VanCleave's Science Fun

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

ABOUT THE SOUND PICTURE

With mouth wide open, vibrating air coming up the throat from the vocal chords leaving the open mouth and spreading in all directions. Hi, I am Janice VanCleave, author of 50+ best-selling science experiment books for children ages 4 through high school. I taught science for 27 years and now am creating this science website.   My scream was not staged. The picture was to be of two adult cats, which I was holding. A microsecond before the camera snapped, the two cats dug their claws into my skin as they prepared to leap out of my arms. A picture like this is great for making inferences. Kids could make "guesses" as to why I am screaming. They would be drawing on facts from the photo, such as I look like I am in pain or maybe I am just pretending.

Sound Supplies and Sound Investigations

Educational Innovation Sound Supplies A black and yellow logo for Educational Innovations. A place to find fun science supplies.

Symbiosis: Butterflies & Flowers

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Butterflies and Flowers The  relationship between butterflies and flowers is called symbiosis. Symbiosis: A relationship between two organisms in which the organisms benefit from one another. How Butterflies benefit flowers. Butterflies pollinate flowers, which means they transfer the flower’s pollen from one place to another and even from one plant to another. Pollination results in […]

Why Your Ears Pop

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Question: Why are airplanes pressurized to maintain a normal atmospheric pressure on the passengers’ bodies? Answer: The internal pressure of your body is accustomed to air pressure where you live. At the altitude that airplanes travel, the pressure is much lower than your internal body pressure. Should the pressure on the outside of your body […]

Scale Model:Solar System

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Solar System Scale Model A. Planetary Distances: A scale of 1 cm:5×106 km (1 cm : 5 million km) can be used to make a model for for planetary distances. To calculate the model distance of planets to the Sun divide the actual distance of the planet by 5 million km. The answer will be […]

What is Table Sugar?

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Table sugar is commonly used to sweeten food. There are different kinds of sugars, including glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Glucose is commonly called blood sugar; fructose is sugar in fruit; sucrose is table sugar.  Sucrose is a carbohydrate, which is a chemical made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Sucrose molecules contain 12 atoms of carbon, […]

Humming

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To talk, sing, hum or to make any sound, air passes between the vocal cords in your throat and causes them to vibrate. Air can escape through your mouth and/or nose when you talk. Can you hum with your nose closed? How about with your mouth closed? Discover for Yourself 1. Hum a tune with […]

Plant Root and Shoot System

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Plants have two Organ Systems: the shoot system and the root system. 1. The shoot system is above ground. This system includes these organs: stems, flowers, seeds, fruit, buds, and Stems have many jobs, including supporting the plant; acting like the plant’s plumbing system, conducting water and nutrients from the roots and food in the […]

Gravity Research

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The scientific method is the name of the process used for scientific problem solving. Research is part of this process and includes all the different ways that information can be collected. One way to do research is to read what others have written. Directions: Read the following information about gravity. Then answer the question that […]

Seed:Dissection

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To discover what is inside a seed, pinto beans, which is a seed, can be dissected. Following are steps that can be used to observe the different parts of a seed. Note: While the diagrams show the water and beans to be green. Actually, the beans should be brown and the water clear. 1. Place […]

Archimedes: I.D.s Gold

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Before the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes (C.287-212 B.C.), nobody knew why some things float and others don’t. It is said that Archimedes’ king gave a silversmith a certain amount of gold to make him a new crown. When the crown was finished, the king asked Archimedes to figure out a way to secretly decide […]

Adhesion Project:Hypothesis

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Step 5: Hypothesis A hypothesis is your guess about the answer to your project question. This is not a “wild” guess. You need to have a good reason for the hypothesis you state. Please know that I made up all of the following hypothesis. They may or may not be true. They are examples for […]