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Camp Simcha Laboratory
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  1. Brainstorm
  2. Comments: Try this in advance.  Possible that the planes won’t work...

 

ing Session #3 started June 13

Note: Colors mark your spot, e.g., Joe was here . Yair was here  Jake was Here Mkop was here Yitzy was here Menachem was here Ariel was here  Evan was here  Avigail was here.

We’ve culled our favorite projects and activities from all your great suggestions. Now let’s focus on these projects and activities by developing their technical details (i.e., materials and methods), presentation (e.g., scientific explanations and art...) and practical considerations (e.g., mobility...). Happy Scheming!

1-Hour Projects for all campers (every campers get assigned one hour per week, officially. But some will hang out with us all two weeks, which is why we’ve got “Everything else” following these three.

  1. Synthetic Biology with high-school aged campers.
  1. based on the Albert iGEM 2010 Genomikon kit (http://2010.igem.org/Team:Alberta)
  2. demonstrate proteins with the protein folding kit.
  3. integrate Miscope project into this one
  1. show one celled organisms
  1. Miscope project with all campers. Integrated into synthetic biology project for high-schooled aged campers.
  1. The miscope is a easy-to-handle microscope that’s connected to a computer for large display
  2. Split groups up and arrange competitions. Together campers and councelors scout out camp for interest stuff to look at under the miscope, magnify it with the scope. and challenge the other team to identify the zoomed-in object.
  3. can sample pond water and leaves and bugs.
  1. Egg drop competition with all campers

 

Everything else...

  1. Play Dough Circuits
  1. http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/index.htm
  1. Telescope for night activity
  1. Galileoscope kit
  2. The president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York is coming on Sunday night, 8/7, and will use his telescopes to give a tour of the sky.
  3. Do night science
  4. use the telescopes to roast marshmellows during the day
  1. Lego mindstorms
  1. http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-4544091-Mindstorms-NXT-2-0/dp/B001USHRYI http://www.bonanza.com/listings/NEW-SEALED-Lego-Mindstorms-NXT-2-0-Robotics-Kit-w-Warranty/36798392 
  2. http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-Inventors-Guide/dp/1593272154/ref=dp_cp_ob_t_title_3 http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-2-0-Technology/dp/1430224916/ref=pd_sim_b_4 http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-Discovery-Book/dp/159327211
  1. Send a phone into the sky with a balloon attached to a kitestring. Stream video back to camp.
  2. Steve Sprangler Lab in a Box (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/6-test-tube-experiments-rack)
  1. includes magic snow, waterproof sand, uv sensitive beads, an expanding rhino.
  1. Could look at these cool polymers with the miscope.
  1. Color changing carnations
  1. Technical:
  1. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000144
  1. Breath activated color changing.
  2. Bean plant
  3. The incredible machine video game
  4. Guess how many jelly beans in a jar
  5. Dancing Raisens
  6. sneaky science book: http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/on-sale/d689/
  7. math riddles
  8. milk/food coloring/soap thing
  9. Diet Coke and mentos fireworks.
  10. Helicopter (From Physics for Kids book)
  1. Purpose: To determine how weight affects the rotation speed of a paper helicopter.
  2. Materials:
  1. 3 paper clips
  2. Pencil
  3. Notebook paper
  4. Scissors
  5. Ruler
  1. Procedure:
  1. Fold and cut one sheet of paper in half lengthwise.
  2. Take one of the halves and fold it in half lengthwise.
  3. Use a ruler to draw a triangle on one edge of the paper.  The base of the traingle will be 1 in. (3 cm) long and one side will be between the 4-in. and 6-in. (9 cm and 14 cm) marks on the ruler (diagram in book).
  4. Cut out the triangle.  Cut through both layers of the paper.
  5. Open the paper and cut up the center fold to the point indicated on the diagram.  This forms the two wings.
  6. Fold the tabs toward the center and attach a paper clip to the bottom.
  7. Fold the wings in opposite directions.
  8. Hold the helicopter above your head and drop it.
  9. Add different numbres of paper clips one at a time and drop the plane after each addition.
  10. Observe the speed of the rotation after each paper clip is added.
  1. Results: The rotation speed increases as the weight increases, but a point is reached where additional weight pulls down with such force that the wings move upward and the plane falls like any falling object.
  2. Why?  As the paper falls, air rushes out from under the wings in all directions.  The air hits against the body of the craft, causing it to rotate.  Increasing the weight by adding paper clips causes the helicopter to fall faster, and the famount of air hitting the craft’s body increases.  This increase in air movement under the wings increases the rotation speed.
  1. **Right or Left? (From Phyics for Kids book)
  1. Purpose: To determine how wing position affects the direction of a paper helicopter’s rotation.
  2. Materials:
  1. Paper helicopeter from helicopter experiment
  1. Procedure:
  1. Hold the helicopter above your head and drop it.
  2. Observe the direction that the helicopter spins.
  3. Bend the wings in the opposite direction and again drop the helicopter from above your head.
  1. Results: The helicopter spins counterclockwise when the right wing is bent toward you and turns clockwise when the wings are reversed.
  1. Why?  Air rushes out form under each wing in all directoins as the helicopter falls.  The air this against the body of the craft, pushing it forward.  Both halves of the body are being pushed in a forward direction, resulting in a rotation about a central point.  The diagrams indicate direction of movement.
  1. Paper airplane building contest:
  1. Technical: A book perhaps like this: 
  1. http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Paper-Airplane-Book-Blackburn/dp/076110478X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307068769&sr=8-1
  2. http://www.amazon.com/Klutz-Book-Paper-Airplanes-Stillinger/dp/1570548307/ref=pd_sim_b_1
  1. which gives you instructions for building different kind of paper airplanes, and includes special paper for crafting them.
  1. Presentation: you can explain about lift, thrust, etc. -- how airplans fly.  And have contests for the farthest-flying plane, the most acrobatic plane, etc.

Warning! You may become dizzy from reading Past Brainstorming Sessions.

Past Brainstorming Session  #2                                                       May 26 - June 13

We need to start thinking products and cost:

The present brainstorming session began May 26.

Note: Colors mark your spot, e.g., Joe was here . Yair was here  Jake was H Mkop was here Yitzy was here Menachem was here Ariel was here  Evan was here  Avigail was here.

Sample Submissions

  1. Name
  1. Technical:
  1. Links are nice.
  2. Supplies
  3. Even instructions
  1. Presentation ideas:
  1. Artistic creativity here, i.e., the “Story” or “patter”.
  1. Practical Considerations (many kids of varying levels of physical ability)
  2. Comments:

  1. Rocket Building
  1. Technical:
  1. How about space weather balloon. Not as crazy as you might think:
  1. space weather balloon (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7074839.ece)
  1. Presentation ideas:
  1. attach a video camera for live feed to Camp Simcha
  2. what can we get it to release? glitter? streamers? biological agents?
  3. We can attach Gliders (made of styrofoam or something) to the rocket, and when it reaches its peak, the gliders come off and glide down.
  1. Practical Considerations: can a camper be shocked by the sudden noise?        
  1. What would the sudden noise be?
  1. Comments: who at Camp Simcha did the rocket building in previous years?

(scroll past Name and Projects for Activity ideas)        

Name

  1. Camp Simcha Laboratory
  2. The Professors House
  3. Do we dare build it?!
  4. Sizzling Simcha Science (Center) (S4 or S3C)

Projects (goal: six one-hour long projects)

  1. Rocket Building
  1. Technical:
  1. How about space weather balloon. Not as crazy as you might think:
  1. space weather balloon (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7074839.ece)
  1. Presentation ideas:
  1. attach a video camera for live feed to Camp Simcha
  2. what can we get it to release? glitter? streamers? biological agents?
  3. We can attach Gliders (made of styrofoam or something) to the rocket, and when it reaches its peak, the gliders come off and glide down.
  1. boat-making competition
  1. Technical:
  1. bears most weight
  2. maybe goes fastest with small propeller
  1. bridge building competition
  1. Technical:
  1. bears most weight
  2. Gum drops and Toothpicks
  3. Marshmellows & Spaghetti?
  1. Technical
  1. Competition:
  1. Tallest Bridge,
  2. Strongest Bridge- that supports the most weight, (Peices of paper)
  3. Longest lasting bridge (stays together for more than 5 minutes w.o touching it).
  1. Making Silly Putty
  1. Technical
  1. All you need is Elmers glue, borax, and water
  1. Making Play Dough Circuits!
  1. http://www.ted.com/talks/annmarie_thomas_squishy_circuits.html
  1. Making laser tag equipment
  2. Dissection
  1. Technical:
  1. Probably would be best with those fake frog kits
  1. build an energy ball
  1. Technical:
  1. An energy ball is a ball that links a ring of people. it lights up when they’re all holding hands. when one person breaks the circle the light goes off. (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1406))
  1. Presentation ideas:
  1. it could be a competition for which camper makes the energy ball that supports the most people. that way campers will go around recruiting friends to make circles.
  1. comments:
  1. What determines how many people it will work with?
  1. if it lights up
  1. Crystal Chemistry - make some neat ones
  1. Technical:
  1. Supersaturated solution with sodium acetate and water-crashes out of solution on its own: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/instant-hot-ice (gotta love Steve Spangler ;-)
  1. This is one of my favorites, though i worry alot could go wrong...
  1. egg drop competition off the camp simcha porch.
  2. DNA extraction from a strawberry
  3. Build an electric motor
  1. Technical:
  1. (can be made of a battery, a strong refrigerator magnet, some magnet wire, rubber bands, a wooden (or some other material) base, and paper clips) http://home.hiwaay.net/~palmer/motor.html
  1. Digital circuits (flashing lights, make a microphone or speaker, a radio)
  1. Technical:
  1. how about a megaphone?
  1. Explosive chemistry-3 versions
  1. Technical:
  1. mentos and diet soda
  2. Yeast and hydrogen peroxide
  3. baking soda and vinegar
  1. Some challenge that you accomplish by using a random assortment of mechanical parts, e.g., pulley’s, levers, gears. there has got to be a kit out there...
  2. Seven layer density column

 Technical:

  1. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/seven-layer-density-column

  1. Tie-dyeing

        a. Technical: Can do regular tie-dyeing, or tie-dyeing with permanent markers.

http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/sharpietiedye.htm

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000032

b. Presentation: Add some explanation about the chemistry involved in tie-dyeing.  Maybe do a demonstration before starting the activity, in which you demonstrate orgo-lab-like tie-dyeing, to show that tie-dyeing is really all about chemistry.

c. Practical considerations/comments: Real tie-dyeing can be kind of messy.  Avoiding that messiness is an advantage of sharpie-tie-dyeing.  Also, maybe check to make sure no one’s allergic to sharpies (I don’t know, but perhaps it’s a potential allergy?)

  1. Polymers

a. Technical: Some potential activities/demonstrations:

        i. http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html#Anchor-poly

ii. Show how polymers form crosslinks:

 http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/lessonplans/chemistry/polymers.html

iii. Styrofoam (http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/lessonplans/chemistry/styrofoam.html)

http://www.videojug.com/expertanswer/fun-science-demonstrations/what-is-a-polymer-and-how-do-they-work

iv.    Make silly-putty

v.     ice cream sundae polymers

vi.    tie-dying polymers (can use sharpie markers)

vii.   A chemical engineer problem: which polymers work best to clean up an oil spill

(http://www.weirdsciencekids.com/OilspillexperimentPolymer.html)

viii. make a bouncing polymer ball

 (http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/bounceball.htm)

ix. make instant snow powder

 (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/instant-snow)

x. balloon polymers (http://pbskids.org/wayback/future/plastics/slime.html)

b. Presentation:

i. Begin by showing some common everyday polymers and asking questions.  Why are polymers so great?  What do we use them for?

ii. What are polymers, scientifically-speaking?  How are they formed?  What polymers are, the different kinds, and different aspects that you can test about polymers (e.g. viscosity, flexibility, etc.).  The different kinds of experiments (examples given above) can show us a little bit about how polymers are made, and the different types, and the different kinds of scientific properties you evaluate them for.

iii. The premise being that you’d be like scientists in the lab and get messy!  It would be really fun if to somehow get small lab coats for all the kids to wear for that day; if not, though, kids still really like lab gloves.

c. Practical considerations/comments: some polymer experiments might be a little messy?

  1. Activities About and Involving Balance

a. Technical: different activites/items that involve balance, like a gyroscope, a makeshift tightrope, a balance beam, standing on one foot on a small tree stump, etc.  There are also other fun balance activities that involve balancing items or getting objects to balance: Examples: http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/cat_gravity.html

b. Presentation: You can talk about what balance has to do with gravity and a person’s or object’s center of gravity.  You can even talk about what hearing has to do with balance.

c. Practical considerations/comments: Some of the person-balancing activities might be hard for some people, depending.

  1. Activities About and Involving Motion and Speed/The Physics of Olympic Sports:

a. Technical: Some ideas:

i. Build bobsleds: http://sciencespot.net/Pages/bobsled.html.

ii. Some other motion activities: http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classphys.html.

iii. Can have an activity to have different teams built a makeshift toy race-car track out of various materials, with different possible objectives, e.g. to build a track such that your toy car stay on the longest but is continuously moving (i.e. it doesn’t get stuck, and you don’t have to push it after the first initial start).

  1. Random Fun Building Activities

a. Technical: Some ideas:

i. Build a telescope

ii. Build a remote control car (I think there are kits for this kind of thing?)

iii. Haven’t really looked into this much, but thought I’d include it, because telescopes are so awesome.

  1. Flight experiments: kites, airplanes, helicopters, rockets...

        1. Build hot-air balloons (Charles’s Law):

                a. Technical:

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/hotairballoon.html

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-make-a-Paper-Hot-Air-Balloon-4080

http://www.balloonexplorium.org/index.php?page=tissue-paper-balloons

  http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Aeronautics/Hot_Air_Balloon.html

b. Presentation: It could also be an art-like activity, if you use exciting colors and designs for the balloon.

        2. Paper airplane building contest:

a. Technical: A book perhaps like this: http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Paper-Airplane-Book-Blackburn/dp/076110478X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307068769&sr=8-1

which gives you instructions for building different kind of paper airplanes, and includes special paper for crafting them.

b. Presentation: you can explain about lift, thrust, etc. -- how airplans fly.  And have contests for the farthest-flying plane, the most acrobatic plane, etc.

c. Comments: Try this in advance.  Possible that the planes won’t work...

3. Make a balloon rocket:

http://quest.nasa.gov/space/teachers/rockets/act8.html

Balloon Rocket (from Janice VanCleave’s Physics for Every Kid):

Purpose: To demonstrate how unbalanced forces produce motion.

 

Materials:

yardstick (meter stick)

drinking straw

scissors

balloon, 9 in. (23 cm)

2 chairs

Masking tape

 

Procedure:

  1. Cut a 4-in. (10-cm) piece from the drinking straw.
  2. Cut about 3.5 ft. (4.5 m) of string.
  3. Thread the end of the string through the straw piece.
  4. Position the chairs about 4 ft. (4 m) apart.
  5. Tie the string to the backs of the chairs.  Make the string as tight as possible.
  6. Inflate the balloon and twist the open end.
  7. Move the straw to one end of the string.
  8. Tape the inflated balloon to the straw.
  9. Release the balloon.

 

Results: The straw with the attached balloon jets across the string.  The movement stops at the end of the string or when the balloon totally deflates.

 

Why?  Newton’s Law of Action and Reaction states that when an object is pushed, it pushes back.  When the balloon was opened, the walls of the balloon pushed the air out.  When the balloon pushed against the air, the air pushed back and the balloon moved forward, dragging the straw with it.  The string and straw keep the balloon rocket on a straight course.

         4. Additional Rocket Options:

a. Make your own rockets:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Rockets.html

b. Related concepts: mass, acceleration, force, and friction: fux experiements to help demonstrate the concepts of force and friction: balloon rockets, vinegar and baking soda rocket and hovering CD craft (CD craft also mentioned later...):

i. (rocket) http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/Mod1/Whatis/experiments.htm

ii. Exp 2: http://www.iop.org/about/international/development/resources/file_43496.pdf

iii. Experiments 18 and 24: http://www.iop.org/about/international/development/resources/file_43497.pdf

\

        5. Build kites and explain how they work (and fly them!)

        6. Other random or not-random flight-related activities:

**Helicopter (From Physics for Kids book)

 

Purpose: To determine how weight affects the rotation speed of a paper helicopter.

 

Materials:

3 paper clips

Pencil

Notebook paper

Scissors

Ruler

 

Procedure:

  1. Fold and cut one sheet of paper in half lengthwise.
  2. Take one of the halves and fold it in half lengthwise.
  3. Use a ruler to draw a triangle on one edge of the paper.  The base of the traingle will be 1 in. (3 cm) long and one side will be between the 4-in. and 6-in. (9 cm and 14 cm) marks on the ruler (diagram in book).
  4. Cut out the triangle.  Cut through both layers of the paper.
  5. Open the paper and cut up the center fold to the point indicated on the diagram.  This forms the two wings.
  6. Fold the tabs toward the center and attach a paper clip to the bottom.
  7. Fold the wings in opposite directions.
  8. Hold the helicopter above your head and drop it.
  9. Add different numbres of paper clips one at a time and drop the plane after each addition.
  10. Observe the speed of the rotation after each paper clip is added.

 

Results: The rotation speed increases as the weight increases, but a point is reached where additional weight pulls down with such force that the wings move upward and the plane falls like any falling object.

 

Why?  As the paper falls, air rushes out from under the wings in all directions.  The air hits against the body of the craft, causing it to rotate.  Increasing the weight by adding paper clips causes the helicopter to fall faster, and the famount of air hitting the craft’s body increases.  This increase in air movement under the wings increases the rotation speed.

 

 

**Right or Left? (From Phyics for Kids book)

 

Purpose: To determine how wing position affects the direction of a paper helicopter’s rotation.

 

Materials:

Paper helicopeter from helicopter experiment

 

Procedure:

  1. Hold the helicopter above your head and drop it.
  2. Observe the direction that the helicopter spins.
  3. Bend the wings in the opposite direction and again drop the helicopter from above your head.

 

Results: The helicopter spins counterclockwise when the right wing is bent toward you and turns clockwise when the wings are reversed.

 

Why?  Air rushes out form under each wing in all directoins as the helicopter falls.  The air this against the body of the craft, pushing it forward.  Both halves of the body are being pushed in a forward direction, resulting in a rotation about a central point.  The diagrams indicate direction of movement.

 

**How Far? (From Physics for Kids book)

 

Purpose: To determine how the texture of a surface affects motion.

 

Materials:

Poster board

Ruler

Paper clip

Rubber band

Scissors

Bottle of glue, 8 oz. (236 ml)

String

Pen

Wax paper

Sandpaper

 

Procedure:

  1. Cut a 5-in. x 10-in. (12-cm x 25-cm) card from the poster board.
  2. Fold the card and cut a slit about 0.5 in. (1 cm) long 2 in. (5 cm) from the end of the card.
  3. Place the paper clip in the slit and slip the rubber band on the paper clip.
  4. Cut a 10-in. (25-cm) piece of string and loop it through the rubber band.
  5. Place the paper on a table.
  6. Position the bottle of glue at the end of the card.
  7. Gently pull on the string to straighten the rubber band.
  8. Mark the card at the end of the rubber band and lable this mark START.
  9. Pull on the string until the card begins to move.
  10. Note how much the rubber band stretches.
  11. Tape a sheet of wax paper and a sheet of sandpaper to the table.
  12. Move the card with the glue bottle across the wax paper and sandpaper by pulling on the string.
  13. Observe how much the rubber band stretches each time.

 

Results: The rubber band stretched the least when the card was placed on the wax paper and stretched the most on the sandpaper.

 

Why?  The weight of the glue bottle pushes the card down against the surface it sits on.  The card is more easily pulled across the wax paper than across the sandpaper because of friction.  Friction is a force that pushes against a moving object, causing the object to stop moving.  Fricitonal force increases with the roughness of the surfaces moving against each other.  The surface of the wax paper is smoother than that of the sandpaper or table, and thus applies less frictional force to the card.

**Make a Hovercraft CD: Experiment #2 in: http://www.iop.org/about/international/development/resources/file_43496.pdf

 

Activities (goal: activities to saturate two weeks of camp with science. especially geared for the several campers who dig science and will hang out with us all two weeks)

  1. Potato Canon
  1. Presentation ideas:
  1. shooting range?
  2. target practice?
  3. let’s shoot t-shirts like at sports games.
  1. Yes!!
  1. Robotics Competition
  1. Technical:
  1. Flying robots?(http://diydrones.com/)
  2. Lego Mindstorms might be a good place to start
  1. We’re excited to be working with Ana Martinez, the regional director of FIRST Robotics competition which uses the  LEGO Mindstorms kit. They’ll have a booth at the world science festival on June 5 (http://worldsciencefestival.com/events/street_fair)!
  1. Folding Proteins
  1. Technical:
  1. might want to figure out something more tangible than just the computer game - anybody know about fun protein toys?
  1. “Foldit” is the game but I’m not sure how much fun it is...
  2. Quick Google search came up with this: http://www.enasco.com/product/SB46814M
  1. telescope for a night activity
  1. Presentation ideas:
  1. roasted marshmellows
  1. nature walks with a microscope. can sample pond water and leaves...maybe also binoculars for birdwatching.
  1. Technical:
  1. Bug catching kits with butterfly nets, magnifying glass boxes, and suchlike
  1. Disassemble a lock in order to show them how to pick locks.
  2. What about the mind control game?
  1. Technical:
  1. http://mindflexgames.com/
  1. waterproof sand:
  1. Technical:
  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qxUizOCyUE
  2. Not so expensive from Steve Spangler Science
  1. Magic Snow
  1. Technical: 
  1. http://prosites-lottofun9.homestead.com/magicinstantsnow.html
  1. comments:
  1. I’ve got tons of the stuff. Let me know what you had in mind
  1. Magic tricks for them to do back at home
  1. Technical:
  1. magic sand and snow
  1. Color changing carnations
  1. Technical: 
  1. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000144
  1. breath activated color changing.
  2. Grow Tadpoles? Caterpillars?
  3. Rube Goldberg Machine?
  4. rubbing alcohol in a bottle
  1. technical:

i. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmIPU1iuXic

  1. Science Carnival
  1. Technical: Some ideas: http://www.schoolcarnivals.com/Games/alphabetical.htm
  1. Build a molecule (Styrofoam, glitter, lollipops) (arts and crafts)
  2. Build protein structures out of legos
  3. Beakers/bucket toss: Watson, Crick, etc.
  4. Bean bag toss with some kind of science connection…
  5. Life-size board game(s): pH meter (start at either end of a pH strip); lab experience: successfully completing a lab experiment (play against your lab partner)
  6. Egg-spoon race with something other than eggs and spoons
  7. Orgo twister: carbons, hydrogens, single bonds, double bonds, etc.  i.e. it’s regular twister, but with a chemistry twist!
  8. Make your own ice cream!
  9. Air hockey?
  10. Hula-hooping -- with an explanation of how hula hoops work.
  11. Bowling
  12. Dress-a-bear: http://schoolcarnival.server101.com/customer/search.php?substring=dress+a+Bear
  13. Guess how many (e.g. jellybeans in a jar)
  14. Food table
  15. Prize booth?  Key chains, stickers, stuffed animals, colorful mugs, etc.

b. Presentation: different booths/tables, with different science-carnival activities.

c. Practical considerations/comments: a kind of large endeavor, but it could be really fun.  Also, certain activities, like twister and hula-hooping, might be difficult for some people.  But there is also a lot of flexibility in terms of options for booths and activities.

  1. Gotta get 'em for the lab!

http://www.glofish.com/

Fluorescent fish!

Past Brainstorming Session        #1                                       May 13 - 26

Note: Colors mark your spot, e.g., Joe was here . Yair was here  Jake was Here Mkop was here Yitzy was here Menachem was here

Name

  1. Camp Simcha Laboratory
  2. The Professors House
  3. Do we dare build it?!
  4. Sizzling Simcha Science (Center) (S4 or S3C)

Projects

  1. Rocket Building
  1. attach a video camera for live feed to Camp Simcha
  2. what can we get it to release? glitter? streamers? biological agents?
  3. We can attach Gliders (made of styrofoam or something) to the rocket, and when it reaches its peak, the gliders come off and glide down.
  4. How about space weather balloon. Not as crazy as you might think: (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7074839.ece)
  1. boat-making competition
  1. bears most weight
  2. maybe goes fastest with small propeller
  1. bridge building competition
  1. bears most weight
  1. Gum drops and Toothpicks
  1. Making Silly Putty
  1. All you need is Elmers glue, borax, and water
  1. Making laser tag equipment
  2. Dissection
  1. Probably would be best with those fake frog kits
  1. build an energy ball((http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1406))
  1. An energy ball is a ball that links a ring of people. it lights up when they’re all holding hands. when one person breaks the circle the light goes off. it could be a competition for which camper makes the energy ball that supports the most people. that way campers will go around recruiting friends to make circles.
  2. What determines how many people it will work with?
  1. if it lights up
  1. Crystal Chemistry - make some neat ones
  1. Supersaturated solution with sodium acetate and water-crashes out of solution on its own: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/instant-hot-ice (gotta love Steve Spangler ;-)
  1. egg drop competition off the camp simcha porch.
  2. DNA extraction from a strawberry
  3. Build an electric motor (can be made of a battery, a strong refrigerator magnet, some magnet wire, rubber bands, a wooden (or some other material) base, and paper clips) http://home.hiwaay.net/~palmer/motor.html
  4. Digital circuits (flashing lights, make a microphone or speaker, a radio)
  1. how about a megaphone?
  1. Explosive chemistry-3 versions
  1. mentos and diet soda
  2. Yeast and hydrogen peroxide
  3. baking soda and vinegar
  1. Some challenge that you accomplish by using a random assortment of mechanical parts, e.g., pulley’s, levers, gears. there has got to be a kit out there...
  2. Seven layer density column http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/seven-layer-density-column

Activities

  1. Potato Canon
  1. shooting range?
  2. target practice?
  3. let’s shoot t-shirts like at sports games.
  4. Yes!!
  1. Robotics Competition
  1. Flying robots? (http://diydrones.com/)
  2. Lego Mindstorms might be a good place to start
  3. We’re excited to be working with Ana Martinez, the regional director of FIRST Robotics competition which uses the  LEGO Mindstorms kit. They’ll have a booth at the world science festival on June 5 (http://worldsciencefestival.com/events/street_fair)!
  1. Folding Proteins
  1. might want to figure out something more tangible than just the computer game - anybody know about fun protein toys?
  2. “Foldit” is the game but I’m not sure how much fun it is...
  3. Quick Google search came up with this: http://www.enasco.com/product/SB46814M
  1. telescope for a night activity
  2. nature walks with a microscope. can sample pond water and leaves...maybe also binoculars for birdwatching.
  1. Bug catching kits with butterfly nets, magnifying glass boxes, and suchlike
  1. Disassemble a lock in order to show them how to pick locks.
  2. What about the mind control game? http://mindflexgames.com/
  3. waterproof sand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qxUizOCyUE
  1. Not so expensive from Steve Spangler Science
  1. Magic Snow
  1. http://prosites-lottofun9.homestead.com/magicinstantsnow.html
  2. I’ve got tons of the stuff. Let me know what you had in mind
  1. Magic tricks for them to do back at home
  1. magic sand and snow
  1. Color changing carnations http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000144
  2. breath activated color changing.
  3. Grow Tadpoles? Caterpillars?