This activity is a creative way to model the movement of planets in orbit around the Sun. First, fold a paper plate in half and cut a slit in the center along the crease that is about the diameter of a quarter (or larger coin). Next, decorate the paper plate using markers or paint to draw different planets and a sun in the center (where the slit is). Finally, place the coin into the center slit and spin the plate like a spinning top. The planets on the plate will appear to be orbiting the Sun.
Materials Needed:
At least five different colors of pipe cleaners, scissors.
Instructions:
DNA is found in every cell and provides cells with instructions on how to grow and replicate. In this activity, students can learn about the double helix structure of DNA and some of its important components. First, take two full-length pipe cleaners of the same color and set them aside. These will represent the sugar-phosphate backbone. Next, choose four other colors to represent each of the nucleotide bases found in DNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Cut these pipe cleaners into ¼’s and fold each piece in half. Connect two pieces of different colors at their folds to represent the hydrogen bonds between bases. Purines pair with pyrimidines, meaning that A pairs with T and G pairs with C. This allows the DNA to maintain the same width throughout the strand. Next, connect the base pairs in a ladder-style on the two backbone pipe cleaners. Finally, twist the whole structure to achieve a helical shape.
Video:
Materials Needed:
Square piece of fabric, marbles, heavy rubber ball/lacrosse ball.
Instructions:
A black hole is an area of space that has so much matter condensed in it that its gravity can pull anything into it, even light itself! Sometimes, black holes are created by collapsing stars. The extreme gravitational pull of a black hole can disrupt the movement of planets and drag in matter around it. To model this, take a square piece of fabric (or a bandana) and have students hold it flat by each corner in the air, parallel to the ground. Roll a marble on the fabric and observe the straight line in its movement pattern. The marble represents a planet. Now, when a black hole is present and the planet is within proximity to be influenced by its gravitational pull, space curvature can happen. Place the heavy rubber ball or lacrosse ball in the center of the fabric. Now, roll the marble again. A curved pattern of movement can now be seen – this represents the alteration of its orbit by the black hole’s pull. If the marble rolls into the center to the lacrosse ball, this means that the black hole was massive enough to absorb it. By absorbing matter, a black hole can potentially turn into a supernova.
Video:
Materials Needed:
Soil, seeds, transparent plastic cups, paper/journal to track growth.
Instructions:
This activity is a great way for students to learn hands-on how plants grow! Sunlight, CO2, and water are important for plants to be able to grow and survive. For this experiment, have the student take two plastic cups and fill them both partially with soil. Next, sprinkle several seeds in each cup and cover them with a bit more soil. Water the seeds in the soil and place them somewhere where the seeds in both cups can germinate (this is when the seeds first start to sprout). After this happens, place one cup in the sun and the other in a dark place. Water both cups equally and track the growth of the plants in the two cups. Alternatively, the student could place both plants in the sun and only water one of them. By tracking the plant growth (the dependent variable) and altering the growing conditions (independent variable), students will be able to draw conclusions about how water and/or sunlight impact the growth and survival of plants.
Video:
Materials Needed:
Planet handout from EXPO website, crayons, markers, template (Download PDF).
Instructions:
There are billions of planets outside of our solar system within the universe. We have been able to capture images of many cool planets using space telescopes, but there are still millions that we have yet to discover. Not all planets look or feel like Earth – some have many moons, some have rings of asteroids surrounding them, and some are even too hot or cold for us to live on! Using the pdf template on the Expo website or a regular piece of paper, have your student design their own undiscovered plant and have them write about some of its unique features.
This is a fun activity to model the colors and appearance of a galaxy using slime! The galaxy we live in is the Milky Way. The definition of a galaxy is a “huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems” (spaceplace.nasa.gov). Gravity allows galaxies to remain intact. From telescope images, we are able to see what galaxies look like and observe their beautiful colors. The colors of a galaxy depend on the chemical makeup and stages of stars within it. Younger galaxies often look blue while older galaxies that may contain dying red giant stars appear to be red. Students can mix together the ingredients above until their slime has their desired color, texture, and amount of stars (represented by the glitter) to symbolize their own galaxies. They can use different food coloring to make the slime resemble the various colors of galaxies.
Video:
Materials Needed:
4 oreos, a popsicle stick.
Instructions:
Separate the oreo cookies by twisting the pieces apart. Use a popsicle stick to separate the frosting onto each cookie to match the 8 moon phases above. Make sure to label each phase
Reference:
Middle / High School
Materials Needed:
At least five different colors of pipe cleaners, scissors.
Instructions:
DNA is found in every cell and provides cells with instructions on how to grow and replicate. In this activity, students can learn about the double helix structure of DNA and some of its important components. First, take two full-length pipe cleaners of the same color and set them aside. These will represent the sugar-phosphate backbone. Next, choose four other colors to represent each of the nucleotide bases found in DNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Cut these pipe cleaners into ¼’s and fold each piece in half. Connect two pieces of different colors at their folds to represent the hydrogen bonds between bases. Purines pair with pyrimidines, meaning that A pairs with T and G pairs with C. This allows the DNA to maintain the same width throughout the strand. Next, connect the base pairs in a ladder-style on the two backbone pipe cleaners. Finally, twist the whole structure to achieve a helical shape.
Going along with this year’s space exploration theme, this activity is an opportunity for students to create their own rocket. First, have the students cut out the rocket body from the template and tape it around a pencil. Next, tape the paper fins (also from the template) to the eraser end of the pencil. As explained in the website’s directions, the fins should be sandwiched together and form 90-degree angles with each other. Finally, twist the opposite end of the rocket body into a nose cone. Slide the entire paper rocket off the pencil and insert a plastic straw. Have the student blow into the straw to launch the rocket.
Video:
Materials Needed:
Small plastic container, scissors, string, magnets, paper clips.
Instructions:
There are several different types of simple machines, one of them being a pulley. Pulleys allow loads to be lifted with reduced force, or effort. The wheel or axle in this activity can be a door handle or any other cylinder-shaped object that is suspended above the ground or a table. The ‘load’ will be paper clips, and the string will be the cable that carries the load on one end and is pulled on the other. To make the pulley, take a small plastic container or cup and glue or stick magnets to the bottom of it. Next, cut two holes near the top of the container directly across from each other and loop the string through them. Tie this string and then attach a longer piece of string to the pulley bucket handle and loop it around the doorknob (in the video, we use a desk lamp). Place some paperclips on your desk and hold the end of the pulley string. Pick up the paperclips using the pulley (they will stick to the magnets on the bottom). To increase the load on the pulley, binder clips can also be used.
Video:
Materials Needed:
Plastic or paper cup, rubber bands, paper clip, scissors, and a piece of paper.
Instructions:
First, have the student poke a hole in the bottom of a cup and insert a slightly unbent paper clip. Leave a portion of the paper clip bent outside of the cup to be able to pull later in the activity. Stretch one rubber band around the brim of the cup. This will be an attachment site for other rubber bands. Take three rubber bands and cut them. Tie one end of each rubber band to the anchor band, hook it through the paper clip in the bottom of the cup, and then tie the other end on the anchor band on the opposite side of the cup. Once each rubber band has been fastened, place a lightweight rubber or paper ball in the middle of the bands, pull back the paperclip, and release it to launch the ball!
Video:
Materials Needed:
Paper plates, graham crackers, frosting.
Instructions:
Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis are all related to tectonic plate movements and plate boundaries. This activity is a great way to model the different plate boundary types. First, cover a paper plate in a layer of frosting – this will represent Earth’s mantle. Next, take two graham crackers and lay them on the frosting next to each other. To show a transform boundary, slide the two graham crackers against each other in opposite directions. For a divergent boundary, push the two graham crackers away from each other and notice that a rift valley can be formed or that magma can come upwards from beneath. Lastly, convergent boundaries can be modeled in two ways. For one, a subduction zone can be created by pushing one graham cracker over the other. Second, some water can be sprinkled onto the crackers to soften them a bit before pushing them together in a direct collision. The edges of the crackers should become raised to look like a mountain range.
Video:
Materials Needed:
Popsicle sticks, rubber bands, plastic spoons, projectiles (can be anything like balled up paper, rocks, erasers, etc.).
Instructions:
The goal of this activity is to learn about building up potential energy and turning it into kinetic energy. Make two separate stacks of popsicle sticks, each secured with a rubber band. One horizontal stack should be 2 popsicle sticks thick, while the other should be 7 popsicle sticks thick. Wedge the 7-stick stack in between the one with 2 popsicle sticks. Use rubber bands to attach a plastic spoon to the now-inclined top popsicle stick. Put an eraser or other projectile on the spoon, hold the spoon down, and let go to release the projectile into the air. Have students determine which parts of this process involve potential and/or kinetic energy and determine at which points the potential or kinetic energy were the greatest. Think of ways to increase this energy and make the projectile fly farther.
Materials Needed:
A breadboard, jumper cables of different sizes, LED lights, integrated circuits (AND gate), power supply, battery or… electronics component kits can also be purchased on Amazon containing all these materials!.
Instructions:
In this activity, students can use an integrated circuit (and gate) to light up an LED. This project is great for both explaining the fundamentals behind circuit design and having hands on experience with digitization.
Giveaways!!!
If you are a student or have a student who is interested in attending Expo, we will be giving away Expo-at-home kits containing materials for the activities listed above during the virtual live sessions all week. We would love to see you all during these sessions and we are excited to share some activity kits with you! The live session calendar is on the USF Engineering Expo website.
