VanCleave's Science Fun

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

Yawning is Contageous

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Just looking at the photo of the girl yawning makes one want to yawn. In fact, if you try not to think about yawning the desire to yawn just seems to be greater. I’ve not found any explanations for this response. Even before it is born, a baby yawns as early as the first trimester […]

Bird Sounds

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Whistling is the act of producing a musical sound by holding your lips and tongue in a certain way as you force air out of your mouth. Yes! I know that this sounds a bit vague, and hope someone will send me a better definition. Whistling is something that never mastered. I can make a […]

A Camel’s Adaptive Characteristic

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Question: How do animals adapt to their environment? Answer: I do not support the idea that animals purposely change their bodies over time so that they can better adapt to an environment. Instead, I support the idea that animals that have certain physical characteristics are better adaptive to an environment. For Example: Camels can survive […]

Vertebraes

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Vertebrates are animals that have a back bone. These animals include humans, dogs, cats, pigs, cows, and chickens. The backbone is also called the spine and is made of bones called vertebrae. You can bend forward, left and right, and some of you can bend backwards (doing a back bend). This is because your backbone […]

How to Prepare a Chicken Skeleton

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Real or plastic, skeletons are expensive. Even a chicken skeleton can cost several hundred dollars. YIKES!! The chicken skeleton in the photo is not an easy project. Actually, I found cleaned chicken bones that kids can safely handle more useful and certainly easier to obtain than the full assembled  skeleton. Boiling is one method of […]

Butterfly vs Moth Wings

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Butterflies and moths are insects in the order Lepidoptera. These insects are  similar in appearance, but there are distinct differences that can be used to identify one from the other. Period of Activity Moths are nocturnal (active at night) and butterflies are diurnal (active in the daytime).  This information helps you to distinguish a moth […]

Enzymes

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Catalyst vs. Enzymes A catalyst is a chemical that changes the speed of a chemical reaction. Generally a catalysts increases the rate of the reaction. Organic catalysts found in living organisms are called enzymes. Enzymes are proteins found in both plants and animals. It is believed that enzymes act like a holder into which molecules […]

Catalyst Model

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What is A Catalyst? A catalyst is a chemical that changes the rate of a chemical reaction, but does not become part of the product. Catalyst generally increases the rate of a chemical reaction. Catalysts are not all the same, one type of catalysts cause chemicals to break apart forming two or more  smaller molecules. […]