Why do some volleyball players wear a walking boot, when they injure their feet?

Athletes push their bodies, move a lot, and impacts, fractures, and over extensions of joints may occur. Injuries are a part of life and even more expected for athletes who spend so much time moving, practicing, and playing games. We want kids to enable kids to explore How Stuff Works with regard to games, and since most games involve some form of lever (arm, leg, stick, racquet) and some form of projectile (ball, dart), we are using hands-on science to better understand sports medicine and both minor and major injuries.

To build community today around the impact of sports injuries and how medicine works to prevent and repair the challenges of competing, we:

• listened to kids share their personal “sports injury” stories, so we could also see that all of us get scrapes and bruises, and a smaller group of is may get more serious injuries that require a split, cast, or at least receiving urgent care from our parents or a medical professional.

• Evaluated x-rays of healthy bones and some images of minor fractures, or breaks, as we discussed how doctors treat our injuries

• Explored why ice packs help, and designed some innovative tools to aid our knowledge of how to prevent more serious injuries

To build additional confidence with How Sports Medicine Works, we encourage you to watch this How It’s Made video all about the science of bandaids.

Please don’t forget your INNOVATION BOX, which is customized by your child every Wednesday at Kids Science Labs, to enable at home science and create new neuroscience pathways that increase the fun and build real confidence with hands-on science. ….

As members, please also take advantage of our KSL Rewards Program that offers benefits to our entire community. Call us at (773-798-2012 or email support@kidssciencelabs.com) and mention “KSL Blog”

• 20% off any new program registration (parties, camps, group events, field trips) after this camp

• Free access to KSL Academy Programs for gifted and enthusiastic young scientists

• Social media raffle for members to win birthday party giveaways at Kids Science Labs

• Exclusive members-only Youtube content that powers kids to outperform in STEM long-term and on NGSS tests in 3rd, 5th, and 7th grade!

Is there an actual purpose of slime, other than making kids laugh?

Slimes are fun, but they have a real function for animals to defend against attack, ridding your body of germs, and even helping make your toast sweet. Jams, sunbutters, and saliva are all types of slimes that are viscous (thick), sticky (cohesive/adhesive) and wet. On this day, our students made slimes that solve a problem, and explored the elements inside those viscous (thick) liquids in our refrigerator that make them so much fun.

Our young scientists explored the hands-on science below

• How to adjust the ratios of elements to change a chemical’s properties using hands-on science

• When a substance is or is not a slime, based a simple three-part test (Is it viscous? Is it sticky? Is it wet?)

• Comparing the relative viscosity (thickness) of any two liquids, using a simple incline plane to compare their speed rolling down a slight hill.

Watch the video below for an episode of Science Max for Kids about all types of chemical reactions, including real applications of slime and please don’t forget your INNOVATION BOX, which is customized by your child every Wednesday at Kids Science Labs, to enable at home science and create new neuroscience pathways that increase the fun and build real confidence with hands-on science. ….

As members, please take advantage of our KSL Rewards Program that offers benefits to our entire community. Call us at (773-798-2012 or email support@kidssciencelabs.com) and mention “KSL Blog”

• 20% off any new program registration (parties, camps, group events, field trips) after this camp

• Free access to KSL Academy Programs for gifted and enthusiastic young scientists

• Social media raffle for members to win birthday party giveaways at Kids Science Labs

• Exclusive members-only Youtube content that powers kids to outperform in STEM long-term and on NGSS tests in 3rd, 5th, and 7th grade!

Why does Orange Juice get so clumpy when you add milk to the cup?

Everything is made of stuff called elements. Different combinations make different things. When you mix certain elements and groups of elements together, sometimes they react and fizz, bubble, or explode. Kids are exploring what nearly everything is made of, namely elements, and why certain combinations of elements (molecules) are more reactive than others. A chemical reaction is anytime you mix two things, and you get something new. Students learned that they are irreversible, and typically can be seen via a color change, temperature change, fizzing, or a state change.

On this day, we led our students to deepen their understand that everything is made of smaller things, called elements, and investigated:

• how the entire universe has an ingredient list called the “periodic table of elements” that is organized and helps us understand how things behave when you mix them

• how some elements are metals and exist as solids, and others are non-metals and may exist as solids, liquids, or gases

• what happens when two things mix and things stay the same ( physical reaction) v. something new is created (chemical reaction)

• why ratios matter, and how acid and bases can be used to create innovative tools

In camp kids are making their own customized chemistry kits, with the elements of fun. We love providing our community with useful resources for kids to learn more at home, so show your kids this fun video to build confidence with Chemical Reactions:

Can a bridge made of paper support three large elephants?

Every class @KSL starts with a question that motivates and excites students to begin to think critically about the science we see everyday. Whether in Chicago, Seattle, or D.C., bridges are a critical part of how our cities work to transport pedestrians, wildlife, vehicles, and goods safely to their destination. So on this day in Builder’s Paradise, we used everyday innovations to better understand how to make bridges stronger with shapes and durable materials, how to protect them from both physical and environmental damage, and how to customize them to meet the needs of any unique situation in our city.

Students performed problem solving experiments along several dimensions to better understand Civil Engineering and Bridge Infrastructure:

• How do we make a paper bridge stronger by changing its shape and bundling (stacking paper together to improve its density)

• Why is it important to test maximum loads of each type of material on a bridge during and after construction

• How do environmental conditions (wind, humidity, heat, water) affect bridge designs

• Where may the certain types of bridges be most useful (beam, truss, suspension, arch)

Our older students may also have looked at what can go wrong in bridge design and discussed some of the issues in our U.S. infrastructure issues with bridges that are 100+ years old, that were designed before we had cars, trucks, and massive transportation infrastructure.

For more advanced learning, please show the following video or watch it alongside your child to build problem solving with bridges