Yup, it's that time of the year again, Halloween! This year you don't have to make it all about candy and outrageous costumes, here's your chance to make it educational theme too! I have put together a list of science experiments that you can do at home with the kids, or if you are teacher, these are excellent to challenge young minds while keeping to a fun and popular topic.

All of these experiments are quick and easy to do and most of them require materials that you should have around the house or classroom. 

I am just a huge cheerleader for getting kids interested in science and technology. - Vint Cerf

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Experiment ONE - Dancing Ghosts

Learn about static electricity

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What you will need:

• A balloon
• Tissue paper
• Sharpies
• Scissors
• Cellotape
• A blanket, sweater or a head full of hair!

Here's what you need to do:

Draw ghost-like shapes onto your tissue paper and then cut them out. Tape the bottom part of your ghost/s to a flat surface. Rub the balloon against your hair, blanket or sweater so that it can gather electrons.

What are electrons?  

Electrons are the negatively charged particles of an atom. Together, all of the electrons of an atom create a negative charge that balances the positive charge of the protons in the atomic nucleus. Electrons are extremely small compared to all of the other parts of the atom. The mass of an electron is almost 1,000 times smaller than the mass of a proton. -http://www.chem4kids.com 

Once the balloon has gathered all of the extra electrons, immediately hold it just above your tissue paper ghosts. The balloon will attract the tissue and cause it to rise up and "flutter" about, like a ghost!

The Lesson

This experiment is great to explain what static electricity is and how it works. Start with explaining that everything is made out of atoms and that atoms are made out of 3 things: electrons, neurons and protons. Focusing on the electrons, explain that they can either be negatively or positively charged. When two items are rubbed together (like the balloon and blanket for instance), more negative electrons are gathered. These negatively charged electrons then attract the positive electrons in the tissue paper to itself. This attraction causes static electricity.

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Experiment TWO - Tea Bag Ghosts

Learn convection and air pressure

*NB - Adult supervision is required for this experiment!

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What you will need:

• Tea Bags (thicker bags work much better)
• Scissors
• A porcelain plate
• Sharpies
• A lighter

Here's what you need to do:

Get the kids to grab a few tea bags and then snip them open on top. Empty the tea leaves. Let the kids/students take a few moments to draw "ghost-like" faces on to the tea bags. Open up the bags to make a hollow cylinder and place it onto the porcelain plate or non-flammable surface. It's best that the kids take a few steps back at this point. Let an adult light the top of the tea bag ghost and watch it fly!

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The Lesson

Three varying forces allow the tea bag ghost to fly.First, as the cylindrical tea bag burns down, the air inside the bag heats up. When air heats up, it becomes less dense. And when air becomes less dense, it rises. So, as the air inside the cylinder becomes warmer and less dense than the air outside the cylinder, it rises.Second, as we’ve established, the hot air inside the burning cylinder will rise as it becomes less dense than the cool air outside the cylinder. As the hot air rises, cool air rushes in to take its place, creating a convection current. In this case, the convection current pushes upwards from the bottom of the bag.Finally, as the tea bag burns the smoke rises and leaves behind a very delicate and very lightweight frame of ash. The ash framework is so lightweight that it is easily carried into the air by the hot rising air and convection current. - http://www.giftofcuriosity.com

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Source: http://lemonlimeadventures.com/10-terrifying-ghost-science-experiments/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes

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Getting your kids SCREAMING this Halloween with these fun and informative science experiments. They are so quick, east and cheap that you can do them over and over again too. Trick or treat? We choose TRICKS, SCIENCE TRICKS! Here's to October, the month of ghosts and ghouls!

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