Try this! Science you can do at home

Sugar Buzz Experiments

Audience: Children and Family
Grades: K-12
Duration: Variable

Click the videos below to follow three at-home experiments from Sugar Buzz. Discover how sugar and the senses affect our brains. Can you tell the difference between real sugar and artificial sweeteners? Can you identify candy flavors with your nose plugged? Follow along in the Sugar Buzz book.

Kitchen Experiment: Yeast Edition

Ages: Children and Family
Grades: 3-12
Preparation: 10 minutes 

Get ready for some chemistry in the kitchen! If you've ever baked bread, you have probably witnessed the power of yeast. But what is yeast, and how does it make bread rise? With just an empty bottle, a balloon, yeast, and some household sugars, you can unlock the power of this tiny microbe with science!

Materials:

• 2 empty soda bottles
• 2 balloons
• 2 Tbsp. each of two different types of sugar (such as cane sugar, honey, or brown sugar)
• ¼ oz of yeast for each sugar
• 1 marker
• 1 spoon
• A funnel (optional)

Cereal Bird Feeder

Audience: Children and Family
Grades: K-8
Duration: 10-15 minutes

With warm weather approaching, some of our bird buddies will return from their vacation homes. In this activity, you can build your own feeder and make an oasis for them on their journey in your own backyard.

Materials:

• Pipe cleaners
• String or yarn
• O-shaped cereal
  

Invisible Ink

Ages: Children and Family
Grades: K-8
Duration: 15 minutes 

Use simple household materials to make invisible ink. Write or draw secret messages then reveal them with a paintbrush and grape juice!  This activity relies on simple chemistry for fun effects. 

Materials:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• Container for mixing ingredients
• Fork
• Paper
• Cotton swabs
• Grape juice
  

Dusting for Fingerprints

Audience: Children and Family
Grades: All
Duration: 15 minutes

Want to be a detective? Even the cleanest fingers leave clues. Learn how forensic scientists dust for fingerprints.

Materials:

• Printout of Fingerprint Types
• Tape
• A fine powder: baby powder, flour, corn starch
• Black paper
• Paint brush or makeup brush
• Fingerprint examples
  

Moon Phase Wreath

Ages: Children and Families
Grades: K-4
Duration: 15-20 minutes 

Our own spin on holiday traditions. With the winter solstice approaching, craft this wreath and explore the many phases of the moon.

Materials:

• 1 paper plate
• 1-2 pieces of black construction paper
• 3 pieces of white paper
• Black yarn
• Glue
• Hole punch
• Scissors
• Coloring utensils
  

Paper Plate Ichthyosaur

Audience: Children and Family
Grades: K-8
Duration: 11 minutes

What looks like a fish but is actually a reptile? An Ichthyosaur! In this craft activity, you will make your own prehistoric reptile. Do parts of this prehistoric creature look familiar to you? How many other animals have similar features and what does that say about what animals need to live underwater?

Fruit DNA Extraction

Ages: 8 and up (Younger children will need adult supervision)
Grades: 3 and up
Duration: 20 minutes

Materials:

• Chilled Rubbing Alcohol
• Dish Soap
• Salt
• Water
• Strawberries (or other fruit)
• Zip-top Bag
• Fine Mesh Strainer
• 1 Cup
• 1 Small Container
  

Bee Hummer

Ages: 5-12
Grades: K-8
Duration: 10-15 minutes

Buzz Buzz Buzz. That distinctive sound is made from a bee’s wing. In this craft activity, create your own device that will sound like a swarm of bees.

Materials:

• scissors
• stapler
• 1 index card
• 3 feet of string
• 1 popsicle stick
• 2 cap erasers
• 1 rubber band

Archaeology of a Penny

Audience: 6-12
Grades: 1-7
Duration: 10-15 minutes 

Sometimes an item that looks like an everyday object can tell us more about a group of people than you may think. What can you learn from everyday objects by looking at them with an archaeologist's eye?

Materials: 

• Small household object (a coin, a book, a toy, etc.)
  

Looking for Aquatic Life

Ages: All
Grades: All
Duration: 20+ minutes

Bring the outside in by creating a micro garden and a self-contained water cycle!

Materials:

• White plastic or ceramic container or clear container with something white beneath it
• Mesh net or colander
• Empty condiment or juice bottle
• Pond or stream

Ever wanted to know what's hiding out in the water? Go on a hunt for aquatic invertebrates and see what else you can find on the way!

This guide by the MidMichigan Environmental Action Council might help you identify the creatures you find in your water sample.

Glass Jar Terrarium

Ages: All
Grades: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Duration: 1 hour

Bring the outside in by creating a micro garden and a self-contained water cycle!

Materials:

• Glass Jar
• Empty Containers
• Spoon
• Knife
• Tweezers

Make Your Own Atom

Audience: Children, Family
Grades: 3-8
Duration: 12 minutes

The atom is the basic building block of everything in the universe. Each different atom makes up an element, a unique and pure substance like iron, gold, or helium. Atoms themselves are made up of subatomic particles known as protons, neutrons, and electrons. Join us as we show you how to make your very own atom out of pipe cleaners and beads!

Materials

• Periodic Table
• Pipe Cleaners
• Beads

Star Wheel

Audience: All
Grades: All
Duration: 15-20 minutes

The night sky is filled with beautiful stars and constellations, but it can be a daunting task to understand exactly what you're looking at. The night sky changes with the seasons, so even experienced astronomers and navigators need to take time to orient themselves. Join us as we show you how to make a star wheel, which will help you navigate the night sky any time of year.

Materials

• Pencil or marker
• Scissors
• Glue
• Stapler
• 2 file folders
• Star Wheel Pattern Print Out
• Bright Stars Circle for Star Wheel Print Out
• Constellation Circle for Star Wheel Print Out

Popsicle Stick Catapult

Audience: Children, Family
Grades: 1+
Duration: 15 minutes

Use household objects to make a mini catapult! This activity uses basic physics to fun effect.

Materials

• Popsicle Sticks
• Pom-poms (or other ammunition)
• Five rubber bands
• A plastic spoon.

Make Your Own Compass

Ages: All
Grades: K-2, 3-5
Duration: 10 minutes

Use household items to generate a magnetic field and see how it interacts with Earth’s nearest magnetic pole!

Materials:

• Water
• Bowl
• Sewing needle
• Magnet
• Leaf (or piece of cork)
  

Constellation Creation

Audience: Children and Adults
Grades: Pre-5
Duration: ~5 minutes

Whether you're a professional astronomer or just enjoy stargazing at night, everyone can agree that the constellations are beautiful. Join us as we show you how to create your own constellations with beads and pipe cleaners! Use the attached flashcards as a guide, and learn about some constellation myths along the way.

Materials

• Pipe Cleaners
• Star Beads
• Constellation Flashcards
  

Pteranodon Craft

Ages: Children and Family
Grades: K-8
Duration: 10-15 minutes 

Long ago, the sky belonged to flying reptiles. Pteranodons (ter-AN-o-donz) were one of many kinds of pterosaur. Make your own Pteranodon to rule the sky.

Materials:

• Pteranodon template
• Wooden clothespins
• Construction paper
• Pipe cleaners
• Coloring supplies
• Googly eyes
• Glue
• Scissors
  

Quetzalcoatlus and Other Non-Dinosaurs

Audience: Children and Adults
Grades: 4+
Duration: 5 minutes

Have you heard? Not all of the fantastic fossil fauna at UMMNH are actually dinosaurs! You might recognize a fossil fish but others, like the Quetzalcoatlus, are harder to discern from dinos. In terms of evolution, dinosaurs are only one of the many kinds of reptiles that walked our planet millions of years ago. Can you find all of the non-dinosaurs in this word search?

Cockroach Frankenstein

Ages: Children and Family
Grades: 3-12
Duration: 5 minutes 

IT’S ALIVE! Or at least the cockroach’s leg seems to be. Check out U-M Museum of Natural History’s spooky demonstration on cockroach neuroscience. Witness first-hand how electrical currents can “bioamplify” nerve impulses from cockroaches, causing the dissected leg to boogie.

Not too shocked yet? Go to Backyard Brains for more electric experiments you can try at home!