Do-It-Yourself STEM Projects With Heather
With our libraries are shut down and our outreach services curtailed, our STEM Manager Heather will be sharing ideas for doing STEM projects you can do yourself with items found around your home.
We'll add new videos here weekly (with the newest ones at the top), so keep checking back!
Magnet Maze
Chemical Reaction Balloon
Dancing Corn
Fun With Water Filtration
String Experiment
Make a Coffee Filter Flower
Make a Lego Balloon Car
Make your own mini hovercraft from home!
All you need is an old CD, bottle cap, thumbtack, hot glue gun, balloon, and a pipe cleaner (optional).
Tip: Use something larger than a tack to poke bigger holes in the cap, this allows for more airflow. This is what I was doing with the larger pointy object. Also, wipe down the surface where the hovercraft was hovering to reduce the spread of germs.
How it works
The force of the air that exits the balloon as it deflates goes through the holes in the bottle cap and pushes against the surface (floor or counter). This gradual outflow of air is called an air cushion. The air cushion reduces friction, which allows for the hovercraft to glide effortlessly.
Hovercrafts can also travel on top of water. Does your hovercraft work on water? What is a vehicle called that can travel on water and land? Can you think of any examples? The answer is amphibious. If you watched last week's interview with the herpetologist, we covered amphibious animals that you can find in Washington.
Tune in next week for more STEM activities and interviews.