Tag Archives: experiments

Heron or Hero of Alexandria

Finding books on Heron(or Hero) of Alexandria was next to impossible.

I am not sure why because he was an amazing inventor!

This man made a steam powered machine 2ooo years ago!

We started our study of him with a Modern Marvels Episode about him.

It is Season 11 Episode 78 called “Ancient Discoveries: Heron of Alexandria”

It was very interesting!

Next we watched this video on youtube on an Easy Hero’s Engine, here.

We decided to build a steam engine ourselves after watching it.

empty

The first step was to buy some pop!

My boys liked this step.

lemonade

You use a pin to carefully puncture the can.

You need two holes, one on each side of the can.

Our cans did not drain all of the way but it did not seem to affect the experiment.

You add water after draining the pop out.

If you watch the video he will give you more information on how to prepare the can.

You need the holes to be angled.

All we had to do was put pin back in after we were done draining it and then push it to one side.

tab

You DO NOT pop the top of the can.

The tab is going to help you spin your can.

You loop a string under the tab.

fishinggear

This first try was a fail.

The heat from our little hobo stove was not constant enough to heat the water in the can.

We tried it over our stove top but the spinner (from fishing tackle) we were using did not allow it to spin.

take3

Thankfully my husband came home and told me I could just make the string longer.

We added a long piece of fishing line and it worked!

spin

The steam comes out of the two angled holes and causes the can to spin!

Our very own Aeolipile!

Next up we made a Heron’s Fountain from this tutorial.

suppliesheronsfountain

Our supplies.

feed

The building process was a little difficult for my 7&8yr old and needed a bit of tweaking.

feedingtubes

We had to use several different drill bits to drill the holes before we found the right size.

You want it to be tight so you do not have leaks.

together

You also want to spring for the sturdier water bottles.

It is hard to drill holes into the thin flimsy ones like we got.

I put a board under the caps to drill holes into them.

attempt1

Our first attempt was a fail (I have come to accept that this happens often and try to plan for the fact our science experiments might not work).

We checked everything and reread the tutorial several times but we were just not getting it.

I finally read this article on Heron’s Fountain on wikipedia and understood!

middlebottle

You need to start with the middle bottle full of water and the bottom one empty.

attempt2

When you then pour water into the top, the water fills the bottom bottle, the air from the bottom bottle is pushed up into the middle bottle, which then pushes it out of the tube on top, creating a fountain!

When the bottom bottle is full then your fountain will stop.

refill

This is the easiest way we could figure out how to refill the middle bottle.

Unscrew the bottom bottle and hold the longest tube closed.

refill2

Put water in the top while holding the top tube under water.

This causes the water to fill the middle bottle.

again

Then you are ready to start again!

If you are wondering why our water is blue in some of these, we  added a few drop of food coloring once to watch where the water was going.

I highly recommend this!

It was really cool to watch the food coloring travel through the tubes!

 

If you have older kids then you could make this Gin Pole as well!

He was a fascinating and brilliant man!

I am so glad that we learned about him!

How to encourage little Scientist.

My boys LOVE science experiments.

It is their favorite part of any school day.

They could do it all day!

I decided I needed to make a kid friendly science kit where they could mix crazy things up to their hearts content.

It would be their supplies just like they had their toys.

Here are some basics that I got to start them out.

Distilled White Vinegar

Baking Soda

Baking Oil

Antacid Tablets

Food Coloring (I decided to be brave)

Clear Plastic cups (to mix things in, clear so they can see the whole reaction)

Stir Sticks (I just used coffee sticks, they work great)

Disposable baking tray (to catch the overflow)

Sandwich bags (I thought these would be good for mixing powders but the boys have not used them so I am not sure you need these)

I put all of these things in nice plastic (washable) baskets in a washable (indestructible) space.

I like to throw in some fun stuff every once in a while.

Instant Snow

Magnets

Growing Pills (those little sponges that grow in water)

I bought them some little vials of instant snow and they LOVED them so their Grandma bought them more for Christmas!

Smashing the Antacids with Thor’s hammer…

Food coloring!!!

Beautiful!

They loved thinking up things on their own with no directions!

This one turned out really well!

My boys no heat Lava Lamp:

Fill a clear glass 3/4 full of oil 1/4 with vinegar.

Add Antacid Tablets and Food coloring.

Then lastly add baking soda and watch your ingredients react!

Although my boys do love making up their own special recipes we have done a lot of experiments together with directions so they have a ideal of what to do.

The best thing I did was by little bottles of oil and vinegar!

They use a whole bottle in one day!

I refill with bigger bottles.

They really need a smaller box or a new small container for the baking soda because they tend to use a lot of it and get the box all wet.

I think I will be putting their baking soda in a glass or plastic container soon.

The other night they spent over an hour in their “lab” (the laundry room, I had it in the kitchen before that) creating.

They really thrive with all of the control they have over their experiments!

If you have a curious little one get them supplies, put them in a easily cleaned up space, and let them go!