Kade Nye the Science Guy

Quote of the Day:

I was talking with Kaden the other day about things he liked and didn't like. He looked up at me with his beautiful chocolate eyes and said, "You know mom, I'm just a Sciency kind of guy".

A pretty accurate description if I do say so myself. I love how his mind works. It is constantly in motion, which can be exhausting at times. He has an endless question base and an insatiable thirst to learn about the world around him. I can't wait to see what he will do and experience in his life. Whatever is it, he is gonna be great!

Here are some of our latest Science Experiments with my
"Sciency kind of Guy" :

Exploding Volcano:
We used a kit that Kaden got for his birthday for this particular volcano, but we have made several from scratch in the past. To make your own volcano see recipe below.

Materials Needed for a Salt Dough Volcano:
6 cups of flour
2 cups of salt
4 T. of cooling oil
2 cups of warm water

small plastic soda bottle

Mix all ingredients together with your hands. This is the fun part--better than gushy mud pies! If you think you need more water, add a little at a time. Make sure all the ingredients are mixed together well. You can add food coloring or you can paint it with poster paint once it dries.

Line an old cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Be sure to cover your work area. If you use newspaper, then you can just throw it and the mess away when you are done. Shape the salt dough around a small plastic soda bottle to make a mountain. The soda bottle acts as the chimney of the volcano. If you want to put small trees and bushes on the mountain, make sure to do it before the salt dough dries.

Let the dough dry thoroughly, usually overnight. You can also put it in the oven at 200-250 degrees, but check it often. When the dough is dry, you can paint it to look like a mountain.

Fill the bottle with warm water and red food coloring. Add 6 drops of liquid dish washing detergent. With a funnel add 2 tablespoons of baking soda. The slowly add vinegar to the bottle. The liquid will foam and flow down the sides of the mountain.

What makes the volcano erupt? -- When you mix vinegar and baking soda together, it creates carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the same gas that causes the lava to bubble and is produced during a real volcanic eruption.

My proud little scientist with his volcano. Thanks Grandma, your gift was a hit!

The Bouncin' Egg:
"101 Cool Science Experiments" with Glen Singleton

Materials Needed:

2 eggs

water

vinegar

flashlight

bowl

The Experiment -- We placed one whole raw egg in a cup of water and the second egg in a glass of vinegar. After a few hours a chemical reaction was noticeable and the egg in the vinegar has changed. The shell began to fizz. The acid in the vinegar dissolved the calcium carbonate that was in the shell.

We left both eggs alone for seven days. After that time, we took the egg in the vinegar to a dark room and shone a flashlight at it. The light bounced off the egg. Kaden thought that was really "cool". Next, came the fun part. It was time to bounce the eggs. We took the egg out of the vinegar and held it above the bowl. Kaden was reluctant to let it drop, but finally did.

What happened -- The egg bounced! We tried it again getting a little higher each time. We wanted to see how high we could make the egg bounce. Next, we took the egg out of the cup with water in it and dropped it over the bowl.

This egg didn't bounce, but cracked and eventually broke into the bowl.

Why did one egg bounce and the other broke? -- A chemical change took place in the egg that was left in vinegar. The vinegar, which is an acid, reacted with the calcium carbonate of the eggshell. The change made the shell go soft, then disappear. This is called "decalcification". The egg in the glass of water did not chemically change.