Here are three recommended educational science gifts for kids: science kits, science toys, and science books.

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Here are 3 simple but fun science experiments that are guaranteed hits at science fairs: the backyard rocket launcher, the egg squeezer, and how to produce carbon dioxide.

Looking for awesome science fair projects that will leave other kids goggle eyed? You can, with just a few materials that are easily available at home.

Backyard Rocket Launcher

You’ll need a Styrofoam plate; a toilet paper tube; marker pens; tape; a white camera film canister; and vinegar and baking soda, or Alka-Seltzer tablets. Use the markers to make your own design on the toilet paper tube. This will be your rocket launcher. Tape the rocket launcher to the center of the Styrofoam plate.

Then make your very own rocket fuel by putting 1 tablespoon of vinegar in the film canister. Hold it near the launcher and add ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Quickly snap on the lid and drop the canister into the launcher, lid side down. Alternatively, put 1 tablespoon of water into the canister then add half an Alka-Seltzer tablet and quickly snap on the lid. Drop into the launcher, lid side down, then stand back! The rocket will launch in 10-20 seconds. (If the rocket doesn’t launch, wait at least a minute before checking.)

The egg squeezer

This experiment will show the principle that heat causes most solids and liquids to expand, and cooling causes them to contract. You will need a peeled, hard-boiled egg; a long-necked bottle with opening that is slightly smaller than the egg; and three matches.

Place the long-necked bottle on your kitchen table (or any table free from flammable debris). Light 3 matches and drop them all at once (not one at a time) into the bottle. Quickly put an egg on top of the bottle opening. The egg will be sucked into the bottle.

The lighted matches heated the air, causing it to expand. When the matches are extinguished, the air contracts as it cools. This lowers the pressure inside the bottle than on the outside. A lower pressure is created within the bottle, than on the outside. The pressure outside the bottle causes the egg to get sucked into the bottle.

How to produce carbon dioxide

This simple experiment shows that mixing an acid and a base triggers a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide. You will need a clear plastic or glass container; water; vinegar; baking soda; food coloring; and raisins or cereals.

Fill the container almost to the brim with 3 parts water and one part vinegar. Be sure to leave some room at the top of the container. Slowly add one teaspoon of baking soda. Putting the baking soda all at once and too quickly will make the liquids bubble over the top. When the bubbles settle down, slowly add a second teaspoon of baking soda. When the bubbles settle, add a few drops of food coloring. Now comes the fun part. Find some items, like raisins, rice, or cereal. Drop in a few of the first item. They will sink to the bottom, but after a few minutes they will rise to the surface, then sink again. Try the rice, and watch it dance! If the movement seems to be slowing down, add another teaspoon of baking soda.

What has happened? The vinegar is an acid and the baking soda is a base. When you combine them, a chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide bubbles build up on the surface of the object. When enough bubbles attach to it, the object floats to the surface and releases the gas. Then it sinks back to the bottom to start the process again.

Here are 6 good books that should adequately point that young, budding scientist to the right direction: The Everything Kids Science Experiments Book; Hands-On Physics Experiments (Activity Book, Grades K-2); Einstein’s Science Parties: Easy Parties for Curious Kids; The Everything Kids Nature Book; Experiments in Science: How Does It Work?; and Literacy Centers for Science Skills.

Curiosity about science is something to develop and/or encourage in kids. As in a lot of things, an early start, specifically in kindergarten, is a great start, and science fairs are a great place to let loose the budding scientist. To get the young student on the right track, here are some books that should point him or her to a good direction and may serve as a teacher’s guide to science fair projects.

1. The Everything Kids Science Experiments Book (Tom Robinson)

This introduces your kindergartner to the scientific method, which they’ll use to conduct interesting experiments:

• role of the chlorophyll and the seasons in the life and color of leaves
• chemical reactions in cleaning pennies
• how the seesaw operates, factors that play in the colors of light
• acid rain, the seasons
• the five senses, action, and reaction

Paperback at Amazon or Adams Media Bookstore ($8.95). Also library binding ($16.95) and Kindle Edition ($8.36).

2. Hands-On Physics Experiments (Activity Book, Grades K-2, by Cherie Winner, illustrations by Gary Mohrman)

Aimed at teachers, but parents/mentors can use this to point a kindergartner to promising science fair projects. Experiments cover properties of objects and materials; position and motion of objects; and light, heat, electricity, and magnetism. The book’s a bit tricky to find, but it’s listed in teachersparadise.com ($10.77).

3. Einstein’s Science Parties: Easy Parties for Curious Kids (Shar Levine and Allison Grafton)

Fun activities that give budding scientists good foundation. Exploring fossils (three types) and dinosaurs (different kinds) and working with experiments that can be eaten should hold their interest. Not to mention make kids’ parties educational. Paperback at Amazon ($12.95), hard cover at Jossey-Bass (print on demand, 3-5 days).

4. The Everything Kids Nature Book (Kathiann M. Kowalski)

Create clouds, make waves, defy gravity. Activities to excite the outdoorsy kid. Add science to forest hikes and campouts by investigating, say, the details in coniferous forests or the moss on the forest floor; not all of science is inside a lab. Amazon carries this title ($7.95).

5. Experiments in Science: How Does It Work? (David Glover)

Boasts of experiments involving the simple circuit, wind and water forces, light and shade, and tracking sounds. After each experiment, there is useful information to help the young scientist understand the result/s. Amazon, $21.99.

6. Literacy Centers for Science Skills (Lesson Plan)

Full-color material for guiding kids in investigating organisms and their environments, properties of matter, scientific method, and water cycle. Available in book ($23.99) and e-book ($21.99), both you can get from Teacher Created Resources. Also view a sample lesson plan in BookRags.

While kindergarten-age kids should be encouraged to explore to feed their scientific curiosity, it’s important to keep in mind that their safety is ensured. Adult supervision is especially necessary when the experiments involve chemicals, sharp objects, and other materials that might cause injury. Guidance and encouragement should go a long way. A brilliant scientist might just be some years and science fair projects away.

Easy examples of earthquake and volcano science fair projects include making volcano eruption models, plate tectonic model and puzzle, home-made seismograph, and tsunami demonstrations for your middle school science fair.

Middle school science fair is all about science fair projects of middle school students, gathered for display and demonstration. It includes the demonstrations and experiments of various science topics such as earthquakes and volcanoes. Easy examples of science fair projects about earthquakes and volcanoes are enumerated below:

Volcano eruption models

Recreating volcano eruption is the most popular middle school science project. This project would always gather curious crowds during science fairs. It is most effective when the volcano model is made more realistic by using home made play dough. The play dough is made by mixing flour, salt, cooking and water in a bowl. Shape the dough into a most realistic volcano and apply details by using paint and mosses. You can make the volcano erupt by mixing soap, vinegar, water,and tissue-wrap baking soda in a bottle. This mixture will release carbon dioxide which creates a fizz. The fizz will represent the eruption of molten lava from the volcano. The lava can be made more realistic by adding food coloring to the mixture. Volcano eruption models never fail to amaze middle school students especially during project demonstrations on middle school science fair.

Plate tectonic model and puzzle

Another earthquake science project example is by creating the most creative plate tectonic model and puzzle. You can use different kinds of materials that could illustrate the plate motions in a three dimensional presentation blocks. You can make it as realistic as possible by using natural materials. Clay and other colorful synthetic material could also make your plate tectonic model colorful. Fitting together these model blocks into a puzzle could also effectively display the plate boundaries of the world.

Home-made seismograph

Seismograph is an apparatus used to record the crust’s movement. Making your own home-made seismograph is also an interesting project that any middle school student could easily create. Steps on making your own seismograph can easily be found on the Internet. Explaining the aspects and parts of your home-made seismograph creatively could make the catch during science fair display. You could also demonstrate how the seismograph works by performing an actual record on the ground. This science project is best for students who are interested in carpentry since it requires a lot of carpentry skills such as drilling and hammering.

Tsunami demonstrations

Tsunami demonstrations includes making a wave tank and applying a flap board to re enact underwater earthquakes. The dimension of the tank board must have a calculated ratio with the flap board to be able to make an effective tsunami effect on the water. Most tsunami demonstrations during science fair display can be easily performed by middle school students since it does not require any material that requires adult supervision. You could also make your tsunami demonstration more attractive to middle school students by making a miniature set of landscape where the exerted tsunami could wipe off.

All the given examples for earthquake and volcano related science fair project could easily be comprehended and performed by middle school students. The ideas and theories behind such project topic are very well suited for a middle school student’s intellectual learning. Having these projects for the middle school science fair could fully facilitate learning in a fun way.

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Here are 6 good books that should adequately point that young, budding scientist to the right direction: The Everything Kids Science Experiments Book, Hands-On Physics Experiments (Activity Book, Grades K-2), Einstein’s Science Parties: Easy Parties for Curious Kids, The Everything Kids Nature Book, Experiments in Science: How Does It Work?, and Literacy Centers for Science Skills.

Curiosity about science is something to develop and/or encourage in kids. As in a lot of things, an early start, specifically in kindergarten, is a great start, and science fairs are a great place to let loose the budding scientist. To get the young student on the right track, here are some books that should point him or her to a good direction and may serve as a teacher’s guide to science fair projects.

1. The Everything Kids Science Experiments Book

Written by high school and math teacher Tom Robinson, who has also co-authored an online advance placement physics course.In this book, your kindergartner can explore the following problems:

• Is it possible to blow up a balloon without actually blowing into it?
• What is inside coins?
• Can a magnet ever be “turned off”?

Expect to invest $8.95 if you buy it at Amazon or Adams Media Bookstore.

2. Hands-On Physics Experiments (Activity Book, Grades K-2)

Written by Cherie Winner, with illustrations by Gary Mohrman, and published by School Specialty Publishing. Aimed at teachers, but parents and mentors can use this to point a kindergartner in the direction of a promising science fair project. Experiments cover properties of objects and materials; position and motion off objects; and light, heat, electricity, and magnetism. The book’s a bit tricky to find, but it’s listed in teachersparadise.com, priced $10.77.

3. Einstein’s Science Parties: Easy Parties for Curious Kids

Written by Shar Levine and Allison Grafton, it’s filled with fun activities intended to cater to kids’ curiosity and give the budding scientist good foundation. Exploring fossils and dinosaurs, bubbles, and edible experiments should hold their interest. Available in Amazon and priced at $12.95.

4. The Everything Kids Nature Book

Create clouds, make waves, defy gravity, and so much more. Kathiann M. Kowalski’s book contain activities that should be very exciting for the outdoorsy kid. There are chapters that focus on life in the forest, tropical rain forests, grasslands, deserts, and surviving in cold climate. Amazon carries this title at $7.95.

5. Experiments in Science: How Does It Work?

Written by David Glover, this boasts of experiments with electricity, forces and movements, light and color, and sound and music. Expect answers to questions regarding how kites fly and whether sunlight can bounce. One place to get this is Amazon, for $21.99.

6. Literacy Centers for Science Skills

Activities in this book target standards in such areas as organisms and their environments, properties of matter, scientific method, and water cycle. Activities involve such things as ladybugs, spiders, coral reefs, shadows, lakes and rivers, stars, and so on. It’s available in both book ($23.99) and e-book ($21.99), both you can get from Teacher Created Resources.

While kindergarten-age kids should be encouraged to explore to feed their scientific curiosity, it’s important to keep in mind that their safety is ensured. Adult supervision is especially necessary when the experiments involve chemicals, sharp objects, and other materials that might cause injury. Guidance and encouragement should go a long way. A brilliant scientist might just be some years and science fair projects away.