I have a child who is an absolute disaster waiting
to happen. If there is a wall, he is
ready to run into it. If there is a
chair, he is guaranteed to fall off it.
If there is a ball flying through the air, his head will no doubt be hit
by it.
I love him to pieces, but even on a good day
Junior is an accident waiting to happen.
Which is why the news we received this week has
been so unnerving. On Wednesday, he
complained of a really sore throat. I’m
not one to get too worried about sickness in the house, but this sore throat
kept him (and me!) up all night. I had
him stay home from school the next day but when he continued to complain about
the sore throat, I got him a doctor’s appointment that afternoon. At the doctor’s office we learned that Junior
has mono.
I am new to the whole mono thing. I never had it as a kid and neither of my
boys have ever had it – so this diagnosis was a first. Despite having students who had mono in the
past I still feel terribly ignorant about it.
As their teacher, I knew very little about their symptoms just that they
could be absent for a long time and when they returned they would tire easily. But that’s the extent of my knowledge on the
matter. Until now…
When the doctor came back with the blood work
indicating Junior had mono, I seriously had to ask, “What does this mean?” She explained that it was a virus so there
was no medication to give him. And like
all “good” viruses we simply had to wait for it to run its course which could
take up to 4 WEEKS!!! What?! 4 WEEKS?
But that wasn’t all…
She went through her spiel of what we needed to do
and the more she talked the more I started sweating profusely.
-
No contact sports (such as basketball, soccer,
or football)
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No rough housing with others
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No major running or climbing or any activity
that could cause him to fall
-
Keep him as calm and stationary as possible
-
Even after he starts feeling better, he is still
required to maintain stationary activities for at least 4 weeks
-
(And hyperventilating mothers are frowned upon
during this time…)
Why all these low-key activity restrictions? Well, as it turns out, mono causes swelling
to the spleen. If the spleen is injured
from a fall or a punch to the gut, we could be looking at a rupture and
surgery! Good times, right?!
So the next four weeks could be extremely interesting. I’m actually looking forward to being
bald. I’m sure to save a ton on hair
product, which will help with the doctor bills from the guaranteed heart attack
I’ll likely have in the next month while trying to keep my accident-prone son
from injuring his spleen!!!
UGH!!!!!!
(Deep breaths….deep breaths…..)
In an attempt to try to keep my kid interested in activities
that require him to sit, I pulled out some of my old science tricks. As I was doing it, I figured there could be
moms in a similar situation wanting ideas they could use with their kids. Maybe you’re not trying to force your child
into stationary activities but maybe the winter months are getting long being
inside all the time. If so, here is a
list of “cool things to do” that can also teach and usually “wow” kids in the
process.
I will also try to post these in a separate blog so that you
can access them without my story to go along with it!
Hope you and the kids have fun with this!!
And if you’re the praying type, I’ll take any you might want
to send my way…
FLAME
RELIGHT TRICK (POLYMERS TRAIL)
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Candle
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Matches
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Light both the match and the wick of the candle. Keeping the match lit, blow out the
candle. As the smoke comes off the candle,
catch a “stream” of smoke and put the lit match right in the stream. The flame will “jump” to the candle wick
without the match touching the wick.
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The smoke is made up of tiny polymers that
create chains. Essentially, you are
lighting the chain and the fire makes it way down to the wick.
BLOW OUT MATCH
WITHOUT WIND
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¼ cup vinegar
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Teaspoon of baking soda
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Matches
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INSTRUCTION:
Pour vinegar into a glass measuring cup.
Add the baking soda and allow the chemical reaction to take place. There will be lots of bubbles and
fizzing. Take a match, light it, and
slowly move it towards the middle of the measuring cup. The closer it gets to the liquid, the match
will just go out without anyone blowing on it.
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: Vinegar and baking soda create CO2
gas. Inside the measuring cup the CO2 is
so thick, there is no oxygen for the flame to survive therefore it goes out
SKEWERS IN A
BALLON
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Balloons
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Bamboo cooking skewers
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Cooking oil or dish soap
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Blow up a balloon almost all the way up and then let some air out. (This is just to help make sure the balloon
is adequately stretched out). Tie a
knot. Coat one skewer with some dish
soap or oil. Place the sharpened tip on
the thick end of the balloon (the top of the balloon that is darkest should be
your entrance point) and keep pushing all the way through to the other side of
the balloon. Your skewer will NOT pop the
balloon. (Though after a while, the
balloon will start to show signs of deflation…)
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: Polymers are the answer again! Polymers are long chains of molecules. In rubber the elasticity of the polymer chain
causes them to stretch enough you can get the skewer through the thickest point
of the balloon. This is why you MUST
enter through the darkened portion of the balloon.
LEAK PROOF BAG
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Sharpened pencils (or bamboo skewers)
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Zipper lock bags
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Water
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill the baggie with water and zip it shut. Next, take pencils and puncture through the
bag on one side and then through to the other side. As long as you keep pushing the leave the
pencils in place, the bag will not leak
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The water tension that is created by the bag
and pencil and water keeps the water in the bag
MYSTERIOUS WATER
SUSPENSION
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Mason jar
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Plastic screen/mesh
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Index card (plastic cover for index card works
well too)
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Place the screen under the portion of the lid that screws down. This way, you can pour water into the
jar. Pour water in jar through the
screen. Place the index card over the
lid and turn the jar over. Once the jar
has been turned over, remove the index card.
The water DOES NOT COME OUT! This
is again due to water tension!! There is
enough support from the screen/mesh that the water will stay put. Now, if you tip the jar, it will pour out,
but if you turn it completely upside down with the card and then remove it, the
water will not come out.
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: There is atmospheric pressure that is exerted
by the surrounding air. There is also
surface tension that keeps the water from breaking the small membrane that
forms in between all the squares of the screen.
WATER SUCKING CUP
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Plate
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Glass cup
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A bit of tacky-tack
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Birthday candle
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Water
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Put some tacky on the bottom of the birthday candle. Stick the birthday candle in the middle of
the plate. Put a small amount of water in
the plate. Enough to cover the plate but
not excessive. Light the candle and
place the glass cup over the candle.
Eventually the flame on the candle will go out, when this happens you’ll
notice the water being sucked up into the glass. Much of the water on the plate will seemingly
disappear and get sucked up into the glass
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The flame uses up all the oxygen in the cup
and creates a vacuum which causes the suction of the water in the cup.
WALKING ON
EGGSHELLS
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6-8 cartons of eggs
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Trash bags
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Bucket of soap and water
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Cover area with trash bags and inspect eggs. Make replacements if necessary. Orient eggs so that the cartons are all
pointed in the same direction. Remove shoes
and socks. You might need to provide
assistance to the person walking on eggs to get started. The key is to make sure your foot is as flat
as possible. When foot is positioned
slowly shift weight to the egg leg.
There will be a bit of creaking sounds, but don’t worry.
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The shape of the egg is the secret. The egg the strongest at the top and bottom
that’s why it doesn’t break when you squeeze the top and bottom. The carton is huge too. Joseph Coyle invented the egg carton. Supposedly if the carton is dropped the eggs
won’t break.
EXPLODING
TOOTHPASTE
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1 liter bottles
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Hydrogen peroxide (12%) 40 volume
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Liquid Dish soap
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Food coloring
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Package of dry yeast
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Small plastic cup
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Measuring spoons
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Funnel
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Plastic to cover surface
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Use a funnel to add 4 oz hydrogen peroxide to 1 liter soda bottle. Add a squirt of dish soap and some food
coloring to the hydrogen peroxide in bottle.
Give the bottle a quick swirl to mix contents. Set 1 liter aside. Mix the entire package of yeast with 4
tablespoons of very warm water in a small plastic cup. Sitr mixture with a spoon. Pour yeast mixture into bottle – wait a few seconds
for it to react.
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: This is an exothermic reaction – energy in
the form of heat given off. Hydrogen
peroxide breaks into H2O and O2
SECRET SPRAYING
BOTTLE
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Take a plastic pop bottle (Coke, 7 up, etc)
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Poke about 4 holes around bottle
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill bottle with water and put the lid on. Give the bottle to a friend and have them
take the lid off. Water will start
spraying from bottle. Put the lid back
on and the water stops
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The pressure that comes from the air in the
bottle when it is “pushed” in with the positioning of the lid. When the lid is removed the pressure is gone
and the water starts leaking out.
FIREBALL
(WARNING – THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE IN A VERY SAFE PLACE…POSSIBLY OUTSIDE OR IN A
GARAGE!!!)
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About a Tablespoon of corn starch
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A small piece of paper (about 4x4 inch piece)
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Lighter
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Take about a tablespoon of corn starch and place it down the center of
the paper. Roll the paper up so the
cornstarch is inside the roll of paper.
Take this to a safe place to ignite.
With the tube of corn starch held up to your mouth, blow the contents
into the a lit lighter (blow directly into the flame). This will create a VERY LARGE fireball that
will last only about 2 seconds.
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SCIENCE BEHIND IT: If you tried to light corn starch on fire as
just a pile of corn starch sitting on the table it will not ignite. However, when you add air, this substance
will light on fire. This is the same
concept that causes explosions in grain elevators. When compacted it is okay, but air and any
spark added can cause major issues.
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