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As climate change creates hotter, drier conditions, we are seeing longer fire seasons with larger, more frequent wildfires. In recent years, catastrophic wildfires have destroyed homes and infrastructure, caused devastating losses in lives and livelihoods of people living in affected areas, and damaged wildland resources and the economy. We need new solutions to fight wildfires and protect areas from damage.
Researchers at Stanford have developed a water-enhancing gel that could be sprayed on homes and critical infrastructure to help keep them from burning during wildfires. The research, published Aug. 21 in Advanced Materials , shows that the new gels last longer and are significantly more effective than existing commercial gels.
“Under typical wildfire conditions, current water-enhancing gels dry out in 45 minutes,” said Eric Appel , associate professor of materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering , who is senior author of the paper. “We’ve developed a gel that would have a broader application window – you can spray it further in advance of the fire and still get the benefit of the protection – and it will work better when the fire comes.
Long-lasting protection
Water-enhancing gels are made of super-absorbent polymers – similar to the absorbent powder found in disposable diapers. Mixed with water and sprayed on a building, they swell into a gelatinous substance that clings to the outside of the structure, creating a thick, wet shield. But the conditions in the vicinity of a wildfire are extremely dry – temperatures can be near 100 degrees, with high winds and zero percent humidity – and even water locked in a gel evaporates fairly quickly.
In the gel designed by Appel and his colleagues, the water is just the first layer of protection. In addition to a cellulose-based polymer, the gel contains silica particles, which get left behind when the gels are subjected to heat. “We have discovered a unique phenomenon where a soft, squishy hydrogel seamlessly transitions into a robust aerogel shield under heat, offering enhanced and long-lasting wildfire protection. This environmentally conscious breakthrough surpasses current commercial solutions, offering a superior and scalable defense against wildfires,” said the lead author of the study, Changxin “Lyla” Dong.
“When the water boils off and all of the cellulose burns off, we’re left with the silica particles assembled into a foam,” Appel said. “That foam is highly insulative and ends up scattering all of the heat, completely protecting the substrate underneath it.”
The silica forms an aerogel – a solid, porous structure that is a particularly good insulator. Similar silica aerogels are used in space applications because they are extremely lightweight and can prevent most methods of heat transfer.
The researchers tested several formulations of their new gel by applying them to pieces of plywood and exposing them to direct flame from a gas hand-torch, which burns at a considerably higher temperature than a wildfire. Their most effective formulation lasted for more than 7 minutes before the board began to char. When they tested a commercially available water-enhancing gel in the same way, it protected the plywood for less than 90 seconds.
“Traditional gels don’t work once they dry out,” Appel said. “Our materials form this silica aerogel when exposed to fire that continues to protect the treated substrates after all the water has evaporated. These materials can be easily washed away once the fire is gone.”
A serendipitous discovery
The new gels build off of Appel’s previous wildfire prevention work. In 2019, Appel and his colleagues used these same gels as a vehicle to hold wildland fire retardants on vegetation for months at a time. The formulation was intended to help prevent ignition in wildfire-prone areas.
Related story
New treatment prevents wildfires
“We’ve been working with this platform for years now,” Appel said. “This new development was somewhat serendipitous – we were wondering how these gels would behave on their own, so we just smushed some on a piece of wood and exposed it to flames from a torch we had laying around the lab. What we observed was this super cool outcome where the gels puffed up into an aerogel foam.”
After that initial success, it took several years of additional engineering to optimize the formulation. It is now stable in storage, easily sprayable with standard equipment, and adheres well to all kinds of surfaces. The gels are made of nontoxic components that have already been approved for use by the U.S. Forest Service, and the researchers conducted studies to show that they are easily broken down by soil microbes.
“They’re safe for both people and the environment,” Appel said. “There may need to be additional optimization, but my hope is that we can do pilot-scale application and evaluation of these gels so we can use them to help protect critical infrastructure when a fire comes through.”
For more information
Appel is a senior fellow of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment ; a member of Stanford Bio-X , the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute , the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance , the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute , the Stanford Cancer Institute , and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute ; and a faculty fellow of Stanford Sarafan ChEM-H .
Additional Stanford co-authors of this research include postdoctoral researchers Andrea I. d’Aquino and Samya Sen; graduate students Changxin Dong and Anthony C. Yu; and undergraduate student Ian A. Hall.
Other co-authors on this work are from California Polytechnic State University.
This work was funded by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, Schmidt Science Fellows, and the National Science Foundation.
Media contact Jill Wu, School of Engineering: [email protected]
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Why Tipping Is Everywhere
In the united states, many say tipping is expected in more places these days. here’s how tipping culture exploded..
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.
Hello. Excuse me?
My name is Sabrina. This is Claire. We’re journalists. Could we ask you a question?
You just did.
[LAUGHS]: Another one. [UPBEAT MUSIC]
What is your view of tipping?
I think it’s become excessive. Whatever they do, they got that jar and they’re wanting you to put a tip in there.
They have the iPad. And it’s like, all right, how much you want to tip? And it’s like you bought a $5 coffee. It’s like, all right, well, tip $3.
There’s a lot of pressure. You feel like you have to tip. And I feel like people are watching you at that moment.
Yeah, yeah. I feel a lot more pressure to tip more. Wages haven’t kept up, so I feel like I should be tipping more. And it’s annoying because my wages haven’t gone up either, so it’s annoying.
The other day I just bought a loaf of bread, and the tip thing came up, gave me the option of 15 percent or 20 percent. Do I really have to tip somebody to buy a loaf of bread?
I went to the self-service machine. And it was like, add a tip. And it’s like add a tip for what? I’m the one that did the work, you know what I’m saying?
You’re like, I should be tipping myself.
I actually am a tip worker. We’re literally paid less wages in order for the customers to pay us.
What do tips mean for you and your work?
It’s how I feed my family.
Yes. 100 percent.
Unless you work in the service industry, you don’t really understand how crucial tipping is.
Tips mean a lot. They are 60 percent, 50 percent of my paycheck. And my hourly is pretty low to begin with.
Whatever I get at the end of the night goes towards dinner. Or for example, I didn’t have money for sanitary pads one time. And then that tip, grabbed it.
I feel like a lot of people feel like you did nothing for me. You just put a cup on the counter and I took it. Like, why should I pay you extra for that?
What do you say to someone who says that? You didn’t do anything, you just put my food in a bag.
If you knew what my paycheck looked every week, you would think different. Or maybe not, maybe you don’t feel bad for me and you’re like, get a different job. But like, this is a job I’m good at and the job I like. And I’d like to be able to make a living off of it. That extra dollar or two really makes a difference.
From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise and this is “The Daily.”
Tipping, once contained to certain corners of the economy, has exploded, creating confusion and angst and now even becoming an issue in the presidential campaign. Today, economics reporter, Ben Casselman, cracks open the mystery of this new era of tipping.
It’s Thursday, August 29.
So Sabrina.
Can I ask you a personal question?
What is your philosophy on tipping?
[LAUGHS]: Exactly.
Sabrina, I think I’m a sucker. Look, I’ve always tried to be a good tipper in restaurants. It feels like part of the deal.
I worked as a waitress for many years. That was the only way I actually made money. If there’s no tip, there’s no salary. Restaurants, it’s a rule.
Absolutely. But now tipping is everywhere. You see these tip screens in places you never would have tipped before. I mean, never mind the coffee shop, you see it at the fast food place. You see it at the oil change place. I’ve heard stories of people seeing it at the self-checkout line. Who’s even getting that tip?
And every time a tip screen pops up, I always tip.
Oh, my god, Ben, so do I.
It’s totally irrational. I hate it. But there’s some part of me, and I don’t love this about myself, that is just convinced somebody is going to be sitting there judging me or I’m terrified that they’re going to. And, oh, my god, if I click No Tip, am I a bad person?
And someone behind me in line might see that.
I can’t click that No Tip button.
I am exactly the same. Every single time I’m presented with this iPad screen thingy, the tips come up. I press max, 30 percent. My husband, an economist, thinks this is ridiculous.
He says, you’re tipping 30 percent on a bottle of water someone just handed you. Don’t do that. That is crazy. But I keep doing it because I can, so I should. I don’t know, I have guilt about it.
Your husband is objectively correct. This is crazy. But tipping is not about objective cold economic logic. It’s emotional. It’s cultural.
There are norms around it. And right now, we have no idea what those norms are. And so we’re all stuck in this panicked moment of trying to decide which button you press and whether you should be expected to tip in this circumstance.
OK, so we are both suckers. We’ve established that. What we need to do now is figure out this panicked moment. I want you to explain this to me, Ben. Why has tipping exploded?
I think there are three reasons. The first of these is just technology. Several years ago, we started to see these tablet-based checkout systems everywhere. And it’s very easy to just add a tip screen onto there, that little, do you want to add a tip, 10 percent, 15 percent, 20 percent.
Right. And as I had less cash and then no cash in my wallet, this was always the way I paid for things.
Yeah, so it became very easy technologically to add tipping. But then the real shift came in the pandemic.
If you think back to that moment, many of us were lucky enough to be able to work from home and to be relatively safe. And we felt a lot of gratitude for the people who weren’t able to do that, who were bringing us food and delivering groceries. And so there was an explosion in tipping. And an explosion in tipping, even in places where we didn’t used to tip.
If you go and pick up takeout at a restaurant, you probably always tip your delivery driver. But if you went to the restaurant and you picked it up, you didn’t tip there. But now in the pandemic moment, they add a tip screen saying, would you like to tip? And yeah, of course, I’d like to tip. These people are risking their lives out there to make my chicken tikka masala.
Right. You basically wanted to tip the UPS guy.
Yes. And so we were tipping everybody. And so that allowed tipping to spread into these new areas. It got a beachhead in places where it didn’t used to be.
And maybe if the story ended there, it would have been this moment in time and then it all would have gone back to the way it always used to be. But that didn’t happen because we had this intense worker shortage when things started to reopen.
And how does that fit into this?
Businesses start to reopen. They need workers. They’re having a hard time finding them. Workers are reluctant to come back for all sorts of reasons. And tipping became a way of attracting workers.
Businesses were paying more, but they were also looking for other ways to get workers. And saying, we’ll add a tip screen that’ll boost your pay further. And if there’s one coffee shop where there’s a tip screen and there’s another coffee shop where there isn’t, you can be pretty sure which one you’re going to go work at.
Completely. I mean, we were talking to workers yesterday, and they were very specific about which chain stores allowed tips and which ones didn’t. And they much preferred working for the ones that allowed tips. I mean, it makes sense.
And I asked them, as a proportion of your earnings, how much are tips? Tips are a lot. Does that mean you make less in the place that doesn’t have the screen that allows it? Absolutely.
We saw workers demanding this. In fact, when some Starbucks stores were unionizing, one of the things they demand is, we want to be able to take tips on credit card payments.
Interesting, yeah.
This became a source of negotiation between businesses and their workers. And the thing is, once that happens, it’s really hard to put the genie back in the bottle.
But why? I mean, this all sprung up into our lives in the matter of a couple of years. So why can’t it go back to the way it was just as quickly?
Imagine that coffee shop worker that you were talking to yesterday, who’s now making, in many cases, 20 percent, 30 percent, even 40 percent of their earnings in tips. The business can’t just say, never mind, we’re going to get rid of the tip screen. Maybe, we’ll put out a tip jar and people can leave $1 or $2 when they want to. That’s a huge pay cut for that worker.
OK, they could instead say we’re going to get rid of tipping and we’re going to raise your pay. Instead of paying you $15 an hour and $5 in tips, we’ll give you $20 an hour. But now the business is going have to raise prices as a result.
And you, Sabrina, the coffee-drinking public are going to say, no way, I’m not going there and paying $8 for my latte or whatever the price may be. And so for the business, they can’t just get rid of the tip, because they can’t just cut off the pay and they can’t raise prices enough to raise pay accordingly.
Right. Nonstarter for the business.
Can’t work for them. And the worker is certainly not going to stick around if they try to do that.
So has there been some experimentation with this? I mean, have restaurants actually tried to go tipless?
Yeah, so we’ve seen an example of exactly this. A few years back, Danny Meyer, a big New York restaurateur, and a bunch of other restaurants as well tried getting rid of tipping completely. They said, this system is unfair, it’s unequal. We’re going to raise wages for everybody, for waiters, but also for cooks.
We’re going to raise our prices, accordingly, to pay for that. And customers will understand. They’ll understand that they’re paying the same amount at the end of the day, it just is in the form of a direct cost instead of a cost plus a tip. And it didn’t work.
For a bunch of reasons. But mostly because customers looked at the price on the menu and people didn’t want to pay it. I also think, look, we all complain about tipping. But customers also kind of like the tip. They kind of like looking generous.
You get to show off to your date or to your father-in-law. And, of course, you can, at least in theory, express your dissatisfaction by withholding a tip or by tipping less. Not you and me, we apparently don’t do that. But some people do, I hear.
The restaurant’s like, suckers, OK, great. Yeah, we don’t even have to worry about them.
Customers rebelled against the idea of not tipping. And most of those restaurants eventually went back to the old model.
Interesting. So we do have this love-hate relationship with tipping.
Yes. We hate being asked, but we like the control. And I think that is part of why all these changes feel so difficult for so many people, because it doesn’t necessarily feel like you have the control anymore.
That screen in front of you with the barista watching you, with the person in line behind watching you —
Oh, my gosh, I’m sweating already.
— you don’t feel like can press the No Tip button. Or at least suckers like you and me don’t.
Exactly. The choice is gone.
The choice is gone. Or the choice, at least, is sort of psychologically more taxing.
Right. [LAUGHS]
You feel pressured to do it.
OK, so that’s the customer experience. But with this new uptick in tipping, one question I always have is, is the worker on the other side of the screen getting this tip or will the business owner pocket it?
The worker is getting the tip with some caveats. By law, the business owner or the managers, they can’t take the tips. If you click a Tip button or you leave $1 in the tip jar or you tip in any way, if that ends up in the pockets of the business owner or the general manager or what have you, that is wage theft. It happens. We certainly hear stories about it happening, but it’s certainly not legal and it’s certainly not the norm.
That doesn’t mean that the worker, the person who hands you your latte, is the person getting your dollar. It often gets pooled across all of the workers who are working that shift or even all of the workers who work over an entire week. But it’s going to the workers.
People like us can rest assured that the workers are getting the full benefit of that tip that you’re pushing.
In many ways, what you are doing as the customer is you are subsidizing the wage. If you, you coffee shop worker, want to get $25 an hour, you don’t care whether that’s $20 in pay and $5 in tip or $25 in pay or any breakdown of that.
$25 is $25.
$25 is $25. When I leave a tip of $1, on some level, that’s $1 less that coffee shop has to pay you, the barista. Tips are helping the business pay their workers. They’re shifting. The business is shifting some of the burden for paying its workers off of its revenue onto its customers.
In other words, you and I, Ben, we are kind of helping foot the bill for these wages.
Absolutely. And from the businesses’ perspective, that’s a pretty great deal, because they basically get to charge, say, $4 for the latte and then for the customers who are willing to pay more, they’re basically charging more. Those people throw on the tip.
It’s a way of the business getting the maximum dollars that it can out of the maximum number of customers that it can attract.
But for workers, this system where they’re increasingly reliant on customer tips carries some real risks.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
We’ll be right back.
Tell me about these risks of our tipping system.
Look, tipping has always had a lot of problems associated with it. If you think in restaurants, they’re often really big pay disparities where the servers at the front of the house, who are getting tipped, often make a lot more money, especially at a nice restaurant, than the cooks and dishwashers and all of the people at the back of the house.
You hear these stories of people going to cooking school and then basically bailing on the cooking career and becoming waitresses and waiters because it’s just more money.
Yeah. And then within tipped occupations, there’s a lot of inequity here. There have been studies that have shown that a pretty young woman gets tipped better than other people, that white people often get tipped better. There are tons of problems around sexual harassment, because if your earnings are dependent on the table that you’re serving liking you, then maybe you put up with things that workers shouldn’t have to put up with.
Those are the problems that have always existed in this system. But then as tipping spreads, the risk is, first, just more workers have to deal with this, but also that more workers become more dependent on tips for their earnings.
In the short term, this has all worked out pretty well for workers. This has been a period where they’ve been in hot demand, and so their wages have been rising. And at the same time, they’ve gotten all these tips on top of that. And that’s been really great.
But it’s not clear that that’s true over the longer term. Over the long run, you could imagine that all of these businesses get to just raise wages more slowly, that tips sort of eat away at wages over time. And then if we ever see customers pull back a little bit, tip less, then all of a sudden, all of these workers could really suffer.
Basically, you’re describing a system in which the earnings are just more vulnerable, more dependent on the kindness of strangers.
Yeah. And more at risk if those strangers become a little less kind.
Yes. And this issue has become so much a part of the national conversation that it’s actually entered the presidential race. Both former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have announced policy plans to help service workers. And essentially, they’re calling for no tax on tips.
Yeah, that’s right. So President Trump announced this several weeks ago as his big new “no taxes on tips” proposal. Kamala Harris followed up and basically endorsed that proposal, again, a little while later. We don’t have a lot of details on how this would work. But essentially, it would mean that if you earn tips, those tips are exempt at least from federal income tax.
What would that mean?
Let me tell you, economists hate this idea. Left-wing economists and right-wing economists, this is one point they can kind of all agree on.
And why do they hate it?
Because they say it’s unfair. It singles out this one group of workers for special treatment. The person who works at McDonald’s who doesn’t get tipped, they don’t benefit from this. The retail worker doesn’t benefit from this. It’s just this one group of workers who get this special treatment where they don’t have to pay taxes.
Right. Right.
But there’s also maybe an even more fundamental issue, which is that if you think you hate tipping now, if these proposals go through, you’re going to see so much more tipping.
Uh-oh, I’m holding on to my hat.
Because it’s basically a subsidy for tips.
As a worker, we said before, you don’t care whether you make, $25 an hour or $20 plus $5 an hour in tips, except that if some of that money isn’t taxed, you want more of that. You want more tips.
Basically, you want your entire salary to be a tip.
Ideally, right? And so that works great for the business perspective. Great, I don’t need to pay my workers.
[LAUGHS]: Wee!
It’s all tips now. Workers happy about that. What that means is you’re going to see more businesses looking for ways to have their workers count as tipped. Maybe you start to see tips in places that we’re not seeing them at all. Maybe you really do start to pay tips at a retail outlet, at a gas station.
Grocery store?
At a grocery store, why not? And the issue there, beyond just it being annoying for you and me, is that it further ingrains this system. All those problems that we were talking about in tipping now involves even more workers across the economy. And they’re even more vulnerable to that possibility that you and I start tipping a little bit less.
Ben, how would you describe where we are in this tipping moment? Is this just the new normal?
I think we’re still in a period of transition here. The fact that we’re having this conversation on some level tells you that we’re not totally in a new normal yet. You don’t leave a restaurant and say to yourself, man, I can’t believe I was asked to tip. But we’re still all the time having this conversation about, you wouldn’t believe I got asked to tip at the self-checkout.
Right. The bakery, for god’s sake.
It’s still a transition. It’s still happening. Over time, norms will develop. We’ll figure out the places where we tip and the places where we don’t, and how much and all of that.
But the dust hasn’t quite settled yet.
It hasn’t settled. But I think what we do know is that we’re not going back. We’re now going back to a world where we only tip in those set of circumstances where we used to. And remember, this whole transition has happened during a period of relative economic strength, when people have had money to go out and spend and to tip. The question is, what happens when that’s no longer true?
Right. When there’s a recession, people are going to be nervous about their pocketbooks and probably won’t be as generous.
Whenever we get to the next recession, it will be the first one in this new era of tipping.
And there’s a whole new group of workers who are going to lose out when that happens, who are dependent on tips and will suffer when customers start pulling those tips back.
Ben, thank you.
Sabrina, thank you so much. And the screen is just going to ask you a couple of questions at the end here.
[LAUGHS]: Ben, 30 percent.
Here’s what else you should know today. On Wednesday, at least 10 Palestinians were killed when hundreds of Israeli troops launched major raids overnight in the occupied West Bank, targeting Palestinian militants, after what Israel said was months of rising attacks. The operation, the largest since 2023, followed months of escalating Israeli raids in the occupied territory, where nearly three million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule.
And the Supreme Court maintained a temporary pause on a new plan by President Biden to wipe out tens of millions of dollars of student debt. The plan was part of the president’s approach to forgiving debt after the Supreme Court rejected a more ambitious proposal last year that would have canceled more than $400 billion in loans. The scaled-down plan was directed at certain types of borrowers, including people on disability and public service workers. The court’s decision leaves millions of borrowers enrolled in the new plan in limbo.
Today’s episode was produced by Mooj Zadie, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Eric Krupke, and Clare Toeniskoetter. It was edited by Lisa Chow and Brendan Klinkenberg, contains original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, and Rowan Niemisto, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.
[THEME MUSIC]
That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.
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Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise
Featuring Ben Casselman
Produced by Mooj Zadie Asthaa Chaturvedi Eric Krupke and Clare Toeniskoetter
Edited by Lisa Chow and Brendan Klinkenberg
Original music by Dan Powell Marion Lozano and Rowan Niemisto
Engineered by Chris Wood
Listen and follow ‘The Daily’ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio
Tipping, once contained to certain corners of the economy, has exploded, creating confusion and angst. Now, it is even becoming an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
Ben Casselman, who covers the U.S. economy for The New York Times, cracks open the mystery of this new era of tipping.
On today’s episode
Ben Casselman , a reporter covering the U.S. economy for The New York Times.
Background reading
How to deal with the many requests for tips .
Former President Donald J. Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris a “copycat” over her “no tax on tips” plan.
There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.
We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.
The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.
Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam and Nick Pitman.
Ben Casselman writes about economics with a particular focus on stories involving data. He has covered the economy for nearly 20 years, and his recent work has focused on how trends in labor, politics, technology and demographics have shaped the way we live and work. More about Ben Casselman
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3 Awesome Science Experiments With Fire!
Introduction: 3 Awesome Science Experiments With Fire!
Please be careful when you will be performing these fire experiments at home or at school. All of these fire tricks can be extremely dangerous so again, please be careful. Always use safety glasses or face-shield, gloves, well-ventilated areas and adult supervision. Its good to have prepared fire extinguisher.
Subscribe if you like ;-)
3 Awesome Science Experiments with Fire!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlVNs-yHm04
Step 1: Fire Bubbles Experiment
Fill a kitchen plate with ordinary tap water. Add a little of dish soap to the water. Submerge the open end of the butane gas tube in the soapy water and press. Butane gas will create bubbles which you can catch by hand.
Before catching the bubbles and light them with lighter or match, make sure that every part of your hands and wrists are covered with water to protect them from a burn and don't forget to put a plate with bubbles a bit far from the place where you will make an experiment. I was using lighter refill with butane gas , you can use same or methane gas.
Step 2: Fire Hands Experiment
Hand Sanitizer contains water, ethyl alcohol which is highly flammable and can contain some perfume. Ethanol, also called alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and drinking alcohol, is a chemical compound, a simple alcohol with the chemical formula C2H5OH. It also has medical applications as an antiseptic and disinfectant.
Gels that contain ethanol produce a relatively cool flame with the blue color because of a high percentage of the water in the product.
But keep in mind, that the flame is still hot enough to burn you if you hold it too long and can ignite paper, fabrics, etc. Use care to perform this experiment in a safe location, away from flammable material. As we recommended before, it's a good idea to have a fire extinguisher or at least a glass of water.
I recommend using this Hand Sanitizer.
Step 3: Traveling Flame
This is simple and easy fire trick with a candle that will surprise anyone who sees it. Almost every candle is made out the wax. When you light a candle, heat from flame melts wax close to the wick and the melted wax flows up inside the wick by capillary action.
The wax becomes a hot gas by heat from the flame and its hydrocarbons (CnH2n+2) break down into carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). The vaporized wax is burned with oxygen (O) and is producing water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), light, and heat.
Smoke from a candle is unburned wax vapor and substance called “soot” which is a black material composed mostly of carbon. For a few seconds, the temperature of the smoke is high enough that it will burn with the touch of a flame. Because smoke is hot, It rises and you would like to light it, you should be few inches above the wick.
I recommend using long candle like this , it's easier to light it.
Fire Science Experiment - Teach kids about an important science concept of fire
Posted by Admin / in Chemistry Experiments
Exploding fire science experiments are wonderful features at live science museum shows. These experiments "wow" the crowd and help to show something about science, but they are not safe unless the building is set up correctly. This fire science experiment is not exploding, but is great for teaching kids about the science of fire.
Materials Needed
- Clear glass jar
- Antacid tablets (must contain sodium bicarbonate)
- Disposable cup
- Table knife or fork
- Small piece of wax-based clay
FIRE SCIENCE EXPERIMENT STEPS
Step 1: Remove the label and completely dry the inside of a clear glass jar. A spaghetti sauce jar works well.
Step 2: *An adult must handle the antacid tablets or an adult must provide close supervision while the kids help with the antacid tablets.* Take an antacid tablet out the package and place it in the bottom of a dry cup. Using the table knife or fork, chop up the antacid tablet into smaller pieces.
Using the table knife or fork, break the antacid tablets into smaller pieces in the bottom of a dry cup.
Step 3: Place a ball of clay on the bottom of the candle. Now press the unlit candle and clay into the bottom of the jar, inside the jar. Using tongs or long needle-nose pliers helps to grip the candle to press it against the glass at the bottom of the jar.
Step 4: Pour the broken antacid tablet pieces around the unlit candle.
Antacid pieces in the bottom of the jar surrounding the candle
Step 5: *An adult must handle lighting the candle.* Light the candle by turning the jar upside down. The flame from the match rises which is why holding the jar upside down helps allow the candle to be lit inside the jar. Turn the jar over and set it on the counter.
Have an adult carefully light the candle
Step 6: Tip the jar slightly and carefully pour the water in the jar around the candle, without pouring it over the flame.
Quickly, but carefully pour the water around the lit candle, but do not extinguish the flame
Step 7: Observe the reaction taking place within the mixture of water and tablet pieces.
The sodium bicarbonate reacts with water resulting in CO 2 gas. The bubbles in the jar is the result of CO 2 gas being produced.
Step 8: Watch the candle for the next minute or two. The candle will start to crackle, then eventually burn out.
As C0 2 gas is produced from the chemical reaction, other gases inside the jar are pushed out.
SCIENCE LEARNED
The bubbles you saw as soon as the water was added to the antacid pieces was carbon dioxide gas being released. Antacid contains sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ), which is also known as baking soda. Sodium bicarbonate is a weak base. When antacid is combined with water it reacts quickly, resulting in the release of sodium, water and carbon dioxide. Using smashed up pieces of the antacid helps speed up the reaction.
The second interesting thing that happened in this experiment was what happened to the fire. The lit candle in this experiment was using oxygen to continue to burn. When the carbon dioxide is released it starts to mix with the oxygen-rich air in the jar. Carbon dioxide gas is heavier than oxygen but this is not why the flame is extinguished. As more and more carbon dioxide gas is released by the antacid reaction there just is not enough oxygen left in the jar for the fire to continue. At first, the flame may crackle, but then finally it will stop burning.
Did you know that there are carbon dioxide fire extinguishers? CO 2 (carbon dioxide) fire extinguishers work by moving the oxygen away from the location of the fire, extinguishing the flames. Now that we have seen the results of the fire experiment we know why these types of fire extinguishers work well.
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Environment! Short explanationLong explanation.
 Special: Fire tornado Leaf pigments chromatography Special: Fire bubbles Screaming dry ice Dry ice in a balloon Special: Dry ice color change Dry ice smoking soap bubble snake Dry ice giant crystal ball bubble Dry ice in water Rainbow milk Gummy bear osmosis Floating ping pong ball Rotating Earth Special: Colored fire Water cycle in a jar Egg drop challenge Taking the pulse Orange candle Glass bottle xylophone Warped spacetime Homemade rainbow Water implosion Warm and cold plates Plastic bag kite Tamed lightning Yeast and a balloon Forever boiling bottle Moon on a pen Moon in a box Inexhaustible bottle Crystal egg geode Magic ice cut Heavy smoke Popsicle stick bridge Micrometeorites Special: Whoosh bottle Dancing water marbles Brownian motion Flying static ring Water thermometer String telephone Special: Dust explosion Disappearing styrofoam Special: Burning money Special: Burning towel Salt water purifier Fish dissection Hovering soap bubble Homemade sailboat Water mass meeting Plastic bag and pencils Water sucking bottle Water sucking glass Mentos and coke Aristotle's illusion Spinning spiral snake Imploding soda can Carbon dioxide extuingisher Plastic bag parachute Dental impression Impact craters Rolling static soda can Static paper ghost Color changing flower Upside down glass Shrinking chip bag Solar system model Strawberry DNA Electric motor Flashy electric motor Bouncing soap bubbles Toilet paper roll maraca Cloud in a bottle 1 Cloud in a bottle 2 Balloon rocket Water whistle Homemade yogurt Special: Screaming gummy bear Homemade compass Trash airplane Wind-up spinner toy Tea bag rocket Balancing soda can Lung volume test Fireproof balloon Baking powder popper Expanding space Straw propeller Wooden cutlery Levitating match Human reflexes Electromagnet Soil layers Straw potato Straw rocket launcher Traveling flame Water bowls Straw duck call Solar eclipse Silo of salt Balloon skewer Newspaper tower Microwave light bulb Heavy paper Rubber chicken bone Homemade marble run Drops on a coin Cartesian diverContent of website.  3 Awesome Science Experiments with FireThis video is a compilation of 3 amazing science experiments with fire, you can do at home. 0:00 Fire Bubbles Experiment 0:46 Fire Hands Experiment 1:04 Traveling Flame Please be careful when you will be performing these fire experiments at home or at school. All of these fire tricks can be extremely dangerous so again, please be careful. Always use safety glasses or face shield, gloves, well-ventilated areas and adult supervision. Its good to have prepared fire extinguisher. Experiments in the video: 1. Fire Bubbles ExperimentFill a kitchen plate with ordinary tap water. Add a little of dish soap to the water. Submerge the open end of the butane gas tube in the soapy water and press. Butane gas will create bubbles which you can catch by hand. Before catching the bubbles and light them with lighter or match, make sure that every part of your hands and wrists are covered with water to protect them from a burn and don’t forget to put a plate with bubbles a bit far from the place where you will make an experiment. I was using a lighter refill with butane gas, you can use same or methane gas. 2. Fire Hands Experiment or hand sanitizer fire science experimentHand Sanitizer contains distilled water , ethyl alcohol which is highly flammable and can contain some perfume. Ethanol, also called alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and drinking alcohol, is a chemical compound, a simple alcohol with the chemical formula C2H5OH. It also has medical applications as an antiseptic and disinfectant. Gels that contain ethanol produce a relatively cool flame with the blue color because of a high percentage of the water in the product. But keep in mind, that the flame is still hot enough to burn you if you hold it too long and can ignite paper, fabrics, etc. Use care to perform this experiment in a safe location, away from flammable material. As we recommended before, it’s a good idea to have a fire extinguisher or at least a glass of water. 3. Traveling FlameThis is a simple and easy fire trick with a candle that will surprise anyone who sees it. Almost every candle is made out the wax. When you light a candle, heat from the flame melts wax close to the wick and the melted wax flows up inside the wick by capillary action. The wax becomes a hot gas produced by heat from the flame and its hydrocarbons (CnH2n+2) break down into carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). The vaporized wax is burned with oxygen (O) and is producing water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), light, and heat. Smoke from a candle is unburned wax vapor and substance called “soot” which is a black material composed mostly of carbon. For a few seconds, the temperature of the smoke is high enough that it will burn with the touch of a flame. Because the smoke is hot, It rises and you would like to light it, you should be a few inches above the wick. Related PostsHow green coffee beans can help you lose weight, easy food science experiments to do at home, silence that drive you crazy – chamber in which no one can stay longer than 45 minutes (updated).
 
How to Make Colored Fire at Home It’s easy to make colored fire at home in the fireplace or a campfire. All you need to do is sprinkle on a salt to color the flames. Here is a list of colorants, the colors they produce, and a look at where to find them. List of Flame Colorant Chemicals Many chemicals produce colors in a fire, but not all of them are readily available or safe to use. This is a list of common colorant chemicals and the fire colors they produced.
The colors are based on the flame test in chemistry, which uses a blue alcohol or gas flame. When these chemicals are added to a wood fire, a rainbow effect is more likely due to the chemical composition of the fuel. How to Color FireOnce you have the colorant chemicals, there are different ways to use them:
There is no “recipe” for how much colorant to add to water or alcohol. The amount that dissolves depends on the temperature of the liquid and the solubility of the chemical. Basically, just add as much solid as will dissolve in the liquid. If you use less, the color of the fire may not be as intense. If you use too much, you’ll have undissolved solid, which you can recover and use later. Some compounds dissolve better in water, while some dissolve better in alcohol. Test a small amount and decide which method works best for your needs. Do not mix all the colorants together. You won’t get a rainbow! Most likely, you’ll end up with a yellow fire. This is because sodium (in table salt and also naturally in wood) overwhelms other colors. For a multicolored fire, it’s best to add several pine cones, each treated with one colorant, or a mix of dried colored sawdust. Even with separate colorants, it’s best to avoid adding “yellow” because it’s so bright. Where to Find Flame ColorantsMost of the flame colorants listed here are available at grocery stores or home supply stores. A few are easier to find online. Some of these chemicals are available either as solids or as liquids. Liquids are fine to use for soaking pinecones or logs, but obviously aren’t a great choice for applying directly to a fire (unless you want to put it out).
Other Ways to Make Colored FireDirectly adding salts to a fire is the best way to color fire, but it isn’t the only method. Colored flames also result from burning color-print newspaper, magazines, and some plastics, like garden hoses. While these other methods produce colored fire, their combustion may also release toxic fumes. Color-printed paper is reasonably safe to burn, although it may release cinders that can ignite nearby objects. Burning plastic is never a good idea because the smoke contains toxic and potentially carcinogenic chemicals. Black FlamesMaking black flames is possible, too. However, this color works a bit differently because you absorb the colored light from the fire, leaving darkness. Safety InformationColored fire is safe in a fireplace or campfire, but it’s probably not wise to cook hotdogs or roast marshmallows over colored flames. For the most part, using salts produces the same smoke as a normal fire. The salts don’t actually burn in the flames, so they remain in the soot rather than in gases around the fire. For this reason, take care where you dispose of ashes. Using Epsom salts may actually help your garden. Plants also appreciate a boost of boron from borax or boric acid, but too much is harmful. Copper salts naturally occur in soil, but copper is toxic to invertebrates like snails and crabs and other organisms, like algae. Like other home chemicals, flame colorants should be kept out of reach of children and pets. Read and adhere to any warnings on chemical containers. If you use alcohol as a fuel, please remember that it is much more flammable than wood. Never add alcohol (or any liquid fuel) to a burning fire, or it will react much light lighter fluid!
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Have you gotten your free poster delivered? ✨ I Let My Middle School Students Investigate With Fire (and Here’s Why You Should Too!)I survived and so can you.  Ready to let your students investigate with fire? UL Xplorlabs™️ has free STEM-focused modules that teach middle school students to think like scientists and explain real-world phenomena. Learn More »  For the longest time, my middle school students have begged me, “Can we please blow something up?” And my answer has always been, “No way. We can’t do anything that involves fire at school.” Then I stumbled upon some interactive fire-forensics STEM activities for middle school and decided to give them a try. My students couldn’t believe I was going to teach a lesson that involves fire in the classroom. Honestly, I was pretty nervous. I don’t even have a science lab. Am I really going to let kids investigate with fire in my classroom? I imagined alarms blaring throughout the school and fire trucks racing to the scene. Luckily, I found a module called Fire Forensics: Claims and Evidence from UL Xplorlabs, a set of free interactive online STEM modules that encourage students to think like scientists and explain real-world phenomena. Since the resources come from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety science organization, all of the activities are designed to be safe for classrooms when done as directed. By far, this was my students’ favorite activity of the year. Not convinced you should let your middle school students investigate with fire? Here are seven solid reasons you should. 1. Kids are hooked from the get-go.Let’s be honest, if you tell middle school students they get to investigate with fire at school, you’re going to capture their attention. The first Xtension, which is a hands-on lesson, was a low-stress way to build necessary foundational knowledge. Using a candle, we looked at the three variables needed to create fire—oxygen, fuel, and heat. Then we experimented with removing elements, one at a time. Next, we used a metal screen to look at a candle flame to observe combustion. The experiment really helped build my students’ confidence and motivated them to learn more. 2. It’s easier to implement than you think.The Xplorlabs fire-forensics module includes various types of STEM activities for middle school. First, there’s the online digital platform, which includes engaging videos and interactive tools. The module starts with the basics, as students build an understanding of fire science. They learn how to define fire, how it develops, and how the evidence left behind after a fire suggests its cause and where it started. The lessons build as students prepare for the culminating activity in which they identify and analyze fire scene evidence to make a claim, find and show evidence, and solve a fire-investigation case. Then students do Xtensions to deepen their understanding through hands-on learning. During the experiments, students put fire-science principles they’ve learned into practice. Students use the scientific method to ask questions, make observations, collect and analyze data, develop and test hypotheses, and come to conclusions. 3. There’s barely any prep involved.The entire unit is prepared by Xplorlabs. All I had to do was set up the technology for the online portion and gather materials for the experiments. The teacher guide provided a road map of the module and has everything you need: lesson plans, a safety guide, Next Generation Science Standards alignment, and rubrics. The Investigators Notebook provides students with reading passages that summarize concepts, reflection questions, and opportunities to make observations and record their thinking. The best part of the student guide is the section that takes an in-depth look at the scientific method in fire investigation. 4. It’s a model of cross-curricular learning.The Fire Forensics module hits all the markers of STEM learning:
In addition, I appreciated the inclusion of language arts. For each lesson, students synthesized the learning by writing logical, coherent reflections in their student notebooks . 5. Students make valuable real-world connections.We learned that synthetic materials burn much faster than organics, which surprised my students. They also found out that almost everything we have in our homes is synthetic: couches, mattresses, etc. They had no idea how flammable furniture could be. In elementary school fire-safety classes, most students learned to keep doors shut in case of fire, but they had no idea why. Our Xplorlabs investigation on ventilation taught them the impact of outside air on the strength and speed of growth on fire. My students couldn’t wait to share this information with their families. It really sparked some good conversations and will hopefully result in changes at home. 6. It provides a spark of inspiration for the future.I knew my students were really invested when they asked me to invite a fire investigator to visit our class. Many years ago, there was a fire in our town that basically burned down Main Street. Our experience with the Xplorlabs Fire Forensics module inspired students to want to hear a firsthand account of what happened. What type of evidence was collected at the scene? Why was the mystery never solved? I wouldn’t be surprised if this experience planted a seed for more than one of my students to pursue a future in firefighting or in fire investigation. 7. The experience will help you grow as an educator.My biggest takeaway from teaching with the Fire Forensics module was to be willing to overcome my own fears and let my students explore. Investigating with fire isn’t that scary, believe it or not! The key is to teach the proper safety precautions and set clear expectations for taking the work seriously. Then just trust your students. I have to admit, I found out my students were much more responsible than I had initially given them credit. Want to try these fire forensics STEM activities for middle school?Are you ready to let your students investigate with fire? Check out the UL Xplorlabs’ Fire Forensics: Claims and Evidence module . Your students will gain a solid foundation of fire-science knowledge and will learn the skills to walk through a burn scene like an expert investigator. Working from end result to point of ignition, they will learn to hunt for clues, collect evidence, and make a claim to solve a fire mystery. I can’t wait to let my students investigate with fire again. In fact, I’m already collaborating with another middle school teacher to teach the module next year.  You Might Also Like 80 Best 3D Printing Ideas for the Classroom in 2024Warm up the printer! Continue Reading Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256
Science Projects > 10 Science Experiments You Want To Do This Year 10 Science Experiments You Want To Do This YearScience experiments are one of the most exciting things you can do in your homeschool or classroom! We’ve put together some thrilling – yet easy – science experiments for you and your kids to do this year. Please remember to keep safety first and protect yourself with the proper equipment, as needed, when doing any of these science experiments! Pantry Science ExperimentsThere are several fun science experiments that you can do with household items you likely have stocked in your kitchen pantry! Science with Oobleck “Oobleck” is a fascinating non-Newtonian fluid (it is a fluid that does not follow Newton’s law of viscosity) that has the ability to act like a solid OR a liquid — depending on the conditions it’s under. Making oobleck and playing with it can be relaxing for both kids, teens, and adults! It’s fascinating stuff that you have to make at least once in your lifetime. It’s super easy to make, using the following ingredients:
Use a mixing bowl for this one. Add the water first, then start adding the cornstarch to the water little by little. Try stirring it at first and it’ll be fairly easy—but soon you’ll need to switch to using your hands! When you’ve added about 1.5 cups of cornstarch, add in the other half cup slowly and in less quantity at a time. You’re looking for consistency now: solid when you push on it or squeeze it and liquid like slime when left alone. You can always add more water to it if you add too much cornstarch or you can add more cornstarch if you have too much water. Oobleck is a great addition to your fun science experiments list for younger kids (and older ones, too). Pepper and Water Have you heard of this one before? It’s another quick one to add to your fun science experiments list, since you probably have all the ingredients at home already. This is a great way to learn about the surface tension of water. Here is what you’ll need:
Cover the bottom of the shallow dish with water. Sprinkle some black pepper on the surface of the water. Notice how the surface tension of the water causes the pepper flakes to float. Now, for the experiment. Stick your finger in the center of the dish. Not much happened, right? Okay, here’s the fun twist! Imagine those bits of pepper are germs! Ewwwww! Dip the tip of your finger into some dish soap. You don’t need much. Then, stick that finger into the center of the dish. What happened? The dish soap is formulated to break the surface tension of water — that’s why it’s so great at cleaning our greasy and dirty dishes! Make An Egg Float Have you ever done this? It’s like there are two equal camps on this: those who did it as kids and those who didn’t. Here’s how you can incorporate this simple but fun science experiment with your kids! You’ll need the following:
Fill the glass container about ⅔ of the way. Carefully drop the egg in. It sank, right? Now take the egg out. Add in about 5 tablespoons of salt and stir it. Add the egg back in. It should float! If it doesn’t, take it out and add more salt until the egg floats when you add it to the water. The science takeaway: in water, objects sink when they are denser than the water. By adding salt, you’re making the water denser — so at this point, the water has become denser than the egg and the egg now floats in it. Try some other objects to see what happens! Experiments with FireThese are SO much fun! Please take precautions and be sure to have safety measures in place, along with a responsible adult. Make Some Sparks With Steel Wool This is a total WOW factor science experiment with just two simple items! You’ve probably burned wood in your fireplace, fire pit, or while camping. Did you know that metals can burn, too? (If you can get them hot enough, of course.) And did you know that fireworks are made from burning metals? When something burns it’s because a chemical reaction is taking place. That reaction is called a combustion reaction. It happens when a chemical reacts with oxygen and releases energy in the form of light and heat. Here’s how you can burn iron (in the form of steel wool). You’ll need the following:
We recommend you grab the following too for safety:
Spread apart the fibers for the steel wool (it usually comes bundled up). Place on a baking pan, metal pan, or surface you feel comfortable placing it on for the next step. Then, grab the battery and just brush the two battery contacts against the steel wool. Then watch what happens! It will fizzle out on its own, but feel free to toss some water on it if you feel safer or want to put it out. Remember: science experiments like this are super fun, but be sure to take safety precautions! Fireproof Balloon I mean, just those two words together make you go — waaaaaa?! This is super neat! You’ll need: For your safety:
While deflated, fill the balloon with water. Then blow it up with air. Tie it off. Hold the balloon in one hand and slowly lower it over the flame source (lighter or candle). What happens? Nothing! It doesn’t pop! How wild, right? If you’re brave, you can even make the flame touch the balloon — and it still will not pop! The reason a balloon pops under normal circumstances (just air in it) is that the rubber gets super weak when heat is applied to it. But, when you fill the balloon with water — the water is absorbing the majority of the heat! So the rubber doesn’t get quite as hot and therefore doesn’t pop! Flammable Hand Sanitizer Post-2020 we know you all have some extra hand sanitizer lying around — so use it to have fun doing this amazing science experiment!
Add some sanitizer on a surface (a plate works fine). Ignite the sanitizer on the plate. Notice how beautiful the blue flame looks? It’s almost hard to see if you have the lights on so try shutting the lights off to see it better! If you swipe a finger through the sanitizer on the plate (while it’s flaming) you’ll have some flames on your fingertips. You can put it out quickly by shaking your hand or dipping it in water. The reason it won’t burn your hands is that the water in the sanitizer has a high specific capacity — and it takes a high temperature to boil water. The water protects your hands as it absorbs the heat. Simple, fun, and super WEIRD! Please have adult supervision for this one. What you’ll need:
Use more or less, but you want a 4 to 1 ratio of sugar to baking soda so adjust accordingly.
For safety it is recommended you also have:
Add sand to a bowl or large container. Soak the sand with lighter fluid. Separately, mix the sugar and baking soda, then pour it in a pile onto the soaked-in-lighter-fluid sand. Then, light it with a long stick match or a long-neck lighter. Stand back and watch the snake grow! When this burns, the baking soda gets super hot and decomposes. When it does this, it releases carbon dioxide gas. The lack of oxygen in the sugar from the combustion creates carbonate and water vapor. The CO2 causes pressure and that pushes the carbonate out and forms the snake. If you leave it, it should grow for about 20 min! Remember: science activities like this are super fun, but be sure to take safety precautions! Other Science Experiments You’ll LoveMagnetic Fluid This will remind you a bit of oobleck. One minute the substance is solid and the next it’s liquid. You could say it has a bit of a split personality! First let’s talk a bit about ferrofluid. Ferrofluid is a liquid with super-tiny magnetic particles floating around inside of it. The particles are attracted to each other so they need to be coated with a special substance that stops them from sticking together (this is how the ferrofluid stays liquid). But when an external magnetic field is present, the particles become magnetized and the ferrofluid becomes a solid! Want to make your own and play with it? Here is what you’ll need:
Pour some vegetable oil into that shallow dish you have, just enough to make a thin coat on the bottom of the dish. Then, pour the iron filings into the oil and mix until it becomes thick. Kind of like sludge. You’ve officially made ferrofluid! Next, use a napkin to absorb any excess oil — this will also help the ferrofluid become thicker. Tip: attach a magnet to the outside of the dish. It’ll solidify the fluid and let you dab away at the extra oil! When you attach a magnet to the outside of the dish, the fluid will take its shape. Remove the magnet and it becomes liquid again! IMPORTANT: don’t pour this down your drain! It’ll probably clog your pipes. Fun geeky fact: Ferrofluids are used by the military to coat aircraft. It helps them evade radars. Ferrofluids are made by NASA scientists — the same folks who brought you Tang and freeze-dried ice cream! They needed to come up with an idea to confine liquids in space — and that’s how they came up with ferrofluids. Swab & Grow: Bacteria Growth Science ExperimentsHave some icky fun seeing bacteria grow! You can get bacteria from just about anything: doorknobs, the toilet, the sink, your phone, a chair, the door, and more.
Prepare the agar according to the directions on the bottle. Prepare the petri dishes by pouring some agar into them, then let the liquid spread around the surface of the petri dish. Use your q-tips or swabs to get some samples from around your house, then gently spread it onto the agar in a zig-zag pattern. Add the lid to the petri dish and label it with what you swabbed. Place the petri dishes out of the way in a dark, room-temp area. In about 3-7 days you’ll see some (usually colorful) growth! So start checking on day three and then keep checking till you have a full colony growing. What surface resulted in the most? Here’s a great video showing and explaining the steps to preparing your petri dish. Balloon Rocket A super simple, fun, and educational science experiment to do with your kids! You’ll need:
Tie the yarn to the back of a chair. Thread the yarn through a straw than to the back of another chair a few feet away. You don’t want the yarn sagging, but you don’t want it super tight either. Tape a fully-blown-up balloon to the straw with two strips of tape. Pull the balloon to one chair and let it go! You’ll see it ZOOOOOM across the yarn! The way this balloon trick works is the same way a rocket does! Air is providing the power needed to push in the opposite direction, providing thrust. Other Items to Have on HandScience experiments are a dime a dozen on the internet and in homeschool curriculum. In order to be prepared, start a plastic bin as a science box. Keep it stocked with popular experiment items from above and the ones listed below and it will serve you well for spur-of-the-moment activities.
Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive, but it will get you a good start! In addition to the above, a lava lamp would be good to have on hand too. Keep your eyes open and pick one up at a yard sale! If you prefer to purchase kits for science experiments, you can find all sorts of kits here . We provide you with the best quality “ingredients” for your experiments and science fair projects alike! STEM activities are such good learning opportunities for your family! When you combine these with the curriculum you have for science, you’ll find that science becomes an endless amount of fun that everyone will look forward to.  Teaching HomeschoolWelcome! After you finish this article, we invite you to read other articles to assist you in teaching science at home on the Resource Center, which consists of hundreds of free science articles! Shop for Science Supplies!Home Science Tools offers a wide variety of science products and kits. Find affordable beakers, dissection supplies, chemicals, microscopes, and everything else you need to teach science for all ages! Related Articles  Engaging STEM Activities for TeensEngaging STEM Activities for Teens Teens can explore many different concepts through fun and interactive activities. STEM lessons for teens can include experimenting, engineering, and more. If you have STEM toys for ten to twelve-year-olds, but your child is starting...  Fun STEM Activities for Third GradersFun STEM Activities for Third Graders STEM education is essential for young learners. The benefits go far beyond the traditional science fields. It can inspire children to pursue other interests and turn them into confident problem solvers. Some hands-on STEM...  Hands-On STEM Activities for Second GradersHands-On STEM Activities for Second Graders Hands-on STEM activities are a great way to spark a lifelong love for learning. For second graders, having lessons they can participate in can help them better understand complex subjects. There are countless activities to...  Technology Activities for Elementary StudentsTechnology Activities for Elementary Students As advanced as tech-savvy youngsters may be, there’s always more to learn. Elementary school is the perfect time for students to learn how to respect and understand how technology works, the ways it can be used, and how to...  Engineering Activities for StudentsEngineering Activities for Students Why Do Engineering Activities with Students? With the rapid expanding of technology and engineer-related fields of study, educators are always seeking new ways to keep their classrooms up to date! And with new standards like the... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As climate change creates hotter, drier conditions, we are seeing longer fire seasons with larger, more frequent wildfires. In recent years, catastrophic wildfires have destroyed homes and ...
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Step 1: Fire Bubbles Experiment. Fill a kitchen plate with ordinary tap water. Add a little of dish soap to the water. Submerge the open end of the butane gas tube in the soapy water and press. Butane gas will create bubbles which you can catch by hand. Before catching the bubbles and light them with lighter or match, make sure that every part ...
Here are all the experiments about fire. Fire is the result of combustion, which is when oxygen and a fuel is heated and reacts with each other. Fire - the flame itself - consists of fuel and oxygen molecules falling apart and emitting light and heat. To experiment with fire is a great way to learn about molecules, states of matter, chemical ...
10 Awesome Fire Tricks and Science Experiments you can do at home!SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/2kcNkI21: TRAVELING FLAME - Blow out the fire on a candle and hold...
Cool things to do with fire and smoke. DIY Science Experiments you can do at home.Timestamps:0:42 lighting matchstick & wind resistance2:28 smoke filled bubb...
PLAY WITH FIRE | 10 SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS10_science_experiments #playwithfire #color_of_flames#experimentsSubscribe to our Fun Science & YouTube Channel HERE ...
This video is a compilation of 10 cool Fire Science Experiments and life hacks that you can do at home using everyday household items. Today we are here with...
FIRE SCIENCE EXPERIMENT STEPS. Step 1: Remove the label and completely dry the inside of a clear glass jar. A spaghetti sauce jar works well. Step 2: *An adult must handle the antacid tablets or an adult must provide close supervision while the kids help with the antacid tablets.*. Take an antacid tablet out the package and place it in the ...
10 AMAZING FIRE EXPERIMENTS - Tips and tricksIn this video, I'm going to show you how to perform 10 amazing fire experiments for kids! These are so easy to d...
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This is an experiment about fire, heat and light. Fun and easy science experiments for kids and adults. Special: Colored fire. Chemistry. Create a red, yellow, green, orange, pink, cyan and blue flame. This is an experiment about fire, heat and light. ... Cool the air in a bottle and suck water. About pressure and temperature. Water sucking glass.
This video is a compilation of 3 amazing science experiments with fire, you can do at home. 0:00 Fire Bubbles Experiment 0:46 Fire Hands Experiment 1:04 Traveling Flame Please be careful when you will be performing these fire experiments at home or at school. All of these fire tricks can be extremely dangerous so again, please be careful. Always use safety glasses or face shield, gloves, well ...
3 Simple Science Experiments With Fire You Can Do At HomeSimple Science ExperimentsFire ExperimentsScience Experiments With FireSubscribe My Channel!
Do you want to play with fire? This is a collection of science projects involving fire, including how to color fire, fire magic tricks, and interesting chemistry demonstrations involving fire and flames. Learn how to make pink flames using common, readily available chemicals. Turn your fire pink for Valentine's day or any time!
Future Science. Foam based car engine fire extinguisher that will cover the engine and gas tank to stop a fire. [ P] S.M.A.R.T. Paint is a safety coating applied to buildings that senses fires and more. Electronics sensors are embedded into the paint to signal impending danger.
Sprinkle dry colorants onto flames. Dissolve the colorants in alcohol and then soak logs in the liquid. Dissolve the colorants in water. Soak pinecones, rolled newspapers, sawdust, or cork in the liquid. Allow the fuel to dry and then add it to a fire for a pop of color. There is no "recipe" for how much colorant to add to water or alcohol.
Procedure. Put on your safety glasses. Fill your bottle with approximately 2 cups of hydrogen peroxide. Then, add about 1 teaspoon of yeast to the peroxide. Quickly open the balloon over the opening of the bottle making sure no air can escape. Gently, shake the bottle back and forth to mix the yeast and peroxide.
In this fun and easy science experiment we are going to use science to create a chemical reaction that we use to seemingly magically extinguish a fire. Important: An adult's assistance is required for this experiment as flames and matches are involved. Materials: Cup, tumbler, or jar that is pint sized or larger Vinegar Baking soda Measuring cups and spoons Match or lighter Tea lights or small ...
2. It's easier to implement than you think. The Xplorlabs fire-forensics module includes various types of STEM activities for middle school. First, there's the online digital platform, which includes engaging videos and interactive tools. The module starts with the basics, as students build an understanding of fire science.
Grab a few materials you might already have in your kitchen and let's get started with this really cool exposing elements to fire experiment! Materials. a candle. a match. cotton swabs. 2 juice glasses. water. 2 small plates. 1 tablespoon table salt.
Experiments with Fire. These are SO much fun! Please take precautions and be sure to have safety measures in place, along with a responsible adult. Make Some Sparks With Steel Wool. This is a total WOW factor science experiment with just two simple items! You've probably burned wood in your fireplace, fire pit, or while camping.
First, you need a combustible material, or a fuel, that can burn. Second, this material needs to be hot enough so that it can catch fire. The combustion reaction then has to create enough heat to keep the fire going. And lastly, a fire needs oxygen to burn. If either heat, fuel, or oxygen are absent, there will be no fire.
Introduction. All matter is made of atoms. Atoms have a nucleus, which consists of protons and neutrons, and is surrounded by electrons. The nucleus is concentrated in a very small space, about 10 -15 m. An entire atom is on the order of 10 -10 m, so the electrons are relatively far from the nucleus, and, strangely enough, atoms are mostly ...