VanCleave's Science Fun

Your Guide to Science Projects, Fun Experiments, and Science Research

Click Beetle

By

A live Clicking Click Beetle. Use Discount Code–    AFF20 —-to save 20% on Purchases. Janice VanCleave’s Biology For Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments That Really Work   Janice VanCleave’s Insects and Spiders: Mind-Boggling Experiments You Can Turn Into Science Fair Projects

Click Beetle

By

Reading Activity The colorful click beetle is from the cover of Eric Carle’s The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. Eric’s books are very colorful and fun.   This one about beetles would be a great introduction into a study about beetles. Learners of varied ages can compare the characteristics of real click beetles to the characteristics of […]

BUG ID Cards: Insects

By

Bug is a term used for all creepy crawlers, including insects and spiders. An easy way to distinguish insects and spiders is called The 3 + 3 Rule. Insects have: three pairs of legs (3 legs on each side of its second body part) three body parts Let’s Get Buggy 1. On index cards, draw […]

Click Beetles

By

Elaters, click beetles, snapping beetles, spring beetles and “skipjacks” are all common names for members of the widespread beetle family Elateridae. The following information about click beetles is from AgriLifeExtension website. Scientific Name: Varies Order: Coleoptera Description: Click beetles are elongated, parallel-sided and usually bear backward projections on the side corners of the shield behind […]

Types of Ants

By

Ants are insects that live in colonies (groups of the same kind of animals living together). Each colony can contain hundreds or even thousands of ants. There are three basic types of ants: Queens: The “mother” ant that spends her long life of up to 10 to 15 years laying eggs. Queens are usually wingless […]

Periodic Table: Element

By

An element is a chemical made up of one kind of atom. The known elements are listed on a chart called the Periodic Table. The elements are not randomly placed on the table. Instead, they are listed in order of their atomic number. Each element has its own atomic number which identifies it from all […]

Science Magic: Lifting Coin

By

Challenge : Using only your breath, make a coin sitting near but not over the edge of a table rise and flip without touching it. FYI: I have been successful with a penny. Yes, it can be done and it doesn’t take a hurricane wind. The secret is to blow a fast horizontal stream of […]

Bernoulli Principle

By

Challenge : Using only your breath, make a coin sitting near but not over the edge of a table rise and flip without touching it. FYI: I have been successful with a penny. Yes, it can be done and it doesn’t take a hurricane wind. The secret is to blow a fast horizontal stream of […]

Catalyst

By

This activity is a bit different. It is a magic trick used to model how a catalyst is used to combine two chemicals. A catalyst is a chemical that changes the rate of a chemical reaction, but does not become part of the product. Following is a fun way to demonstrate how a catalyst might […]

Atomic Structure

By

Question: What are atoms made of? Answer: Atoms are the smallest part of an element (single substances, such as copper, gold, and carbon). Atoms can be divided into two basic regions: 1. The region in the center of an atom is called the nucleus. Particles inside the nucleus are called nucleons, such as protons and […]