Pop Bottle Science

My main reason for starting this thing is to have a memory album for my boys.  But it sure is gonna be nice to be able to play in all the contests, giveaways, and weekly whatevers I see around, like this science fair at Ordinary Life Magic.  She's giving away science books by Janice VanCleave, and I'd say go and join in, but A) the contest is over today and B) the only person reading this right now is me.

Anyhow, we finally had a 2 Liter bottle in the house (thank you Aunt Jane), so we could do two short little experiments I've had my eye on for a while, plus a bonus to qualify for the giveaway. 

First up was Clicking Quarter.  We put the empty bottle in the freezer for an hour or so, moistened the quarter, and then brought out the bottle and put the quarter on top. 

As the air in the bottle warmed, it moved the quarter, with some very satisfying click click clicks.  The boys were fascinated, and Noah might have even understood the science behind it.

Next up was Matter Takes Up Space from Janice VanCleave's website.  We put a balloon over the mouth of the bottle and attempted to blow up the balloon.

That was as much as any of us could do.  The air inside the bottle kept the balloon from expanding any more than that.  I think this one went over Noah's head, though they both thought it was neat.

Last up was Oil + Water = Lava Lamp.  We poured vegetable oil and water tinted with food coloring into the bottle and noticed how they stayed separate.

I thought the blue dye would make the separation more obvious, but it just confused them.  It mixed with the vegetable oil enough to turn it green, and Noah just focused on that.

Two Year Old Creativity Knows No Bounds

The boys use the basketball goal nearly every day.

They play lots of different games with it.

But I think today was the first time it's ever been used as a Christmas tree.

New Year's Resolution--Check!

I rarely make New Year's resolutions, and even more rarely do I keep them, but this year I've accomplished one already.  Create a blog to record what we do and have a memory book for the boys--check! 

Now if I can just stop my perfectionism from taking over and making each post take an insane, unsustainable amount of time, I might actually be able to make this work.