VanCleave's Science Fun

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

Snow Globes

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I love snow globes. Have you ever wondered what makes the glittery stuff  inside the globe drift down slowly? It really does look like falling snow? 1.One factor is the viscosity (thickness) of the liquid. Viscosity is a fancy scientific name for describing the resistance of a fluid (gas or liquid) to flow. It could […]

Atomic Theory

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I like reading about the history of science. Some of the ideas of scientist of the past seems so silly. How could such smart people have such dumb ideas? But, then I wonder if the scientific facts we are learning today will seem silly to people in the future. Maybe! But for now let’s have […]

Atomic Model

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The best part about writing on a blog/website is the interaction with other educators. For example, I recently posted an investigation about rolling a marble toward an object and observing the path of the marble before and after it hit the object. The investigation models how scientists discovered the parts of an atom without being […]

Atomic Models

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I am a visual learner and often make models so that I can understand a concept. Since I seem to be challenged when it comes to spacial orientation, I need models for things that are three dimensional. For example, atoms and their parts and especially how scientists find out about the parts of atoms without […]

Subatomic Parts

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Did You Know? Atoms have a central area called the nucleus. Protons are positively charged particles in an atom’s nucleus. Also in the nucleus are neutrons, particles with no charge. Neutrons and protons have about 2000 times as much mass as do electrons, thus the nucleus is the most massive part of the atom. While […]

Periodic Table Game

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I am having so much fun sharing ideas about the periodic table of elements. The photo above came from Amida, a homeschool mom who not only took the photo but created the game being played. What really amazes me is that she created and made the game pieces YESTERDAY!!! This game is still in the […]

Periodic Table: Game for Kids

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Would you eat an Arsenic cupcake? Obviously you would not. But, the cupcakes shown have symbols for different elements written in icing, including arsenic. I am very excited about the responses received about the periodic table activities. I ask for ideas for games related to the periodic chart and a received the following from Amida. […]

Periodic Table

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This Unit on the Periodic Table is being developed.  In other words, I am writing the activities in response to your feed back. Please read the activities and let me know how they can be changed to make them more useful. When applicable, I will use your questions. For example: Question: Why is the periodic […]

Periodic Table

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Chemistry is such a fun course and so applicable to daily living. I’ve been thinking about an interesting way for kids of all ages to learn more about chemistry. One of the most important chemistry learning tool is the periodic table. So, I have designed an activity that introduces some of the elements on the […]

Chemistry:Wrinkled Fabric

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Question: Why do clothes wrinkle if you leave let them cool in the clothes dryer? Answer: Polymers are large molecules made of repeated units linked together. When fabrics made of polymers are heated, some of the bonds holding the linked units of the polymers break. This allows the fibers to move around. I in vision […]