We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum. CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.
I'm going to add a few to the list that DS3 loves for experimenting with sound and light:
- Testing the movement of sound waves off different surfaces. Which surfaces promote echoes, and which dampen sound?
- Building rockets out of plastic bottles with baking soda and vinegar. Which ratio of soda to vinegar creates the longest shot? How full should the bottle be? How heavy can your projectile be? (Alton brown had a show recently on opening champagne bottles with swords. You could buy a few bottles and test out different methods of opening the bottle, trying to minimize spill or maximize cork travel distance-- who says these experiments can't be something parents get excited about, too?)
- More rockets: you'll need a bike pump, some foam tubing, duct tape, and foam/cardboard to make wings. Work on calibrating design to launch farther, curve toward a target, carry a load, etc. Test out his different trajectories.
- Cooking has endless options. Harvard has a great free video series on the science of cooking on topics like transglutaminase and the maillard reaction. You could pick up some agar and make juice "caviars or make something unusual, like salmon noodles.)
