Science U
Science-U at Home Special
Special | 25m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Learn how parents and caregivers can bring the wonder of science home to kids.
Campers, mentors and instructors at the Penn State Science-U summer science camp show off the ways parents and caregivers can bring the wonder of science home to kids. Learn all about cool, at-home, science experiments and, more importantly, how YOU can learn science while encouraging the kids in your life!
Science U
Science-U at Home Special
Special | 25m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Campers, mentors and instructors at the Penn State Science-U summer science camp show off the ways parents and caregivers can bring the wonder of science home to kids. Learn all about cool, at-home, science experiments and, more importantly, how YOU can learn science while encouraging the kids in your life!
How to Watch Science U
Science U is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[Child] - Science U at Home was generously supported by grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the EQT Foundation.
(marching drum beat) - ♪ We love science, yes, we do!
♪ - ♪ [Kids] We love science, yes we do.
♪ - ♪ We love science, Science U.
♪ - ♪ [Kids] We love science, Science U!
♪ - When I say science, you say U.
Science!
- U!
- Science!
- U!
- [Kids singing & laughing] ♪ We love science, yes we do!
♪ ♪ We love science, Science U!
♪ - [Mom] Do you see this?
We're all stuck inside and they want to do science!
Just like on Science U.
What's Science U, you ask?
Science U is a science camp for kids, held summers at Penn State University.
They get to do all kinds of fun science activities and experiments like this one.
(drum beat) (magical music) - Wow!
- Wait, this is awesome guys!
- Look!
Look!
- There's colorful science in milk.
- And soap.
- You're gonna get a plate and we're going to fill that plate with milk.
And then we're going to put drops of food coloring in the middle of the milk.
Then we're gonna take a cotton swab, and we're going to introduce soap into the milk and see what happens.
(drum beat) - Wait, all the food coloring is running away from the soap.
- [Narrator] But what about the churning?
- The more fat, the more churning.
- [Narrator] You can use different types of milk that have different amounts of fat.
- We're doing skim milk.
- I'm doing 2% milk.
- I'm doing whole milk!
- [Narrator] What do you think will happen?
Try it!
- [Mentor] Wow!
- [Mom] See that?
Milk, food coloring, dish soap.
We can do that right now!
- [Child] Yay!
- [Mom] Uh-huh, I can hear you saying, "But, I don't know anything about science."
"What do I do?"
Ha!
I said the same thing, but you know what?
Science U has a great website with lots of ideas and activities and we're going to show you some right now because you don't need to know science to do science with kids.
(boinging) - Whee!
- [Mom] I've got a very curious kiddo, - Oh ho!
waking up way too early and asking question after question.
- How much does the earth weigh?
Will we ever discover aliens?
(fly buzzing) How do flies walk on the ceiling?
Hey Mom, how DO flies walk on the ceiling?
Ughh, I don't know, hon.
- It's upside down!
- But this could be a learning opportunity.
Why don't you observe more closely?
Try to figure it out while I go get some coffee.
- Okay!
(fly buzzes) How do they do it?
You must know the answer.
- Your mother doesn't know everything, but what do you think?
- I think they have sticky feet.
- Well, let's do some research!
- Yeah!
- With some patience and a little coffee, my kid's curiosity can be a springboard for learning.
- Hey Mom, they really do have sticky feet!
(mom chuckles) - That's wild!
- See?
I learned that you can learn I learned that you can learn right alongside your kids and observing insects is a great place to start.
(Marching drum intro) - [Narrator] Today, campers are watching bumblebees.
- [Entomologist] Now, if you look really closely at them you can see the pollen baskets on their legs.
That's all the pollen they've collected as they have been foraging.
- And now here's some bee watching safety tips.
- If you're going to observe bees, it's always important to let an adult know beforehand.
- Bee stings hurt.
Will I get stung?
- Most bees will not harm you, if you're observing them from a distance, - Sit and watch the bees while you're quiet and still.
Shhh!
Do you think these are the same ones?
- I'm not sure, it might be one of those guys.
- Bees aren't too interested in people.
They're usually busy going about their own business, collecting nectar for their colony.
- The bee may come to check you out, especially if you're wearing bright colors.
It might think you're a flower!
- But it's not likely they'll sting unless provoked.
So just observe with your eyes and ears.
- [Girl] There's a tiny one.
- When you're observing bumblebees, you can see lots of different types of activity.
Collecting pollen, flying, sitting on flowers, even grooming themselves.
Try making a chart and recording the different types of activity that you see!
- If it wasn't for bees, we wouldn't have anything.
We wouldn't even have those beautiful flowers.
- [Narrator] Some insects start out as caterpillars And the campers are gonna find out how they find their food.
- This is a caterpillar.
- It's a Manduca Caterpillar.
- Eek!
- It's spongy.
- This caterpillar is about four inches long and it's got deep V's marked on its sides.
If you notice the horn on its bottom and then mandibles for munching.
- They use their mandibles for munching!
- Nom nom nom nom nom - These are very hungry, hungry caterpillars!
- They love to eat.
A caterpillar can eat 64 square inches a day!
(munching and burp) and all that food gives them enough energy to turn into an adult hawk moth.
They're huge!
- [Narrator] So what kind of food do they eat?
- Manduca caterpillars like solanaceous plants like potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.
Just like us.
- [Narrator] Given the choice, the Manduca caterpillar will choose the solanaceous leaves every time.
- But, how do they find their food?
- I think they smell with their tiny antennae on their heads.. - I think they use their sight with their little eyes right there.
- [Narrator] So do they find their food by seeing it or smelling it?
- So, let's test it.
We'll take a solanaceous leaf and seal it in a plastic container so they can see it, but not smell it.
And then we'll take some green mesh so we can camouflage the leaves so they can't see it, but they can smell it.
- [Narrator] Let's see which one they can find.
- [Boy] On your mark, get set, GO!
- [Girl] That one!
I think it's the smell.
- They go straight for the mesh, even though they can't see the leaves.
- [Narrator] Yup, every time.
- We can tell that Manduca caterpillars find their food by sense of smell.
- Their nose is so good, they smell better than your dog at home.
- [Narrator] But do all caterpillars find their food this way?
- Maybe you can catch a wild caterpillar in your neighborhood and test it out.
- [Mom] Okay, here we go.
A couple items added to the shopping list and we're ready for our next experiment!
Cornstarch, food coloring - [Child] What are we going to do?
What are we going to do?
- [Mom] You'll see!
(drums with upbeat music) - We're making Oobleck.
- You can punch it.
- It's gooey.
- You can walk on it.
- It's gonna blow your mind.
- It's a solid.
- It's a liquid.
- It's a solid!
- It's a liquid!
- But can it be both?
- What's in this stuff?
- You got two parts corn starch, - Mixed with one part water.
And you get a mixture - a high density suspension - that we like to call Oobleck.
- Solid particles suspended in a liquid!
- But how can some of it behave like a liquid AND a solid?
- Oobleck is what scientists call a colloid, and this stuff changes when it comes under pressure.
When the mixture is sitting still, water surrounds the corn starch granules and lubricates their movement.
And it flows like a liquid.
But under pressure, like a punch, water is squeezed out from between the granules and the friction suddenly increases dramatically!
And it acts like a solid.
- Oobleck is weird because it changes its state of matter through pressure.
- [Child] So dance, dance, dance on the Oobleck!
- Skip on the Oobleck!
- [Child] Take a stroll on the Oobleck.
- Just don't stop!
- Help, I'm stuck!
(upbeat music) - Hey there, Mike from Science U here.
And I just want to warn you from experience to be careful making a giant tub of Oobleck!
Because once those hoards of kids are done with it, we have to safely dispose of it.
And let me tell you, if you try to wash cornstarch and water, this non-Newtonian fluid, down your drain.
You're going to need a plumber!
(bubbles) So let the mixture settle, pour off the water, scoop it into a zip top storage bag and throw it away in the garbage.
You will thank me!
And now it's time to cook up some delicious snacks!
(Drumbeat transition) - [Narrator] Can you make a S'more using only the power of the sun?
(Heavenly music) - [Mike] The sun sends energy to the earth as solar radiation, and we can harness that energy to make a s'more!
Today, each camper will be making their own solar oven using the materials you see here.
A pizza box, aluminum foil, sheets of clear plastic and black paper.
- Campers, aim your ovens at the sun.
- [Narrator] The sunlight hits the aluminum foil, which redirects it through the plastic window, allowing both direct and reflected sunlight into the box where it converts the light energy into heat energy.
- Hot enough to melt marshmallow and chocolate!
- Oo, that should be yummy!
- We love S'mores, yes we do.
- [Kids] We love S'mores, yes we do.
- We love S'mores on Science U.
- [Kids] We love S'mores on Science U.
(magical music) - What's going on, Chemaine?
- Hi, Pop-pop!
I'm trying to make my own solar oven out of a pizza box, like they do on Science U!
- Well, it looks very impressive.
- But it's not working.
It's not melting the chocolate in my s'mores.
I can't do this, I give up!
- Now, now... let's take a look at that.
What you got going on here?
- Well, they say you needed plastic wrap, black paper, aluminum foil, and a pizza box.
So, this is what I did.
- So why do you think these items might work together to melt that chocolate?
- Well, the aluminum foil reflects the sun like a mirror!
(laughs) - That makes sense.
What else?
- And then the black absorbs the light, just like a hot tar road on a summer day.
(car driving past) - Well, that's surely true.
What else might heat things up?
Did you ever notice how hot a car gets in the sun when all the windows are closed?
- Yeah, I've got plastic on all my sides.
Hold on!
There's a hole here.
It's not sealed up!
Hand me the tape, could you?
We're going to try this again.
- There you go.
You know, the greatest discoveries were made through repeated failures.
- Really?
- Really!
A mistake is just an opportunity to learn something new.
I sure am glad you didn't give up!
- Here you go, Pop-pop.
- It's so gooey!
- That's when they're most delicious!
(Pop-pop laughs) (Piano music) - When I say science, you say U!
Science!
- [Kids] U!
- Science!
- [Kids] U!
- [Narrator] Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere.
- But, are all bubbles round?
- Bubbles just want to be round.
- You see, water is H2O, two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
The hydrogen atoms stick to the oxygen atoms of their neighbors an attractive force called surface tension, which pulls water molecules into the tightest possible groupings... making bubbles round!
- But can you make a square bubble?
- We can trick the natural forces that make bubbles round using this box like frame.
- And then what we're gonna do is we're going to try to blow a bubble right on top of it here.
- It's a square!
- [Narrator] When the round bubble is dropped into the middle of the frame, the soap film walls push against it and force it into a cube shape.
- Be gentle, okay?
- There you go.
- Yay!
- [Kids] Experiment!
(bubble sounds) - [Mom] Okay, can we talk?
The next activity caused a little controversy in our house.
Why is that?
Because some people in this house don't always use a glass.
- [Child]} Are you talking about Daddy?
- (Mom gives frustrated growl) (magical music) - [Kids] Eww... - What, what's the matter?
- You drank out of the milk carton and then put it back.
- When you drink from the carton, you put spit in the milk.
- Really?
- [Narrator] We can prove backwash happens by putting powder drink mix in our mouths to color the saliva.
- The color swirling around in there, proves a little of your spit goes back in your drink.
- That's my backwash.
- And what's so wrong with that?
- Germs!
- Bacteria!
- Let's test it!
- To test for backwash bacteria, half the campers drank milk straight from the carton and half the campers, the control group, used a cup.
- And everybody left milk in the bottom of the carton to test for bacteria.
The campers then put the samples in an incubator for four days to grow whatever got into the milk.
(clock ticking) - So, here's the bacteria when we used a glass.
- I don't see any bacteria.
- That's what's in your backwash.
Look at all that bacteria!
- Most of the bacteria in your saliva are either helpful or harmless.
- But if you're sick and you drink straight from the carton, - you could spread those germs to somebody else.
- [Kids] So, use a glass!
(music ends) (crate dragged on the ground) (grunt of effort) - Hi, I'm Chemaine and I'm getting on my soapbox to tell all you caregivers, moms, dads, nanas, and pop-pops to inspire and encourage boys and girls equally.
All kids want to know how things work.
And lots of us have that spark that will one day drive us to become scientists and doctors and engineers and, well, just awfully capable people!
That's it!
That's all I have to say.
And I relinquish the rest of my time.
Chemaine, out!
(drums) - Can you get power from a lemon?
- Lemons are powerfully sour!
- And powerfully acidic!
Acid is something that you find in a battery as part of a chemical reaction to produce electricity.
- So this lemon can be a battery?
- [Narrator] Campers can turn a lemon into a battery.
But you gotta add a couple things.
- So if we take a piece of zinc, such as a galvanized nail, and we take a piece of copper, like an everyday penny, and we stick them into a lemon, we create positive and negative ends to our lemon battery.
And then if we take copper wire and attach those to our penny and our nail, we're able to show that we create voltage and that voltage will give us electricity.
- It's generating electricity.
- But, is it enough to light up a tiny light bulb?
- [Narrator] Not really, but if we hook up a bunch of them in series...
(ping!)
- Cool, but how does it work?
What's going on between the penny, the lemon and the nail?
- [Narrator] In a lemon battery, the zinc from the nail breaks into a positive ion and two free electrons.
The zinc ion goes into solution with the lemon juice, free electrons build up on the nail but they're negatively charged and they want to go somewhere.
So when a conductor like a wire is added between the zinc and the copper, all those electrons rush across the wire.
- The electrons are flowing!
- [Narrator] Flowing electrons is electricity.
To complete the cycle, the electrons then go back into the lemon juice acid solution, form up with two H plus ions, and create hydrogen gas.
- It's an oxidation reduction reaction, a redox reaction.
That's how most batteries work!
- These two chemical reactions push electrons through the wires producing power that we can harness.
- I will hook up a million lemons and make the sourest most powerful battery!
(evil laugh) (cool jazz beat) - Hey, out there!
I'm Chemaine's Pop-Pop and I'm getting on my soap box.
Well, that's not going to hold me!
So I'm going to stand NEXT to my soap box to say that grandparents can inspire kids, too.
Everyone who cares for a child can do science.
And let me tell you something.
You don't need fancy equipment to do science at home with your kids.
(tap water running) (magical music) (humming) - Hi Dad, I thought we were doing science stuff today.
- I AM doing science!
- You're filling a jar with water.
- Uh-huh!
- Why?
- Well, I want you to look through this round clear vessel and move your hand around on the other side.
- Okay, Dad.
Whoa!
- What do you see?
- My hand got bigger!
- But does your hand get bigger or does it just look bigger?
What do you think?
- Hm.
It just looks bigger, 'cause my hand's the same size, see?
- Are you sure it didn't grow and then shrink right away?
- Ugh.
Dad... - Okay.
Now.
You see this?
- A magnifying glass!
- Now try this.
Pinch the magnifying glass and run your fingers across it.
Is it flat?
- No, it's curved!
- Kind of like... - The jar!
That's pretty cool, Dad.
(energetic music) - Today, Science U campers use their brains.
- Well, that's a given, because Science U campers, use their brain every day.
- But especially today!
- [Narrator] Campers know that their brain controls their body through the central nervous system.
- But how fast does the brain send messages to the body?
We're going to measure Science-U campers' reaction time with the ruler test.
- The ruler desk?
- [Narrator] The ruler test!
You stand over the test subject with the ruler and put the end of the ruler, right between his open fingers.
Then, without telling him when you're going to do it, you drop the ruler.
- And I have to catch it.
- We measured the distance on the ruler by recording where he grabbed it.
- Like, four and half inches.
- The further it fell, the slower the reaction.
- 18.
- The ruler is falling at 9.8 meters per second square.
- We can do the math and chart the reaction time.
- I was fast.
- I was faster.
- No, you weren't.
- Yes, I was.
- Let's examine how the brain and the body work together.
Our eyes see the ruler's been dropped.
- The ruler's been dropped!
- Dropped!
- [Narrator] Signals race through sensory neurons to the brain (kids continue saying "Dropped!")
- Message received.
Grab it!
(Kids repeat "Grab it!")
- The brain then fires off the message, to motor neurons down the arm to tell the hand to catch the ruler.
- Mission completed!
(Kids cheer) - Your reaction time depends on your eyesight and the speed that the signals travel to your brain and from your brain to your muscles.
- So, what do you want to test next?
- Right hand versus left hand.
- I want to try it on my dad!
- How fast is your reaction time?
(upbeat music) - [Narrator] How to think and act like a scientist!
First, begin with a problem or a question.
- Whoops!
(splat) Aw!
When you knock a piece of bread off the counter, why does it always lend jelly side down?
- [Narrator] Make a hypothesis - [Kid] I think it has to do with the height of the table, which affects the number of rotations the bread makes before it hits the floor.
(splat) - [Narrator] Design and conduct an experiment.
- [Kid] I will push a piece of jelly bread onto the floor, from knee height, counter height, and top of the fridge height.
(slide whistle and splat) - [Narrator] Analyze your data, (slide whistle and pencil writing) - [Kid] Huh!
- (higher slide whistle - Uh huh!
- (even higher slide whistle) - Huh!
[Narrator] Make a conclusion.
- [Kid] Hmmm.
- [Narrator] If it's wrong, try again, or make a new hypothesis.
If right, - [Kid] Yay!
- double check or test a new hypothesis.
- [Kid] Does a pizza, land topping side down?
- [Narrator] And of course, communicate your findings.
(Drum roll and trumpet fanfare) - [Kid] See?
- [Mom] Oh!
Very impressive, but, uh... - [Dad] Son, we're okay with messes in the name of science, but it's time to clean the lab!
- Okay, sure Dad.
And I'll ask first next time.
- Heh heh heh... - Ummm... - Next time?
- (laughter) (happy music ends) - Hi, Mike here again, just back to say that you can find this poster, that charts out the scientific method at science-u.org.
Print out a copy for the fridge or for your room and you can design your own experiments and think like a scientist!
(music with drums) - [Narrator] When NASA sent the Mars Exploration Rover to Mars, they faced a huge challenge.
How could they safely land the vehicle without breaking it?
- [Mike] So what do you think we can do to safely land on the surface of Mars?
- [Narrator] We challenged the campers to design and build their own Mars Landers, but instead of landing a Rover, they had to land an egg... without breaking it!
(egg splat) - So the challenge has been thrown down!
Good luck, I'll be coming around to check.
- [Narrator] So if you had to drop a raw egg, how would you protect it?
Armed with bubble wrap, foam, balloons and newspaper, They got to work.
- We are designing an egg protection system.
- We're making parachutes.
- [Narrator] But would they work?
would the landers dissipate enough energy from a fall to protect the egg?
It was time for the moment of truth.
(boxes landing on the ground) (kids reacting) - Ohhh!
(clunk!)
(Thud!)
- [Kids] Ohhh!
- [Narrator] So how did they do?
- It survived!
- Some designs worked and some... not so much.
- This is why cars have airbags!
(kid laughter) - Then we showed the campers how NASA did it.
First, a parachute opened to slow down the Lander.
And then as it approached the surface...
Such a cool design, we had to make one just like it!
- The campers got a pattern from NASA for a pyramid shaped egg lander capsule printed on construction paper.
They cut it out, folded along the lines, attached four balloons through poked holes and taped them down, put a raw egg in the paper capsule and taped it closed.
Our Mars egg landers were ready for launch!
(dramatic music) We took our landers back to the parking garage.
This time to the very top.
- [Kids] Three, two, one!
- [Mentor] Hey, what happened to this one?
- [Kid] Our egg survived!
- Eggy survived!
- [Chemaine] You see?
Research is important!
Because when I land on Mars, I want to stay in one piece!
Okay, parents, grandparents, and caregivers who really care, that's our show.
Now go do science with your kids!
Observe the world around you Feed their curiosity You never know what fire that spark will ignite cuz someday it may take a girl out of this world!
(rocket taking off) Woo Hooooo!
(rocket trails off) (happy music) [Child] - Science U at Home was generously supported by grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the EQT Foundation.
