Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Brownie Home Scientist Badge

There are 5 steps to complete in the Brownie "Home Scientist" badge.  They are:



1.  Be a kitchen chemist.
2.  Create static electricity.
3.  Dive into density.
4.  Make something bubble up.
5.  Play with science.


Step 1.  Be a kitchen chemist: Make a salad dressing. 
Using the suggested recipe (1tsp mustard, 1tbsp vinegar, 1/2c olive oil, salt & pepper), Maya made a salad dressing to top the salad that she made for dinner.


Step 2.  Create static electricity: Make salt and pepper dance.
Working with her dad, Maya created static electricity with a balloon and caused salt and pepper to dance around on a sheet of paper.  She made a video of the experiment.

Step 3.  Dive into density: Lemons VS Limes.
Maya did this experiment first with lemons and limes (she thought they would both sink and was surprised that one sank and one floated) and then did the same with a peach and a plum.  She made a video of the experiment.




Step 4.  Make something bubble up: Soda Geyser.
We made 3 soda geysers, mixing baking soda with moutwash, apple cider vinegar, and Coca Cola.  The mouthwash had no reaction; the ACV showed a big geyser; and the soda was a small geyser.  Maya made videos of her experimentation.  (video 1, video 2, video 3)


Step 5.  Play with science: Giant Bubbles.  Maya did an adaptation of this option by creating a "lava lamp" with 1/2 bottle of Coca Cola and 1/2 a bottle of corn oil before dropping an alkaseltzer tablet inside to watch the bubbles create!



Beyond the Badge:
Maya loved this badge and doing science so much that she and her dad continued playing with static electricity.  They even made a can move!  See it on their video.