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Toy recomendations for young Scientists, Engineers, and aspiring geeks

http://www.kiwicrate.com

Gave a monthly subscription to one set of grandkids.  Daughter found them and recommended them.  The first one arrived, and daughter reports it is a hit.  

Message 91 of 110
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Time for an update!

 

Olivia will soon be 9 so we have acquired a lot of laboratory glassware for the girls.

 

So chop up some red cabbage, and then douse it with boiling water and let it set for ten minutes. Strain out the juice and you have a very nice pH indicator.

 

 

It was a real hit with the girls and at the end Olivia is cheering for science!

 

Ben

 

Retired Senior Automation Systems Architect with Data Science Automation LabVIEW Champion Knight of NI and Prepper LinkedIn Profile YouTube Channel
Message 92 of 110
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I never owned one of these but I but my dad did as kid and he said he loved it.  It is a miniature combustible engine.  You build it and then a small motor turns the engine over and you see the parts and how they work.  I'm not a mechanical engineer, and I'm never going to be one to take apart an engine, but being able to slow it down and see how the pieces work together looks fun.

Message 93 of 110
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@Ben wrote:

Time for an update!

 

Olivia will soon be 9 so we have acquired a lot of laboratory glassware for the girls.

 

So chop up some red cabbage, and then douse it with boiling water and let it set for ten minutes. Strain out the juice and you have a very nice pH indicator.

 

 

It was a real hit with the girls and at the end Olivia is cheering for science!

 

Ben

 


it turns out there is more to the cabbage juice than I expected. We made some litmus paper from it and my youngest (4.5 years now) was properly identifying which beaker had the baking soda solution. There is something about the color change that get's there attention.

 

Ben

Retired Senior Automation Systems Architect with Data Science Automation LabVIEW Champion Knight of NI and Prepper LinkedIn Profile YouTube Channel
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Message 94 of 110
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Olivia has been working to get an understanding of Acid vs Base and we started to focus on how acids react with metals. She put a copper fitting in a beaker of vinegar and left it for a week. When she returned on Sunday she observed the solution was now a nice blue color. We discussed how the fitting was now shinny and that the copper was now dissolved in the solution.

 

Nails_n_a_copper_Sol.jpg

 

She and her sister ( Eden now about 4.5 years) then extended the experiment and shined up some nails and placed them in the solution. They will be in for a surprise when they return to find the blue color is gone and there is precipitated copper on the nail and elsewhere.

 

Olivia was talking about what she understood and I think she is really getting it! But what makes a grampa happy is when the 4-1/2 year old shows up and asks;

 

"Can we do a periment Grampa?"

 

OK, I admit that chemistry is far from a toy but with supervision, I hope to give these two young ladies a head start for when they do get to chemistry class... in about 7-8 years from now.

 

Ben

 

Retired Senior Automation Systems Architect with Data Science Automation LabVIEW Champion Knight of NI and Prepper LinkedIn Profile YouTube Channel
Message 95 of 110
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I let the girls climb up into the loft of my garage yesterday to fetch a box of test tubes I had stashed up there. That augmented there laboratory glassware collection and let Olivia add another episode to her adventures in chemistry series.

 

 

We settled on breaking apart water after she drew-up a water molecules for me. I wrote out the chemical formula of the reaction and pointed it can run backwards as well as forward. Now if grampa had only anticipated the O2 and Cu reaction would inhibit collection O2.... may be a carbon electrode?

 

So if in question, get lab glassware for the kids. Hindenburg aside, what could go wrong?

 

Ben

 

 

Retired Senior Automation Systems Architect with Data Science Automation LabVIEW Champion Knight of NI and Prepper LinkedIn Profile YouTube Channel
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Message 96 of 110
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I have that set somewhere in my house.  It's probably in my youngest son's room as he's the only one that showed any interest in physics/electronics/software/engineering.  

Jim
You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are. ~ Alice
For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur? Eccl. 8:7

Message 97 of 110
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Do Computer games count?

In light of yesterday's Falcon Heavy launch, I can't recommend Kerbal Space Program enough.
It's suitable for a slightly older age group- I would guess starting at 12 with some guidance.

 

You start out blowing up some rockets, which is already great fun and before you know it you're exploring the outermost planets of your solar System, mining your own rocket fuel to get home. Now you can crank up the difficulty to +infty with mods.



Remember Cunningham's Law
Message 98 of 110
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This site has a lot of platic 'glasware' , sorry seems to be german only, however for some inspiration?

I like the Luer system .. also great for little pneumatic experiments 😄

A lot of nice experiments (in german) are presented

 

On the other side: Working with real glasware trains experimenters skills 😉

 

I remember using carbon electrodes from 'old' batteries for my water 'breaking' experiments with success. ... and one spectacular reunification reaction..   had a well trained guardian angel at that time 😄

 

Greetings from Germany
Henrik

LV since v3.1

“ground” is a convenient fantasy

'˙˙˙˙uıɐƃɐ lɐıp puɐ °06 ǝuoɥd ɹnoʎ uɹnʇ ǝsɐǝld 'ʎɹɐuıƃɐɯı sı pǝlɐıp ǝʌɐɥ noʎ ɹǝqɯnu ǝɥʇ'


Message 99 of 110
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 ...and one spectacular reunification reaction..    

Weren't there a lot of those around 28 years ago?  

 

Yes, seems like a lot of us engineer/scientist types had a lot of experiences with forming dihydrogen monoxide   😉

Putnam
Certified LabVIEW Developer

Senior Test Engineer North Shore Technology, Inc.
Currently using LV 2012-LabVIEW 2018, RT8.5


LabVIEW Champion



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Message 100 of 110
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