Thursday 27 January 2011

Venus Science project

The kids and I have been reading and studying up on the Planet Venus this week. While reading this book, we discovered that Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system even tho it is the second planet from the sun. How was that possible? Venus is surrounded by a thick layer of clouds that act like a blanket around the planet. The sun's heat gets trap into the atmosphere and cannot escape. Steven Kipp gave this fun science project to do to better explain the Green House that is occurring on the Planet Venus. This is an easy project you can do at home.


First fill two containers with soil one container should have a lid and the other no lid. We used a glass jar for one and a Tupperware container for another.





Next add seeds to both containers. I had the children use Water cress seeds as they are very quick to sprout.







Next add water to each container








Put lid on the jar and place on a window sill. Basically we built a small Terrarium. However we were testing to see which seeds would sprout first the lidded jar or the open jar. The directions on the seed pack said the water cress would be ready to sow in 8 days.








The next day we saw immediate results the open container the sprouts had barely starting sprouting. However the glass jar there was significant plant growth.





Day 2 there still was a huge difference in the plants. We opened the jar in order to water the seedlings. The open container were all sprouted but just barely above ground. The lidded jar was doing great, must have been the green house effect:) Our jar lid was acting like the clouds on Venus, except on Venus it is so hot no plants or life can survive.

I also explained using this example, on a hot day after a car has been parked outside with all the windows rolled up, what does it feel like when you first get inside the car. HOT! The sun's rays enter the car but the heat is unable to get out thru the windows, just like a glass greenhouse. I think my kids understand this concept...Next week we are studying planet Earth and the Moon.

19 comments:

  1. Love this!! We are on our first week of our space mini study and we are learning something similar!! Great experiment!! XOXO Have fun!

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  2. I like the hot car analogy. The fun thing about terrariums that have a lid is that you're creating clouds and rain in a jar!

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  3. Hi Anna-Marie!
    I know where to go to get any space lessons and experiments since all your lessons are so fun and informative! This looked like another fun time!
    Thanks for sharing :)

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  4. I am definitely borrowing this one too Anna-Marie. This sounds like a lot of fun and instant learning. Thank you for sharing all the great stuff you are doing on your space studies. Have a wonderful day.

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  5. What a great experiment! We tried making a terrarium, but have no windows that get good light and are safe from the cats. :-(

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  6. Hi Kayla,
    We are loving our space unit and I am finding tons of stuff out there to use for the kids. It is great

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  7. Hi Susan,
    I will have to point out the cloud and rain to the children I didn't do that, very bad of me. My daughter understood the car analogy.

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  8. Hi Tracy,
    We are really enjoying Steven Kipps books they have fun simple experiments in them. But I will warn you that do say the world was created billions of years ago which is fine by me but now it offends others.:)

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  9. Hi Lynda,
    When you ready to study I have lots of good free sites you can use, I also found a free Apologia Sun lapbook from somewhere. I love simple but fast result science projects as my kids have short attention spans:)

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  10. HI Maureen,
    Got to give water sprouts seeds a try. This is England there is no sun during the winter months:) and it still worked. I love them they are fast growing and practically guaranteed to grow, which is good because I have a brown thumb for indoor plants.

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  11. Good morning Anna-Marie and happy Friday!
    Have a great weekend and clicked a vote for you as always :)

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  12. Excellent ideas all around, I love how you applied it to safety in a car. Bravo!

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  13. So I guess I just need to pop in here to reach my "learn something new everyday" quota! Interesting post.

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  14. Wow love how creative you are with your kids.. Thank you for sharing with us!

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  15. Hi Anna-Marie! Stopping by to vote again. Came over yesterday too. It has been a busy weekend. Left a very detailed comment on Tracy's post. I appreciate your help with the blog hop. You have been a life saver this month. God bless you, and have a wonderful Sunday.

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  16. Hi Dawn,
    Yes I wanted to mention the car as I have heard so many stories of children getting locked inside and then something terrible happens.

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  17. Hi Renee Ann,
    Should I count you as a student:) Actually I enjoy teaching History and science to the kids there is so much that can be done hands on which is how my two learn.

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  18. Hi April from the Johnson Tribe, I got the experiment from one of the many books we had regarding studying space. We love science experiments here:)

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  19. Hi Tracy and Lynda,
    Thanks for voting and always stopping by you two are the best:)

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