Learning at Home OSC KidZone Week 23

4 min
Aug 21, 2020

STEAM Activity:

Water Pollution Experiment

Use this experiment to support children in learning about how hard it is to undo the pollution that fills our water.

What you will need:

- Bucket of clean water
- Some household trash
- Vegetable oil
- Tongs
- Strainer

Method:

Have a look at the bucket of clean water. Tell your child that the water is clear and clean because no garbage has been put in it. Now, fill the bucket of clean water with household trash and vegetable oil. Let it sit for about 2-5 minutes or until the water becomes murky/dirty. Once the water is dirty enough take the strainer and begin to remove the garbage from the water. The goal is to get the water back to its original state before all the garbage was placed in. Once all of the garbage has been removed, observe the water again Ask your children “are all of the garbage/pollution in the water gone?” if not ask them how hard it was to take all the garbage out, yet there is still garbage left.

Science Activity:

Make your own Sundial clock

Materials Needed:

A flat piece of cardboard or paper plate
A pencil or some sort of stick
A ball of clay or playdough
Pebbles or other place markers
A marker
Glue
Sunshine
A clock
A lot of Patience

1. Secure the pencil to the middle of your cardboard piece pointing up (north) with the clay
2. Take your sundial outside and place it in a sunny area.
3. Set a timer on a clock to go off every hour
4. On each hour (9 am, 10 am, 11, am, etc,) place one pebble (or place marker) where the shadow hits the cardboard. Secure it with glue and add the time.

How It Works: 

The sun shining down on the pencil creates a shadow on the sundial. In the Northern Hemisphere, the shadow points toward the west in the morning. Around noon, when the sun is close to overhead, the shadow is short and points north. When the sun is low at the end of the day, the shadow points east. The sundial simply labels each hour that goes by as the Earth rotates. Remember that even though it appears that the sun is moving across the sky, it is really Earth that is rotating!”


Reference:  https://www.generationgenius.com/activities/earths-orbit-and-rotation-activity-for-kids/

Physical Activity

Neighbourhood clean up

What you will need:

• Gloves
• Garbage bags

Method:

Take a walk around your local neighbourhood and collect some of the garbage you see lying around. It is important to remind children that getting out into their community and supporting the environment by simply taking a walk around and having a neighbourhood cleanup.

 

Creative Activity:

Nature Art

 

Materials Needed:

Glue
Paper
Camera

Additional Art Accessories – paint, felt, pom poms, glitter, googly eyes, etc

1. Go for a nature walk with your family.
2. Collect sticks, rocks, different shaped leaves, pine combs, acorns, berries wildflowers, sand, etc. Remember, do not take living nature as its an important resource for our ecosystem.
3. Get Creative! Depending on their age and interests, there are many different ways to create nature art;
a. Spell out the letters of your name/family name, take pictures and frame it
b. Make stick puppets with paint, felt or googly eyes
c. Use nature to create animal shapes. Take pictures and share a story about each creature made up
d. Paint rocks, or put rocks on your paper, splatter paint onto the paper. Lift the rocks to see the design you made

Additional Resources

https://www.almanac.com/kids/at-home - free stories and activities from Animal Heroes to Weather Watchers

https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/ - get a virtual access to mars for those interested in space and the planets in our solar system.