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Wind Chimes Activity
Create your own wind chimes to dance in the Saskatchewan wind.
Create your own wind chimes to dance in the Saskatchewan wind.
Activity Type:
Craft
Age:
3 to 7 years old
What You Need:
Gather Your Supplies
Paper cup or a single egg carton cup
Pipe cleaner, twist ties, or kitchen twine
Strings
Big beads
Small bells
Metal washer, metal fork, or a metal button
Straws
Scissors
Hole punch
Paint
Paintbrushes
Markers
Stickers, glitter, or other craft supplies you have at home
Preparation:
Cut Your Strings to Length
Cut 4 strings to a length of 30.5 cm each (about the length of a ruler).
Cut 1 string a little longer than the rest, about 38 cm in length.
Cut straws into 2.5 cm lengths. These will act as long beads.
What You Do:
Using the hole punch create 4 holes evenly spaced around the paper cup. Your holes should be just below the rim of the cup.
Decorate your cup with paint, markers, glitter, or other craft supplies you have at home.
Tie a small bell to the bottom of each of the 4 strings cut to 30.5 cm size.
Thread the cut straws and beads onto each string. Be sure to leave about 2 inches at the top of the string to tie on the strings to the paper cup later.
Tie one string of beads and straws to a hole in the paper cup. Repeat until all four beaded strings are attached to the paper cup.
Using a pencil carefully poke a hole in the bottom of your cup.
Take a pipe cleaner and thread it through the hole you just made with the pencil, leaving enough on the outside to make a loop.
Twist the end of your pipe cleaner into a loop. This will be how you hang your wind chime. (This loop should be on the outside of your cup).
With the other end of the pipe cleaner, make a second loop. This loop should be inside the cup.
Attach your longer piece of string to the loop inside the cup.
Attach the metal washer, fork, or metal button to the string you just tied to the pipe cleaner loop inside the cup. Try to tie it to be the same length as where the bells are so when you hang your wind chime the metal and bells clang together.
Hang your wind chime outside where it will blow in the breeze.
A Completed Wind Chime
Explanation:
The first wind chimes were used by farmers to scare away birds and animals from their fields.
The wind chime has been around for almost 5000 years. In Indonesia, wind chimes were found to be used by farmers to ward off animals from their crops. Around 1100 BC, the Chinese started to cast bells and the wind chime began to resemble the ones we see today.
The western world adopted wind chimes in the 1800’s when Asian art and design started to influence Europe and North America.
Today’s wind chimes are used for decorative purposes
Taking it further:
Listen for sounds in your neighborhood. Can you hear another set of wind chimes?
Try to modify or change your wind chimes - what other materials can you use to make new sounds?
Did you create a wind chime? Share your experience in the comments below!
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SSCTV - Soil Testing And Flower Dissections
This week’s SSCTV isn’t your garden variety science video - it will really grow on you!
This week’s SSCTV isn’t your garden variety science video - it will really grow on you!
Join Jesse as he explains how to test soil pH (you may want to try it with a pH indicator that you make yourself!), Tommy Tungsten offers a fantastic deal on potassium, and Sally Science answers a question about butterflies.
BONUS - Join Jacklyn for a flower dissection and learn what all the different parts of a lily do!
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Science At Home - Red Cabbage Indicator
Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, a pigment that changes colour when mixed with an acid or a base. When blended, red cabbage produces a purple liquid, but it changes to red or pink when mixed with an acid and blue or green when mixed with a base.
Have you ever heard the term pH? The letters pH stand for potential Hydrogen. The pH scale is used to measure whether substances are acidic or basic in reference to the amount of hydrogen ion activity in the substance. A pH of 7 is considered neutral and represents materials such as water. A substance with a pH less than 7 is considered acidic, while a substance with a pH higher than 7 is considered basic.
You may need to measure the pH of a substance if you are testing the water in a swimming pool or hot tub, are checking your soil before planting in the spring, or if you’re just curious! Scientists have many different ways of testing pH, but one of them can be created by you at home!
Testing pH At Home
Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, a pigment that changes colour when mixed with an acid or a base. When blended with water, red cabbage produces a purple liquid but it changes to red or pink when mixed with an acid, and blue or green when mixed with a base.
You’ll need some red cabbage leaves, water, a blender, and a strainer. You’ll also need some containers to perform the test. Paper cups work great! You’ll also need a parent to help you be safe!
Next, you need materials to test - we’re using vinegar and baking soda. Avoid using bleach, as it can cause a dangerous reaction if it’s accidentally mixed with other substances such as vinegar or ammonia.
Fill the blender about half full with water then add a few red cabbage leaves. Put the lid on the blender and have an adult blend the cabbage leaves thoroughly. Pour through a strainer and collect the cabbage water.
Take three test containers and add some of the cabbage water to each. Notice the colour of the liquid.
Leave the middle container alone - this is your control.
Add vinegar to one container - what happens to the liquid? What does this indicate?
Mix some baking soda and water, then add this mixture to the third container. What color does the cabbage juice change to? What does this indicate?
What else can you test?
Look for things to test around your home. What happens if you test your soil, shampoo, or orange juice?
You can also soak strips of paper cut from a coffee in filter in the cabbage juice and let them dry. You can now dip these strips of paper in substances to test their relative pH!
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Paper Airplane Challenge
What effect does wind have on a paper airplane? Your challenge is to create various paper airplanes and test them in the wind. Humans have been creating various things that fly for hundreds of years.
What effect does wind have on a paper airplane? Your challenge is to create various paper airplanes and test them in the wind. Humans have been creating various things that fly for hundreds of years. By exploring the principles of flight, testing out materials, and observing the wind we can learn a bit more about the effect wind has on airplanes.
Make my way back home when I learn to fly.
Activity Type
Challenge
What You Need
Paper
Tape
Scissors
Before You Start
Think about the ways things move in the wind. Why does the wind make them move? What are some things that move in the wind? What are things that don’t move in the wind? What does an airplane or jet look like in the sky? And on the ground?
What You Do
Build and test a paper airplane.
1) Select the paper: What type of paper would work best? What size do you think it needs to be? Have a few types and sizes of paper. Most paper airplanes start with a rectangle (but yours doesn’t have to!)
2) Fold the paper: Here is one way to fold a paper airplane – but there are many others. Use this one first, then try to build your own design.
• Start with a rectangular piece of paper, fold the paper in half vertically
• Unfold the paper and fold each of the top corners into the centre line, where you just made the fold.
• Fold the top edges into the centre line. The paper should have a sharp point and you should see 2 triangles on either side.
• Fold the paper in half with the folds you just made on the inside.
• Fold the wings down by folding the paper back long the long side of the airplane. Matching the top edge with the bottom of the body is helpful.
• Add some tape to the nose or point of the airplane. This will help the airplane to stay together.
3) Test: Take the paper airplane outside. Throw the airplane toward the wind. Throw the paper airplane in the same direction as the wind. What do you notice?
Ready to fly
Wings
Explanation
There are four main principles of flight, and their interactions help us to explain flight. They are weight, lift, thrust, and drag.
Weight is the force of gravity. It acts in a downward direction—toward the center of the Earth.
Lift is the force that acts at a right angle to the direction of motion through the air. Lift is created by differences in air pressure. If lift becomes greater than weight, then the plane will accelerate upward. If the weight is greater than the lift, then the plane will accelerate downward. When you see birds flying in a formation, one reason is because it creates lift for the birds behind them helping them to conserve energy.
An airfoil is any surface that produces more lift than drag. This is important for your paper airplanes. Airfoils are seen in the wings that lift the plane, the fins that add more stability and the flaps that control the airplane.
Thrust is the force that propels a flying machine in the direction of motion. Engines or muscles can produce thrust.
Drag is the force that opposes thrust. Imagine sticking your hand out the window of a moving car and flying your hand. The force that pushes your hand back is called "drag". As your hand pushes on the wind, the wind also pushes against your hand. Drag is caused by friction and differences in air pressure.
Taking It Further
Here are some additional flight resources you may be interested in:
Paper Airplane Designs: https://www.foldnfly.com/
Effects of Wind on Airplanes: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-effect-of-wind-on-airplanes.html
Centennial Wind Power Facility: https://www.saskpower.com/Our-Power-Future/Our-Electricity/Electrical-System/System-Map/Centennial-Wind-Power-Facility
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SSC Interview: Emily Putz from Nature Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a great place to see migratory birds. We spoke with Emily Putz from Nature Saskatchewan about some of the amazing migratory bird species in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan is a great place to see migratory birds. We spoke with Emily Putz from Nature Saskatchewan about some of the amazing migratory bird species in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan is a central location on the North American Migration Flyways - or the routes followed by migratory birds as they travel north in the spring to breed and south in the winter to find food. Three of these pathways converge in Saskatchewan, meaning we get to experience a truly unique variety of birds in our province.
The Central Flyway is sometimes called the “flyway of the Great Plains” because it encompasses everything between the valley of the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. On the east, it merges with the Mississippi Flyway. As they pass over Saskatchewan, these two migratory birds routes converge.
The Atlantic Flyway runs primarily along the east coast, but some birds that make use of it begin their journey in Alaska and the Yukon and traverse the entire continent on their journey south.
The Pacific Flyway passes mostly through western Alberta. However, birds like the sanderling and northern pintail do travel into Saskatchewan from this flyway: a popular stop is Chaplin Lake.
Want to experience some of these birds for yourself? Spend some time outside to observe the birds in your neighborhood.
Resources:
https://www.migratorybirdday.org/
https://www.birdday.ca/discover
https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/feature-stories/migratory-birds.html
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