The function of your science station is to ensure that experiments, which sometimes need days to complete, aren't left to languish in a dark corner. The station can function as a play area for your children and their friends to mark data or develop experiments of their own.
MATERIALS
Nature booksShelves or boards set up on plastic milk crates
Beinfang Notesketch book, available at some art supply stores (or improvise: Divide plain notebook pages in half, draw lines on one side for notes and leave the other side blank for drawings)
Colored pencils
Permanent markers
Small paper bags and newspaper
Safety or swimming goggles
Hammer
Magnifying glass
Three small flowerpots
Presoaked dried beans (lima beans work well)
Watering can
Small nail
Glass jar with a metal or plastic lid
Shovel
Black cloth or construction paper
Rubber bands
Pruning shears
Ribbon
A pint-size container
PREP
Before beginning, think about which experiments you'd like to conduct. Here I detail a few of our favorites, but you will surely find that your interests and the environment in which you live will suggest many other possibilities. Among the projects the kids and I haven't tried yet are tree bark rubbings, cocoon homes and a homemade ant farm.Whichever experiments you choose, be sure to make a thorough list of supplies you'll need. Pick a spot outside your house where you and your kids can leave shelves or boards placed on plastic milk crates. If you live in an apartment, empty a couple of bookshelves and set up an auxiliary science station on a windowsill for plant experiments. As you set up the spot, send the kids to collect the materials from around the house.
WHERE DOES SOIL COME FROM? The goal here is to demonstrate how soil comes from eroded rock, but that eroded rock lacks something plants need in order to grow. Begin by collecting a bag of crumbly rocks and a bag of dirt from the same locality. Place the rocks between layers of old newspaper, and, while wearing safety goggles, pulverize the rocks with a hammer. Use your magnifying glass to compare the crushed rocks and the dirt. Are they the same color? Now, dig up some soil from your garden. How and why is it different from the other two?
Fill the flowerpots with the three soil samples. Plant three beans in each of the labeled pots, then water. Do seedlings grow in all three pots? Are some stronger than others? Why?
HOW DOES THE SOIL BECOME ENRICHED? To show how worms work to enrich soil, begin by punching holes in the lid of a large jar. In the jar itself, place alternating 1-inch layers of soil (from your yard or park) and sand. Finish with a layer of soil, and top it with dead leaves and old, uncooked vegetable scraps. With a shovel, dig for worms, gently turning up a large shovelful of soil at a time. Break up the dirt with your hands and place no more than five of the worms you discover in your jar. Worms are very sensitive to light, so you'll want to wrap the jar snugly in black cloth or construction paper and secure it with a rubber band. Every few days, give the worms some fresh scraps, and observe how they pull the leaves down and mix the layers of soil and sand, aerating and enriching the mixture.
WHAT DO BUDS LOOK LIKE WHEN THEY GROW? To observe closely how leaves and flowers develop, and to demonstrate the value of water, find a tree about to bud out (fruit trees, magnolias, horse chestnuts and forsythia bushes are good candidates). Choose two branches with buds at the same stage. Tie a ribbon 3 inches down one branch. Use shears to clip the other branch at 3 inches. Place the clipped branch in a jar of water, label it and draw and date a picture of it in the notebook.
Over the next week, observe the two branches, drawing sketches of the faster-growing clipped branch. Why does one twig bud out faster than the other?
