By: Ishika Desai
As we head into the back-to-school season, it’s important to get our minds warmed up for the school year. In this article, we’ll go into some back-to-school-themed activities that are just as educational as fun!
The first activity is a model robot hand. This activity is for all ages, but this should be done with mild supervision for elementary students. This activity uses cardstock paper, drinking straws, a pencil, a jumbo-sized straw, scissors, yarn, and tape. Place your hand flat on the cardstock and trace your hand and wrist. Cut out the outline and bend the joints of the hand. Then, cut the drinking straws into pieces to fit in the areas between the joints on the fingers and tape them to the paper. Then, cut five longer straw pieces representing each finger and tape them on the palm section. Cut a part of the jumbo straw and tape it vertically to the wrist section. Then, cut a piece of yarn and run it through the straw sections of one finger through the palm and then the jumbo straw at the wrist. Knot the end of the yarn at the top of the fingertip. Repeat the previous steps for all of the fingers. Now, move the yarn! The yarn will pull the joints and you will have a makeshift arm! The robot arm activity serves as a great introduction to anatomy and engineering for the school year!
The second activity is invisible ink! This activity is suitable for all ages and requires mild supervision for early elementary students. The materials for this activity are cardstock, measuring spoons, two cups, spoons, q-tips/brushes, paper towels, rubbing alcohol, turmeric, baking soda, and water. Mix half a teaspoon of turmeric powder with three tablespoons of rubbing alcohol in a cup. After that, mix one tablespoon of baking soda with one tablespoon of water in a second cup. Then, dip one of your brushes into the baking soda solution and write on your cardstock paper. Let the paper dry completely. Then, dip a second brush into your turmeric solution and paint over your secret message. Your message should now appear on the paper. This activity is a great introduction to chemistry as it covers how different chemicals react with each other and their properties!
The third experiment is a lava lamp. This activity is suitable for all ages and requires mild supervision for younger students. The materials for this activity are one bottle/jar, a knife, a cutting board, water, food coloring, oil, and Alka Seltzer tablets. First, fill up the jar/bottle with 1-2 inches of water and add 5-6 drops of food coloring. Then, fill it ¾ of the way with the vegetable oil. After that, cut up the Alka Seltzer tablets into halves and drop one halve into the jar/bottle. The lava lamp should bubble up and start flowing! Once the reaction slows down, you can add the second half of the seltzer into the jar/bottle. This experiment is an excellent way to examine density and chemistry through a fun experiment!
Works Cited
Boiron, Betty. “DIY Model Robot Hand STEM Activity.” Mombrite, https://www.mombrite.com/diy-model-robot-hand/. Accessed 31 July 2024.
“Make an Alka-Seltzer Powered Lava Lamp | STEM Activity.” Science Buddies, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/make-a-lava-lamp. Accessed 1 August 2024.
“Secret Messages With Invisible Ink! | STEM Activity.” Science Buddies, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/invisible-ink. Accessed 1 August 2024.
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