Experimenting with Science. Mullins Olivia J.

>

      Olivia Mullins

      Experimenting with Science

       EXPERIMENTING WITH SCIENCE

      Published by:

      John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,

      111 River Street, Hoboken,

      NJ 07030-5774,

      www.wiley.com

      Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

      Published simultaneously in Canada

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

      Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

      LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.

      For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone]. For technical support, please visit https://hub.wiley.com/community/support/dummies.

      Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2016943664

      ISBN: 978-1-119-29133-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-29135-0 (ePDF); ISBN 978-1-119-29134-3 (epub)

      INTRODUCTION

       WELCOME TO EXPERIMENTING WITH SCIENCE. I am so excited to guide you in your scientific journey as you test, explore, learn, have fun, and, yes, experiment. My goal is for you to experience the thrill of scientific discovery.

       SO WHAT IS SCIENCE? Science is the study of the world around you – or even the world inside of you. In this book, you learn about many scientific disciplines, so get ready to make some reactions, trick your brain, harness magnetic forces, combine science and art, and more!

      ABOUT SCIENTISTS

      Scientists are so diverse it’s hard to know how to describe them. In research laboratories (where scientists work), you will find men and women, young and old, from countries all over the world. But all scientists have one thing in common: They love learning and have a big curiosity about how the world works.

      The job of a scientist is to discover new things, and they study all sorts of different stuff. Some scientists study how to cure diseases in hopes of helping people stay healthy. Some study gigantic collapsing stars, while others study the behavior of tiny ants. For some scientists, it’s normal to scuba dive around the ocean taking video of elusive sea creatures. It’s safe to say that scientists have pretty cool jobs.

      If you’re a person who is curious about the world, you may consider being a scientist when you grow up.

      ABOUT THIS BOOK

      This book is filled with fun and enlightening science experiments. The experiments are split up into seven chapters, and each chapter starts with a quick introduction and a section about the science behind the experiments (with the exception of the final chapter). The best thing to do is to read this science overview before starting the experiments within the chapter. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything at once. Learning about science is a process that can take time.

      Each chapter contains several experiments. You don’t have to do the experiments in order or even do all of them, although sometimes it may be helpful to complete some of the earlier, simpler experiments first.

      Each experiment starts with a brief description of what you will be doing and a supply list. Make sure that you have all the supplies you need before you get started. (You can find most supplies around the house or at a grocery store. A few experiments have slightly more specialized supplies that you may need to order.) You can find a master supply list at www.dummies.com/go/experimentingwithscience.

      You can then follow the instructions to start your project. While you’re working, make sure that you make observations of what you see, hear, feel, or even smell! I encourage you to make predictions of what you think will happen in your experiment. If you want to keep track of your predictions and data, go online to www.dummies.com/go/experimentingwithscience to find guidelines for making your own lab notebook.

      When you complete your experiment, read about the science at the end of each project. This information helps you understand what you just observed. Some of these concepts are pretty crazy! See whether the explanations are consistent with your observations and experimental results.

      At the end of each experiment is a section that tells you how you can take the experiment further. This is a very important section! Science is all about curiosity and discovery. You can usually do an experiment in more than one way, and you can expand on the experiments presented in the book in a lot of ways. I encourage you to use the projects and instructions outlined in the book as a starting point and then go wild. Follow your curiosity and don’t be limited by the steps on the page.

      As you go through the book, some experiments will work immediately, but some may take a couple tries. Don’t worry if you have to try the experiment a few times. It turns out that every scientist has had many experiments that don’t work. In fact, you often learn just as much, or more, from what goes wrong as you learn from what goes right. But you learn the most when you’re enjoying what you do, so start experimenting and have a blast!

      SAFETY

      Safety is a very important part of science. Do not eat or drink your experiments. Do not rub your eyes if you have chemicals on your hands. Something like lemon juice is mostly safe, but it will sting a whole lot if you get it in your eyes! Pay attention to any safety warnings I have on the experiments and wear gloves