FUN SCIENCE & NATURE ACTIVITIES

TO TRY AT HOME

Make a Window Seed Germination Display

- You will need: o a ziplock bag

o a paper towel

o a stapler

o ~6 bean or pea seeds

o magnifying glass

o paper ruler (in the paper bag)

o tape

- Directions:

o Fold the paper towel so that it take up a little over half of your ziplock

bag

o Place it inside the ziplock bag and staple across the bag about 1-2

inches from the top of the paper towel.

o Wet the paper towel ▪ To begin, put one teaspoon of water in the bag. Press on the paper towel

to get the whole thing wet. If it’s not all wet within a minute, add more

water a couple drops at a time. You don’t want the paper towel to be too

wet, or the seeds will rot. Think about the nice damp soil we aim for in our

garden beds. If you add too much water, don’t worry, just pour it out of the

top of the open ziplock bag.

▪ There should be no need to water again unless you see that the paper towel

is drying out.

o Choose the seeds you want to germinate ▪ Choose your six favorite seeds. Choose seeds that look fat rather than

wrinkly or very small. Choose seeds that are not broken and don’t have any

insect holes in them. Choose the seeds you think look beautiful! Look at

them closely with your magnifying glass to see which makes each seed

unique. Each seed is a little different!

o Place the seeds in the ziplock bag ▪ Place the six seeds evenly in front of the folded paper towel and on top of

the staples. The roots will grow between the staples and the little pea

plants will grow up through the top of the ziplock bag.

▪ Try placing each pea in a slightly different position. Look for the “eye” of

the pea and try placing it up, down, left, and right.

o Tape the bag to the window

▪ Ask your parent or guardian permission for this first!

▪ If your parent or guardian is okay with it, tape the bag to the window using

two tabs of tape on both sides of the bag just below the zipper.

▪ If they don’t want the bag taped to the window, you can tape the seeds to

another object, like a used cereal box or a piece of cardboard, and prop it

in the light by a window.

o Once the seeds germinate, open the bag a little bit so they don’t

suffocate!

o Pay attention to what happens next! ▪ If you want, record what happens next in your journal. Or you can just

observe.

• How many days does it take the seeds to germinate?

o This usually take between 3-7 depending on temperature

• Which comes first, the leaves or the root?

o The first root is called the radicle – how radical!

• Do all the roots grow down and all the leaves grow up?

o Even on the seeds where the root is facing upwards to start?

o What happens when the roots hit an obstacle (the staples?)

• What happens to the pea seed?

o The seed becomes the plant’s first leaves! These seed leaves

are also called cotyledons. The first other leaves to emerge

are called true leaves.

• How quickly do the plants grow? Do they grow more quickly or

more slowly on some days than on others? Do they grow at the

same speed as their neighbors?

• Using your magnifying glass, look at the roots as they get bigger.

o Do some of them look fuzzy? These are root hairs that help

the plant get more water and nutrients.

Press Flowers & Leaves in Wax Paper to Make a Suncatcher

- You will need: o Wax paper

o Suction cup with hook

o String

o Scissors

o An iron

o Paper towels, a tea towel, or a pillowcase

o An adult or older sibling helper

- Directions:

o If you’re able to go outside, pick around 5-10 beautiful natural items,

the flatter/thinner the better. ▪ Look for leaves with a lovely shape, full flowers or even individual petals, &

blades of grass. Maybe your powers of observation will pay off and you’ll

even find a butterfly or dragonfly wing!

▪ If you can’t go outside, use tissue paper or regular paper cut into

interesting shapes. You could also use the coloring sheets it your kit for

inspiration. Smaller pieces work better.

▪ You can also do a combination of natural items and paper.

o Set up your work area

▪ With help and permission from an adult, set up your iron on a medium,

no-steam heat setting.

▪ Set a paper towel down on your ironing board or wherever you use the

iron. You can also use a paper napkin, a cloth napkin, a pillowcase, or even

a t-shirt

▪ Cut a piece of wax paper into a size about twice as large as your hand (or

bigger if you’d like – it’s your project!) and set it on top of the paper towel.

o Make your art! ▪ Arrange your flowers, leaves, and/or pieces of paper over half of the wax

paper.

▪ Gently fold the wax paper over the top of your arrangement like a

sandwich. The layers from top to bottom should be – paper towel, wax

paper, arrangement of leaves/flowers/paper, wax paper, paper towel.

▪ Place a second paper towel or fold the cloth up and over the wax paper so

that the iron is protected from the wax.

1 – paper towel, wax paper, flowers 2 – fold wax paper over flowers

3 – place paper towel over wax paper 4 – iron for 1 – 2 minutes

o Heat-seal your artwork using the iron. ▪ Place the iron over the wax paper sandwich and let it sit still for 30

seconds to hold everything in place. For an additional 30 seconds to 1

minute, slowly rub the iron back and forth over the wax paper sandwich.

▪ Check your artwork. If all the wax is melted together and your leaves,

flowers, and paper are held in place, its done! If not, keep ironing and

checking until the wax is fully melted.

o Make your artwork into a suncatcher! ▪ Once you’re done, cut your wax paper artwork how ever you’d like. A

circle, an oval, a rectangle, or a squiggly pattern around the pressed

plants.

▪ With an adult’s help, punch a hole at the top with your scissors or a hole

punch.

▪ Cut the string to a length of about 6inches and thread it through the hole.

Tie the string off in a circle.

▪ Put the suction cup on a window that gets a lot of light, or on a mirror in

your room or bathroom and hang your artwork on it to catch the light!

o Get creative!

▪ Try making multiple suncatchers that hang from each other.

▪ Have crayons? Sharpen them using a pencil or crayon sharpener and

place the shavings between the pieces of wax paper for a cool effect.

- More fun with found natural objects! o Following the directions on the package, make beautiful SunPrints! These papers

react to sunlight and capture the shadows cast by any object you place on top.

Cool!

Make a Balloon Barometer to Track the Weather

- You will need:

o Balloon

o Drinking straw

o Cardstock cut into a pointer (or a sewing needle!)

o Piece of heavy paper

o Rubber band

o Glue stick

o A glass jar or cup ▪ Things like salsa, pasta sauce, pickles, and instant coffee often come in

glass jars - ask your parents or guardians to save one for you!

▪ Don’t have these in your pantry? You can also use a regular drinking glass

or a coffee mug (it doesn’t have to be see-through). It does have to be

very hard, though – no plastic cups or containers.

o Scissors

- Directions:

o Stretch out your balloon. ▪ The balloon will snap if it’s too tight. Just like you would before blowing

up a balloon, pull the balloon out in both directions.

o Carefully cut the balloon across the middle just below its widest point.

o Stretch the balloon over the opening of your jar and hold it in place

with the rubber band ▪ You may need to loop the rubber band twice.

▪ With the rubber band in place, pull the balloon as tight as you can

o Make your straw into a pointer ▪ Cut your cardstock into a pointer like you see in the picture. Make it just a

hair bigger than the opening of the straw.

▪ Place the red cardboard pointer into one end of the straw. To get it in

place you want to pinch the straw lightly. This will hold the pointer in

place.

▪ You could also use a sewing needle glued to the inside of the straw tip.

o Glue the straw to the top of the balloon ▪ Use your glue stick to apply a generous amount of glue to the end of the

straw that doesn’t have the pointer.

▪ Glue the straw so that the end of the straw is at the center of the jar.

o Set up your barometer to measure changes in pressure ▪ Find a quiet spot in your house, preferably near a window, where the

barometer won’t be moved or bumped.

▪ Set up the piece of heavy paper behind the red pointer. You can hold it in

place with a piece of tape to a wall, or taped to a box or other heavy

object that won’t move.

▪ The pointer should be as close as possible to the paper without touching.

▪ Mark the red pointer’s starting position on the paper.

▪ About half an inch above write “high” and about half an inch below write

“low”

o Record changes! ▪ In your journal or elsewhere, record when the pointer moves.

▪ Write down any changes you observe at the same time as those moves.

▪ Did you note any changes in weather when the pointer moved up or

down?

• When the pointer moved up, that means air pressure was higher

and pushing down on the balloon. High air pressure usually means

clear skies.

• When the pointer moves down, that means air pressure was

lower, allowing the balloon to move up and moving down the

pointer. This often means cloudy weather or storms are moving in.

- High

- Start

- Low

centered

Learn about Mushrooms using Modeling Clay

*Thanks for this activity, Wayfaring Painter!

- You will need: o Modeling clay

o Mushroom guide

o Markers (optional)

1 – ball and cylinder

2 – press cap

3 – shape stalk and add pores or gills to cap

4 – press stalk and cap together

gills

pores

- Directions:

o Using your mushroom guide

(https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs79.pdf), learn the names

of the different parts of a “typical” mushroom (the kind we often see

on TV or in pictures) using the picture on page 5) ▪ This type of mushroom has a “cap” and “stalk”

▪ For more information, look online for pictures of “Rusula mushrooms”,

“Lactaria mushrooms” and “Chanterelle mushrooms”. These all grow in

North Florida and are beautiful!

o Either using the mushroom guide or pictures online, make your own

mushroom out of modeling clay following the directions below.

o Break the clay into two sections

o Roll one section into a ball, and roll the other section into a cylinder ▪ Using your thumb, press the ball into a cap like you see in the pictures –

sort of like an upside-down bowl.

▪ On the inside of the bowl, make lines for “gills” or poke little dots for

“pores”. These structures hold the mushroom’s spores, which are like

seeds.

• Did you know? Mushrooms are like the flower of the fungus. The

rest of the fungus grows underground, usually as ropey white

“mycelium” that may look like roots. If you’ve ever turned over a

log or dug through mulch or under leaves and seen white threads,

this is most likely fungus mycelium!

▪ Looking at the picture you are using, make the cylinder of clay

into a mushroom stalk. • Some stalks are long and slender, and others are short and stocky.

If you want your mushroom to be able to stand on its own, make

the stalk short and stalky, and fatter on the bottom than on the

top.

o Press the stalk and cap together using your fore finger to smooth

them.

o Set your mushroom somewhere to dry undisturbed. Modeling clay

dries very lightweight and somewhat soft after 1-2 days. You’ll be

able to tell it is done when it’s dry to the touch, almost like a piece of

Styrofoam.

▪ Alternatively, feel free to just keep reusing your modeling clay like

playdough. If you keep it in an air-free bag it should remain easy to play

with for a long time!

o If you dry your mushroom, you can color it with markers, either trying

to match a natural mushroom, or in fun silly colors. If you have paints

at home, you can paint your mushrooms too!

o You have extra modeling clay in your kits – either make more

mushrooms or get creative!

Insect Exploration – Make a “Bug Sucker”

A bug sucker, also known as an insect aspirator, is a way to collect insects into a jar without

touching them. Also often easier for quick moving insects!

- You will need:

o Plastic Screw Lid Container with holes

▪ Ask a parent for help with this – one small hole needs to be

drilled in the cap, and one larger hole in the side

o Straw

o Large Rubber Tube

o Duct Tape

o Screen

o Small rubber band

o Magnifying container

o Plastic Tweezers

o Magnifying Glass

- Directions to make:

o Push the rubber tube through the large hole in the side of the

container. ▪ You may need to pinch and squeeze the tube through the hole (ask a

strong adult or sibling for help if needed!)

▪ Only a small amount of the tube needs to be in the jar (1/4 – 1/2 an inch is

good).

▪ Be careful of rough edges!

o Take the small piece of duct tape and seal the gap where the rubber

tube enters the jar.

o Remove the lid.

o Push the straw through the small hole in the lid.

o On the inside of the lid, cover the straw with the piece of screen and

secure it with the small rubber band. ▪ This is important! It keeps the insects from going in your mouth!!

o Place the lid back on the jar and you have an insect aspirator!

Check seal!

Secure screen!

- Directions to use:

o To use the big sucker, direct the end of the large rubber tube at the

insect or spider. ▪ Insect must be smaller than the opening of the tube

o Place your mouth over the end of the straw and suck hard like you’re trying to

quickly drink your favorite drink!

o PLINK! The insect will be pulled into the jar!

- Explore Further:

o See what you can learn about the insect your caught! ▪ First, is it truly an insect?

• Does it have six legs and antennae? Does it have three body

segments - a head, an abdomen (in the middle!) and a thorax (the

butt!) – for a clue, think about how an ant looks!

▪ Try to look at its eyes and its mouth. What do you think it eats? Does it

have piercing-sucking mouthparts like a mosquito or assassin bug? Or

does it have big mandibles (pinchers) for chomping? Maybe it has jaws for

chewing and licking like a grasshopper? Does it have big eyes like a

dragonfly? Or does it have tiny eyes like a scarab beetle?

▪ Try using Bugguide.net to identify your insect.

o Always be kind when releasing your creature ▪ Open your jar and allow it to walk or fly out once you are outside.

▪ Don’t keep your insect longer than an hour – though it can be tempting to

make them a nice home and take care of them, many insects eat only one

or two types of food, and it can be hard to know what that is without the

help of an expert!

Backyard Ecology – Window Bird Feeder

- You will need:

o Suction cup with hook

o A length of string

o Bird food

o Toothpicks

o Scissors

o A used carton

▪ Wax paper cartons are best – this could be an orange juice

carton, a box-milk carton, or something similar. If you don’t

have these, you can make something similar with a plastic jug

(quart works better than gallon).

o An adult’s help and permission!

- Directions:

o Find a used carton as described above.

o With an adult’s help cut out large holes on the sides of the carton ▪ If the carton is even-sided like an orange juice carton cut out 4 sides, if it is

uneven cut out only two sides.

▪ this allows the bird to enter the feeder, and for you to see the bird from

your window!

▪ Want to get extra creative? Decorate your feeder!

o Push toothpicks through the carton directly below the opening on one

side of your carton.

▪ These are little perches for the birds!

o Punch two holes at the top of the carton on the side that doesn’t have

the toothpicks

o Thread your string through the holes at the top of the carton and tie

off in a circle.

o Find a window with your parent’s permission and place the suction

cup with hook on the outside. ▪ If you’re on the ground floor, do this from outside.

▪ If you’re on the second floor, see if you can remove the screen to attach

to the window outside.

▪ If neither of these are options, you can hang the feeder from a tree

outside!

o Hang the feeder by the string from the suction cup with hook. The

string should be against the window and the toothpick should be

facing out.

o Place the bird food (suet with berries & seeds) in the feeder. ▪ Depending on the shape and size of your feeder, you may need to break it

into smaller pieces.

o Watch for birds! Using the printed guide in your kit, see if you can

learn what the different birds at your feeder are!

o Sometimes it takes time for birds to feel comfortable coming to a new

feeder. Don’t be sad if they don’t come right away!