Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!  As you know, at the Douglas Space and Science Foundation, we absolutely love planets--especially this one!  In honor of Earth Day, here are some STEM activities that you can do that are all about this planet we call home.

Make recycled paper
Materials:

• scrap paper cut into strips
• blender
  
• sieve
  
• bowl
  
• dish towels

1. Rip your scrap paper into small pieces.
2. Put your strips in a bowl.  Cover with warm water and soak overnight.
3. Put the contents of your bowl in the blender.  Fill the blender half full with water.  Blend to make pulp.
4. Put the pulp in a mixing bowl and mixing with your hands.
5. Put the sieve in the bowl.  Allow the pulp to settle over it.  Gently lift it with a layer of pulp covering it and let the water drain.
6. Put the paper on top of a dish towel.  Place another towel on top and pat off any excess water, then peel the top towel off carefully.
7. Carefully remove the paper from the sieve.  Flip it onto another dish towel, and cover with another towel to dry.
8. Once it is dry, carefully remove the dish towels.  You made recycled paper!

Learn how color affects temperature
Materials:

• black, white, and gray construction paper
• scissors
• three cardboard boxes, all the same size
• rubber cement
• thermometer

1. Cut the white construction paper so that it can cover all side of one of the cardboard boxes.
2. Use the rubber cement to attach the paper to the box as smoothly as possible.  (Try to avoid air pockets between the paper and the box.)
3. Do the same thing using the black and gray construction paper and the other boxes.
4. Place the thermometer inside the white box.  Take it outside and leave it in a sunny spot for 30 minutes.  Record the temperature on the thermometer.
5. Place the thermometer in the shade somewhere near the box (still outside.)  When it has adjusted, record the shady temperature.
6. Repeat these steps with the black and grey boxes separately.
7.  Look at your findings.  Which box was the warmest?  Which was the coolest?  The black box will likely be the hottest and the white box the coolest!

Grow seeds in eggshells
Materials:

• 24 egg shells
• soil
  
• seeds (you can use a couple of different kinds of seeds so you can compare)
  
• water
  
• spoon or small scoop
  

1. Set up your eggshells in the egg cartons and fill with the soil. 
2. Push one seed gently into the soil of each eggshell, making sure the seed is covered with dirt.
3. Use a small spray bottle to dampen the soil. Be careful not to over water.
4. Give the seeds three days to begin to grow.
5. Each day after that, break open an egg shell to observe each stage of seed growth!

Have fun!  If you have another great science project you'd like to share, tell us about it!