Introduction

“We are dreamers, shapers, singers and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner. Holographic demons and invocations of equations.”

—ELRIC THE TECHNOMAGE (BABYLON 5, SEASON 2, EPISODE 3
—PLAYED BY MICHAEL ANSARA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

We seem to have gotten further and further away from an honest understanding and use of science in our daily lives. When emotional and political motivations color the use of scientific results, the true purpose of science gets lost. Take, for example, the recent controversy over issues like vaccination. Vaccination works. The overwhelming body of scientific evidence proves that while there are individual cases of poor reactions to vaccinations, the health of our society as a whole is significantly improved as a result of them. Yet the science surrounding them has been twisted in recent years, alarming parents and creating doubt. The result is more risk to children who are not vaccinated.

Science is nothing short of the search for truth. Science has no bias. Science has no spin. Science merely gives us the unvarnished answers to the questions we ask. Whether we ask the right questions, or understand the answers, is totally our problem. But it also affects our kids because they learn how to question the world around them by watching us. If we are inquisitive, they’ll likely be inquisitive. If we are skeptical and demand proof before accepting dubious claims, they’ll probably be skeptical as well, and smarter for it.

That is why it’s vital for us to be involved in our kids’ science education. In fact, by learning the rigorous logical methodology of science, kids can discover how to approach other school subjects and even other problems they encounter through their lives. Understanding how to state a hypothesis, derive the tests that must be met to prove it, effectively analyze the results, and provide a conclusion is central to science and the key to so many other pursuits.

Of course, as with anything, a big part of getting kids engaged with science is getting them excited, and luckily, beyond all the skills science can teach about methodology, logic, and the rigorous application of principles, it can be really fun, too. Digging into science is like going to Hogwarts and learning the secret magic that governs every aspect of day-to-day life. And when you master science, you can learn how to use and adapt its principles for your own purposes and even entertainment.

For example, I have a fondness for Avogadro’s number (6.022 × 10^23). Huh? What’s that, you ask? It’s a funny little number that tells you how much of an elementary particle—an atom or molecule—you have when you have a mole of it. What’s a mole? Well, the easiest way to understand it is that a mole of a substance is the mass in grams of the substance equal to its molar mass (which you can usually look up for each and every element on a periodic table). For example, take water. H₂O. In round numbers, the molar mass of water is 2 × 1 (for hydrogen) + 1 × 16 (for oxygen) = 18 grams per mole. Therefore, in an 18 gram sample of water, there are 6.022 × 10^23 molecules of water. From this number you can find the density of water, or even the mass of one molecule. Handy, if obscure, science, eh?

Which isn’t to say that science education is about learning trivia. Avogadro’s number is actually a vital part of chemistry and physics. The point is, when you know the trivia of science, you know how things work. I mean how things work! And that’s awesome.

Which brings us to the purpose and goal(s) of this book. Even more than the other Geek Dad books, this book is about enjoying science with your kids. Every kid is going to have to deal with science at some point in their education, and probably have to do something for a science fair. I’m hoping this book will give every family a bit of help in getting into the “playing with science” mind-set (key point: Have fun with it!), a better understanding of scientific methodology, and a good selection of basic ideas for potential science fair projects.

What this book isn’t is the be-all and end-all, comprehensive list for all the possible science fair projects out there. These are suggestions. You can do these experiments at home together, too, for fun and learning (and they are fun!). But if you want to help your kids do any of them as science fair projects, make sure you don’t tell them the answers! The whole point of science fair projects is that while kids may suspect the answers, they should be going through a journey of discovery as they do the experiments. That’s why, on some projects, you’ll see “<SPOILER>” warnings—pieces of information to withhold from them if you’re going over the book as a resource for their class work.

Of course, if you’re just doing it all for entertainment alone, no worries. Have at it! Enjoy science and the amazing things you can explore in your own home. And celebrate learning a little something magical every time you do.

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK

At its most basic level, the Scientific Method is about approaching any task in a logical and rigorous manner. We ask ourselves a question like “How far can I throw a rock?” Then we hypothesize an outcome based upon what we know and decide how we’re going to determine if the hypothesis is correct by setting up an experiment, defining parameters, and ensuring that nothing can corrupt the results. Then we perform the experiment, gather data, study it to see if it proves or disproves our hypothesis. If need be, we can then refine our hypothesis and repeat. It sounds dry, but it’s also very powerful. It’s how we gather irrefutable answers about the way our world works.

The projects included in this book cover a broad swath of scientific principles and approach those principles with an eye toward having fun while learning about the science and the tenets of the Scientific Method, as well as some existing bits of the history of science and how we know what we know. While science fairs can be serious endeavors, it never hurts to approach your project with a sense of whimsy, which is why the projects are organized the way they are, into four rather geeky groups:

Experiments for Moonbase Alpha: The experiments in this section imagine a future when we can cast off the shackles of gravity and begin the colonization of our closest neighbors in the solar system. If this happens, any aspiring mad scientist will need to be prepared for life in space and know how to sustain their minions of moon people. The projects in this section look at both the hard and soft sciences needed for life aboard a space station.

 

Inside the Mad Scientist’s Kitchen: Molecular gastronomy is all the rage these days, but what does it mean? It’s all about using science in the kitchen to do things with food that haven’t been tried before. But the best chefs and mad scientists have always known that food and science are inseparable. The projects in this section all have to do with playing with your food in strange and exciting ways.

 

Apocalypse Survival Science: There’s always the chance that an apocalypse awaits us in the future. Whether it’s zombies, robots, a horrible virus, the next ice age, or a dozen other cheery armageddons, science fiction often revolves around a good yarn about the decimation of the planet, leaving a few desperate survivors to find their way in a world bereft of technology and other niceties. Such a scenario would require relearning basic scientific principles and how they can apply to life in a harsh environment. The projects in this section will help prepare your little mad scientist to lead the remnants of society into a new dawn.

 

Fun with Fire and Electricity: As our heroes on Mythbusters (probably the best show on television that celebrates how cool science can be) have shown us over the years, playing with fire can be fun, and electricity is electrifying. The projects in this section all explore the powerful, creative, and destructive energies we find in the natural world.

NEXT, ON A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE OF GEEK DAD: FIRE/ELECTRICAL/CHEMICAL SAFETY FOR THE ASPIRING MAD SCIENTIST

While the goal of this book is to approach science and science fair projects with a bit of fun and whimsy, any experimentation has its risks, and every scientist must respect those risks and prepare for them. Why do you think scientists (and doctors and pharmacists) wear those white lab coats that hang to the knees and have long sleeves? No, it’s not just a fashion statement or product placement for the bleach industry. It’s about safety. If you have a clean white lab coat, it’s much easier to see when you might have splashed a potentially dangerous chemical on you.

So, let us take a sober moment and talk about keeping you and your evil minions safe (mad scientist liability insurance is a real budget-buster, after all).

Here are some things you’re going to want to have when performing the more rigorous of the experiments included in this book:

▶ Lab Coat: If you don’t want to lay out the extra money for new duds, kitchen aprons and long-sleeve shirts can be a reasonable substitute. On the other hand, you can find lab coats for under $20 online pretty easily, and then you’ll really look the part!

▶ Eye Protection: There may be splashes or smoke involved in some of these projects, and you MUST protect your eyesight. Even if a patch or hideous scar is often a great way to look extra menacing as a mad scientist, having one or both actually suggests you’re a sloppy mad scientist, and your nemeses will respect you less. Get safety glasses (cheap and easy to find at your local hardware store), or even better, proper mad scientist goggles (if you’re a proper Dr. Horrible fan, search for the Hobart 770129 Oxy/Acet Goggle on amazon.com—you’ll be very happy).

▶ Hand Protection: When handling chemicals, standard latex gloves should be fine, but because there will be fire in some of these projects, you may want to step up your game a little. The challenge with fire-resistant gloves is that they tend to be bulky, and significantly hamper dexterity. A good compromise is a pair of the heat-resistant oven gloves you can find online or in many kitchen-supply stores. Some even come with silicon finger pads to increase grip capacity. The real thing to be careful about with these is that you don’t start using them all the time and then one day, forget you took them off and grab something hot.

▶ Fire Extinguisher: It’s absolutely vital that you have at least one, if not more than one, fire extinguisher at hand and readily available when working with fire for these experiments. Most big-box stores (Costco, Walmart, Target) carry inexpensive multi-packs of fire extinguishers for home use. Get them, check them every month and, every time you start a project, make sure they’re still properly filled and pressurized. A backup is to have a box of baking soda or salt handy to throw on a fire and smother it (just make sure you don’t use flour, as we’ll show you!).

▶ Basic Common Sense: Sometimes, even when you have the best intentions, this is the hardest thing to keep at hand. All of the experiments in this book are meant to be done by parents with their kids. If the kids are doing them as science fair projects and parents can’t directly perform the work, PARENTS MUST STILL ENSURE ALL SAFETY MEASURES ARE BEING OBSERVED. If you are doing these experiments together, you must lead by example and take care with every step. And especially, remember:

• Never leave your budding mad scientist alone with an open flame or active chemical reaction. If there’s something really pressing (phone call, person at the door, UFO sighting), just put the fire/reaction out first, even if it’s premature. You can always start over again when you get back.

• Keep everything neat and organized. Science is a process, and sometimes a messy process. Again, being deliberate, slow, and organized is the best way to get the cleanest results, and to maintain a safe work area. Keep your “lab” clean and uncluttered, and make sure everything is labeled or clearly identified so nobody grabs the wrong material in a moment of confusion. Indeed, there should never be any confusion in the lab—even in a mad scientist’s lab!

• Keep things fun, but calm and controlled. Doing science is a blast, but for the most part, we don’t want to cause a blast (at least not one we didn’t know was going to happen). While everyone involved can be having fun, horseplay (why don’t we call it people-play?) in the workspace must be discouraged. If you are managing multiple aspiring mad scientists alone, enforce upon them the importance of maintaining a proper scientific atmosphere.

EXPERIMENT INFORMATION

At the start of each experiment, you’ll see a table with summary information to give you an idea of what to expect from it, as well as some symbols not unlike what you see in a restaurant or hotel review to explain cost and difficulty. Here’s a legend to explain their meaning.

As with the previous Geek Dad books, I’ve tried hard to include projects/experiments that don’t cost a lot of money to put together, and that come in a range of difficulties. Unlike the previous books, though, you’ll see more projects that have a longer duration time. While many of these experiments (or at least the demonstration versions of them) can be done in a couple of hours, the more involved ones, especially those intended for use in science fairs, may take multiple days, weeks, or even months. Before you and your child decide to use one of these projects for a kids’ science fair, consider how much time there is to do the experiment and prepare the presentation for it.

And I hope you’ll enjoy the tongue-in-cheek references to mad scientists in movies and literature. While such mad scientists are often bad characters who believe the ends justify the means, they also often use science in a playful way, and that’s what I want your family’s takeaway to be here. Doing science together can give your family hours and hours of entertainment, and it’ll teach you a lot about many other things along the way. Sharing this kind of learning with our kids is one of the most valuable things we can do as parents.

So, to quote a mad scientist and his henchman, famously from Animaniacs:

Pinky: “What are we going to do today, Brain?”

 

Brain: “Same thing we do every day, Pinky: Try to take over the world!”