Not your usual experiment, this is a book: “The League of Scientists” is a young adult fiction book by Andy Kaiser (the creator of Digital Bits Science Lab).

Equipment needed:

The League of Scientists is available here: http://www.LeagueOfScientists.com

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

The League of Scientists is a group of smart kids who love science. They use their knowledge and critical thinking skills to solve seemingly-supernatural mysteries.

One of the components of the book is the mystery aspect, and not just the “main” mystery. In most chapters, there is a puzzle. The solution to the puzzle involves the application of science or critical thinking. The book is intended to give science education (and scientific applications – something you don’t always get from such fiction) while still giving kids a good story and characters.

When heated, air will expand. When cooled, air will compress. Hot air takes up more space than cold air, as this experiment demonstrates.

Equipment needed:

A balloon

A plastic soda bottle (a 2-liter will work well)

Duct tape

A soup pot

A stove

Water

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

Pour some water into the bottle. Three inches or so will be plenty.

Pull the ballon over the mouth of the bottle. The balloon should be deflated at this point. Wrap a strip of duct tape around the balloon-bottle connection, to make sure the seal is close to airtight.

Fill the soup pot with water. An inch or so will be plenty.

Put the bottle in the soup pot. Put the pot on the stove.

Turn on the stove. You should have something that looks like this:

Wait for the water in the pot to heat up. As it does, the water in the bottle will heat, too. The balloon will eventually inflate:

What’s happening? This science experiment demonstrates how air, when heated, will expand. It expands because air molecules move around a lot more when warmed up. Since they’re moving around more, they bounce around and off each other, and take up more room. We see this as the balloon expands.

To see the opposite of this effect, take the bottle-balloon invention off of the stove. Place it in a container full of ice, or stand it up in a freezer. The balloon will shrink back down and deflate, and the bottle itself might compress inward as the air gets colder!

Another question that people may have is, “why doesn’t the plastic bottle melt on the stove?” Here’s an experiment that shows why the bottle won’t melt, because the water conducts the heat away from the bottle.

Earth’s atmosphere insulates and heats the Earth. This experiment is a great visual of the Greenhouse Effect.

Equipment needed:

Two identical glasses, filled with cold water.

A sealable bag (like a Zip-Lock bag, or a bag you can twist-tie closed). It must be large enough to completely cover and seal over one of the glasses.

A thermometer

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

Place on glass in the bag. Seal the bag.

Put both glasses (one in the bag, one not in the bag) in direct sunlight, or close to a very bright light.

Wait for two hours.

Open the bag, and take the temperature of the water in both glasses.

Note the difference between the measurements. Which one is warmer?

Why did this happen? As the sunlight (or bright light bulb) heated the water, the warmer air around the water was trapped inside the glass covered by the bag.

This is an example of how the Greenhouse Effect and the Earth’s atmosphere work – they are good things, to an extent, because they keep heat on our planet and prevent it from getting too cold, and that keeps us alive! But it’s a tricky balance, because by changing Earth’s atmosphere (or by using a thicker bag to cover our glass), we might increase the overall temperature of our planet.

This experiment shows how water can conduct and absorb heat.

Equipment needed:

Water

Balloons

A lit candle

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

Blow up a balloon. Hold it over the lit candle. Boom! The balloon explodes! The lit candle heated the balloon, weakened and melted it, and the balloon exploded.

Now take another balloon, and fill it halfway with water.

Hold that same balloon over the candle. Do you think the balloon will explode, splashing water everywhere?

Nope.

You can have the candle flame actually touch the balloon, and the balloon won’t break!

The water in the balloon is absorbing the heat from the candle. The balloon conducts heat very well, so the candle flame transfers to the water without harming the balloon.

This is an experiment that shows the concept of heat being energy.

Equipment needed:

Hot water

Cold water

Two identical glasses

Liquid food coloring

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

As water gets warmer, water molecules move around faster and faster. We can’t see a molecule without help, of course, but we can still see the effects of hot and cold water molecules.

Fill your glasses. One should have hot water in it, the other cold water. Pick a color of food coloring.

Put three drops of food coloring in each glass.

Wait, and watch what happens.

You can tell from the food coloring which glass is holding the hot water, and which is holding the cold. The cold water contains less energy – the water molecules are moving slower, and therefore the coloring mixes slower.

The hot water’s molecules are moving faster – the water contains more heat, and therefore more energy. So the food coloring mixes faster.