.
--The length of your pinkie is the height of your ear.

A Science Party Fit for a Princess

For my niece's 5th birthday, she thought a science party would be fun (she's very interested in all things science), but only if it could be a princess science party!  That one had us stumped for a bit, but eventually I put together some ideas that seemed to work. 

I thought I'd share them, in case anyone else is in need of some princess science ideas. 

And to prove that you can connect science to anything!

I didn't get any shots while the girls were in action - we were too busy having fun to worry about the camera, but I can give you an idea what we did.

First, we did some Princess Potions

The girls each had a "place mat" like the one shown above.  In the large circle there was a cup that contained some red cabbage juice.  There were smaller cups sitting in spots A, B and C.  Cup A contained some baking soda dissolved in water, Cup B contained vinegar and Cup C contained water. 

Each girl selected one of the smaller cups (A, B or C) and poured it into the large cup.  If the potion turned pink, she earned her tiara.  If the potion turned green, she had to kiss a frog and try again.  If the potion stayed blue/purple she had to try again.

Next up was the Magic Paper:
The girls kept the A, B and C cups from above.  They were each given a piece of "magic" paper - goldenrod paper.  They needed to unlock the paper's magical powers.  They dipped a q-tip into one of the solutions (A, B or C) and then attempted to write on the paper.  Choosing the right solution would result in red marks on the paper and earn the princesses a candy bracelet.

Princess Tea:
This was a race to see who could make a cup of "tea" the fastest - i.e. who could dissolve a sugar cube the fastest.

The girls were each given a menu:

They had to choose whether they wanted hot water or cold water, a whole sugar cube or crushed sugar cube, and whether or not to stir.

After they made their selections, we raced.  Completion of the task earned the girls a new wand.

And finally, to complete the whole princess ensemble, the girls made shirts using the pinwheel chromatography method (i.e. Sharpies and rubbing alcohol).  Lots of fun and creative designs.

 

Inertia: : A Penny for Your Finger

Hold out the index finger on your non-dominant hand.  Balance an index card on your finger and then place a penny on top of the card (so that the penny is essentially sitting on your finger - there's just an index card between them).

Use your dominant hand to flick the index card out of the way.  If things are balanced properly and you flick the card quickly enough so that inertia overcomes friction, you'll be left with a penny balanced on your finger.