I consider the people involved in these sites to be kindred spirits. It is sites like these--available to anyone on the web without cost-- that inspired me to create a free web site instead of writing and selling a book. Contact me if you can recommend other web sites with great science material.
The Exploratorium science museum of San Francisco has set the standard for inspired science exploration since its inception. They surely have inspired me. Some of these "snacks" are versions of famous exhibits that you can make at home. The snacks are well thought out, refined and all around high quality. Poke around the rest of the Exploratorium site, too. There's always something interesting. Click on:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/
A team of inspired educators in India has put together photographic instructions for dozens of clever toys from junk. This site keeps getting bigger and better! The "Do it details" link at the bottom of each project page gives detailed, print-friendly instructions. Amazing, high-quality site!
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/toys.html
This site is...umm... a little different. But who can resist such lofty scientific pursuits as "Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments" or "Evil genius hi-tech practical joke ideas" and "Childhood brain-modification techniques" or "The DisgustoScope?" At first blush you'll think this guy is mad as a hatter, but when you sniff around awhile you'll find loads of really high quality stuff by a brilliant and dedicated scientist who "learned to 'dance' with the subject." And you'll never think of science as dry and dull again. Click on:
Bill also has a good do-it-yourself science links page.
http://scienceclub.org/kidlink1.html
By now we know that many scientists are a bit eccentric, and the Brits...well, you know...double dose! So don't panic when I say this excellent British site-- associated with Cambridge University-- is created by a group calling themselves the Naked Scientists (" to strip science down to the bare essentials, and promote it to the general public.") Get it? Nothing objectionable to worry about after all.
There are over 150 excellent projects, many of them originals that I've not seen elsewhere. Here are some of my favorites to get started: bubbles that sink (antibubbles), centrifugal pump made from straws, infrared camera from a webcam . Thanks to Louise Omoto Kessel--homeschool mom and science camp organizer--for the heads up. The main Kitchen Science Experiments page is here. http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/kitchenscience/
Here's another fun, scrappy labor-of-love site by Jose Pino. http://www.josepino.com/other_projects/ I especially like the Beakman motor, thermometer, barometer, toothpick designs, and who could forget the pinwheels--still have to try some of the others.
David Williamson is a true Renaissance man, great friend and a wonderful teacher (seen here guest teaching in my middle school during a visit). Sniff around--lots of stories, nooks and crannies. To see some amazing, very short (1 or 2 MB) videos of some of his kinetic projects, click here.
David's web site is here http://www.geocities.com/davidvwilliamson/ My kids were riveted making his "silk purse from a sow's ear" project. My only complaint is that David is so smart that his instructions are pretty sparse, but not everybody is skilled enough to get them to work. When I get some time I'm going to flesh out some of my favorites of his design.
I don't know this guy, but he has some of the most amazing science demonstrations described and on video. They gave me the information and confidence to finally tackle some of them. http://chemmovies.unl.edu/chemistry/beckerdemos/bd000.html
Lots of ordinary people have sent in instructions and some pictures for doing something. The subjects range from really useful to really weird. http://www.instructables.com/
I think I have a soul twin. This Slovakian teacher 1). likes science toys, 2.) creates videos about how to make them, and 3.) includes his students in the videos. And it's almost like we share the same mind. I worked on a video about making a small hot air balloon for months. Experimentatori uploaded his video just before I put up mine. Our methods differed slightly, but were amazingly similar. This is the link to his page of YouTube videos http://www.youtube.com/user/experimentatori
http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/teachstuff/demonstrations/ Thanks again to Erik Bell for the heads up. Judging from the e-mails I get, there is a lot of interest in sci toys down under. This link is from ABC TV in Australia. Some of the ideas are oldies but goodies.
Here is another good site from down under. There are good science videos and some of them show how to make something. http://www.csiro.au/scope/episodes.htm thanks to Di Fittell.
This site has an amazing variety of science toys, from a simple laser communicator to vacuum pump, magnetic levitation to crystal radio. There is a catalog for hard-to-find things like gallium (a liquid metal--non-toxic substitute for mercury). Cool site!
Correspondent Steve Nieves informed me about this well done science video site http://sciencehack.com/. I had trouble getting some of the videos to run, but it might just be my computer/firewall. Steve (and his son and daughter) especially like the (category physics) non-newtonian fluid experiment (aka oobleck). Which do you like best? I'll post a list of the most popular vids if you send your favorite. Are there other great science videos you'd care to share with us, let me know.
I have a few qualms with this site, but there are a lot of ideas for good science projects—especially oldies but goodies that every kid should try. My criticisms include the tendency to have a nice picture to get people to click on a project, but only text for instructions when some illustration would be helpful. You can get around that by doing a search for better instructions once you have the idea. My second gripe is the tendency of at least one of their contributors to take their ideas from sites like the Exploratorium Snacks (top of page) and present them without attributing the source. Science project plagiarism is kind of sore point for me.
http://www.education.com/activity/all-grades/all-grades/science/page2/
This Fun Science site appears to be from Italy, well translated into English. I first became aware of the site when I stumbled across its historic glass sphere microscope. Indeed, two thirds of the items are about microscopy and optics.
http://www.funsci.com/texts/index_en.htm
There is also an interesting page featuring folk toys
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/toys/toys.htm
I have noticed that many people interested in science toys also have an interest in alternative energy projects. The Otherpower people have accomplished what is for me a prime goal: electrical independence. They share "information about experimental successes and failures alike, free of charge, with anyone who is interested." Furthermore they have an intelligent, creative approach to their technology that is as fun as making science toys. Here is their home page. Here is an amazing page of theirs about making a hamster wheel generator/night light. There is also an eclectic, high quality links page.
This is another column where people write in questions that we all have wondered about. It is not limited to science. Cecil can be vulgar (it's blocked on my school computer). Having said that, the quality of his research is often good. He's funny, rude and entertaining. The large archive is at "Search the Straight Dope archive." Click on:
This is what you get when a couple of MIT grad students meet a comic book creator. The marshmallow blowgun and the balloon hovercraft are my favorites. Instructables (see above) took them over.
Wow, I wish I got Christmas cards from Mr. Eggers, the paper engineer who has created this how-to site! Maybe if enough of us ask nicely he will work on the "under construction" projects.
This site is all about making hot air balloons out of thin plastic dry cleaner's bags heated and sent aloft with birthday candles. Tom takes a serious approach to the hot air balloons and really delves into the science and the math that makes them work. Obviously people need to exercise caution with these, but why shun them altogether? David Williamson also has a hot air balloon design.
This site has free previews, though you must pay to see the whole thing. It was recommended by teacher Erik Bell, who says, "These folks have come up with a ton of guides for teachers to do great science stuff using every day materials. My students loved it."
Note that I also have lots of links in the More About section of each project. Let me know about other great links. Contact me
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