Home | News | Get Scientific at Home for Science Week 2020
15th August, 2020
National Science Week has taken off, erupted and exploded into schools across Australia. Diving deep into the mystery of the seas, this year’s theme is Deep Blue: Innovations in the future of our oceans.
Science is an important and highly engaging way to spark interest and passion in children of all ages, abilities and strengths because it is such a varied subject.
Science Week 2020 is the perfect time to launch your own creative D.I.Y. science experiments.
Your kitchen is pretty much set up like a fully functioning laboratory so why not get cracking with a kitchen-based experiment this Science Week?
Some easy (and not so messy) experiments include filling your sink with water and then discovering which fruit and vegetables float and which ones sink.
Getting into the Deep Blue theme, try using the stove top to time how long clean water takes to boil compared to iced water, salt water and water with sugar in it.
Make sure you’re writing down the findings of your experience, just like a true scientist!
There are so many exciting experiments that can be done in your backyard and you kids will find each of them just as thrilling as the last.
One colourful experiment you could do involves fresh daisies. Pop a few daisies in some jars. Then add water and food colouring, adding a different colour to each separate jar. Leave in the sun and watch as the daisies magically change colour.
Another backyard-based science experiment to explore with Science Week is also a numbers game. Go through the garden and count the number of different flowers, trees and plants you have growing. Tally up the results as you count them and then add them all together. You can do the same for creepy crawlies by counting bugs and other critters you have living in your garden.
Salt is great to use in an experiment. Most households will have some laying around and you can do a lot of different things with it.
Spark your little one’s curiosity with this Deep Blue themed experiment. Get two glasses of water and two eggs. Stir in about 5 tablespoons of salt into one of the cups. Now carefully drop one egg into each of the cups. The egg in the salty water should be floating on the top of the glass.
After you’ve done your floating egg experiment why not pop the glasses (without the eggs) into the freezer. Time how long each glass takes to freeze. Which one froze fastest?
You can find more Science Week celebrations and education tips over on our Learning Links Instagram page.
