VanCleave's Science Fun

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

Chemical Cycling

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Earth’s only inexhaustible energy source comes from the Sun. The supply of chemicals on Earth are fixed, unless you count meteorites from space. The food you eat is made of chemicals–where did they come from? If you trace the source of each chemical in your body, you would end up going in circles. This is […]

Acid Rain: Man Made

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Sulfur oxides are gases released when fossil fuels (coal and oil) are burned. Large amounts are released when industries and power plants burn fossil fuels.The diagram shows two sulfur oxides: sulfur dioxide sulfur trioxide The main source of nitrogen oxides is from the exhaust of vehicles. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides in air react with […]

Butterflies: Facts

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The butterfly and flower are both exquisite specimens of beauty. With so many morphing cartoons, toys, as well as movie characters, the word metamorphosis should easily roll off the tongue of very young learners. Science terms would so much easier if I’d taken Latin. So many science terms are a smorgasbord of Latin prefixes–roots–and suffixes. […]

Teaching Tips

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A great teacher is not someone who knows all the answers. Instead, a great teacher is someone who can give GREAT CLUES. Teachers need to STOP being answer givers and START being “FUNOLOGY GUIDES.” FUNOLOGY GUIDES are facilitators–in other words, a funology guide  direct and provide fun clues so that kids can be excited about […]

Teaching Tips: Fill-in the Blank

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Notes from Janice’s Desk Spice up fill-in the blank worksheets as well as emphasizing the order of the alphabet by listing the answers with letters that come before each correct letter.  Note that Z would be used for the letter before A.For example: More Later, Janice VanCleave

Sky Color

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Scientists make observations, identify problems, ask questions, guess at the answer (hypothesis), experiment to test their guess, collect and analyze data, and then make a conclusion stating where the result supported their hypothesis or not. These are the steps for a process called the scientific method. Do scientists always follow the previously listed steps in […]

Insulation

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Notes from Janice’s Desk My hands and feet are generally cold to the touch. In fact, when I shake hands I often hear–“Cold hands warm heart.” The saying indicates that because my hands are cold I have compassion for others. That is a character trait that I try to develop, but do people really think […]

Chemistry: Solutions

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Notes from Janice’s Desk When I was a kid milk was pasteurized. At the time I didn’t understand that pasteurized meant the milk was heated to kill any bacteria. In fact I never thought about the word until a new kind of milk was introduce. This new stuff was call homogenized and my parents were not […]

Columbus Day

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Columbus Day is celebrated in the USA on the second Monday in October. It is a day in which we celebrate Christopher Columbus’ trip from Spain to Hispaniola, North America in 1492. He was sent by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. Columbus’ crew sailed on three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and […]

Chemistry: Density

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Notes from Janice’s Desk Density is a physical property describing the mass of one unit volume of a substance. If the mass is measured in grams, generally the volume is measured in milliliters or cubic centimeters. (NOTE: 1 ml = 1 cm3) A pure substance is an element, such as copper or gold  or a […]