Simple Experiments and Activities for Youth
Simple experiments and activities young kids can do for school or science fair projects.
- Smell the Difference - Mirror Molecules
- Even though the same atoms combine to make mirror molecules, the left-handed and right-handed versions can have very different properties, such as smell. With a few items from around your house, you will be able to smell the difference between some stereoisomers like lemon and orange, or mint and caraway. National Museum of American History.
- Finding the Speed of Light with Marshmallows - A Take-Home Lab
- Requires a microwave oven, a microwave-safe casserole dish, a bag of marshmallows, and a ruler.
- Burning Calories - The Energy in Food
- How to make a simple calorimeter for measuring the energy content of food. UCSF, for grade 4 students.
- Testing Foods for Glucose and Starch
- Students practice safe laboratory methods while learning how to interpret results of chemical tests. They determine the foods to test and interpret and record their results. Based on the amount of glucose or starch present in the food, both tests will provide varying results. This gives students the chance to make decisions about results and helps them understand that scientists must repeat tests to confirm results. ---Countertop Chemistry.
- Countertop Chemistry
- Chemistry Activities that use chemicals you can find at the grocery or the hardware store. NC State University.
- Edible/Inedible Experiments Archive
- Science should be fun….and science should be edible! Food batteries, cabbage juice pH indicator, generating light by chewing, and more!
- How Stuff Works – Foods
- Beer, coffee, antioxidants, food preservation, etc.
- Food Chemistry Experiments
- A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling Web Site.
- Plastic Bag Ice Cream
- Illinois Farm Bureau - Ag ZipLocks & You - 10 plastic bag activities for kids. Also, check out this site from the University of Guelph, Ontario for information on the science and technology ice cream making.
