#1: Design a Mini Aquarium

On our planet, water, air, plants, and nutrients move through what we call a Life Cycle. For example, water evaporates from a lake, condenses into clouds, comes down as rain, and falls back into a lake.

In this project, create your own miniature life cycle by building a sealed aquarium in a bottle.   It can be difficult to get this just right, but it’s pretty easy with freshwater snails and aquatic plants. The plants provide food for the snails, and the snail poop fertilizes the plants!

Materials:

• Clear plastic container with a tight fitting lid (VOSS water bottles are great for this)
• Aquatic pond snails (HINT: you can often get these for free at Pet stores!)
• Distilled water
• 2-3 aquatic plants
• Aquatic rocks

 

Directions:

 

1. Let your water come to room temperature.
2. Place the plants at the bottom of the container.
3. Carefully pour the rocks around the bottom of the plants, to secure them.
4. Fill your container with enough distilled or to cover the plants.
5. Release your snails into their new home!
6. Keep your new pets near a window, but not in direct sunlight.
7. Take a photo of your mini aquarium and post it on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TopSecretScienceClub The best aquarium will win a Top Secret Prize!

 

Want to get an awesome science adventure and hands on experiments like these delivered every month? Sign up for the Top Secret Science Club!

 

5 Super Fun Science Projects for a Snowy Day

We are hard at work getting ready for the pre-launch of the Top Secret Science Club!

We know that some of you are buried in snow and bored, so this week we’ll be sending out a fun series of Super Fun Science Projects for a Snowy Day.  These are projects guaranteed to keep your kids occupied and off the screens!

Here’s your link to the first mystery science project!

Be sure to post photos of your projects to our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/TopSecretScience Club

Get science fun delivered to you every month when you sign up for the Top Secret Science Club.  Sign up now for a 1 year subscription & get your first box for free!

Dimetrodon: A Fishy Discovery

Dimetrodon was a Piscivor!

This Dimetrodon (SAY: Die-Meat-Row-Don) lived about 280 million years ago in the Permian Era. That’s WAY before the dinosaurs lived! So he’s not really a dinosaur. Actually, he’s ancient a mammal-like reptile.

We think the sail on his back is REALLY, cool don’t you?

Scientists knew what Dimetrodon looked like from their bones, but what they ate was a mystery. Were they herbivores (plant eaters)? Or carnivores (meat eaters)?

Neither one! We tricked you!

Dimetrodon was a PISCIVOR (say PISS-kiv-or). Scientists have discovered that they ate fish and other animals that lived in the water.

Robert Bakker is a paleontologist at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He reported his team’s cool discovery on October 14, at the annual meeting of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology. For years, paleontologists thought Dimetrodon ate animals who live on land. “But that turns out to be wrong,” Bakker says.

Dimetrodon probably ate ancient sharks and Diplocaulus like this one!

Diplocaulus

What do you like to eat? Are you an herbivore? A carnivore? A piscivor? Or are you an omnivore – that means you eat EVERYTHING! Leave a comment for us!

– MAX

The Top Secret Science Club is a kids science subscription box, delivered each month. Founded by me, 8-year-old kid entrepreneur MAX. We are shipping our first boxes in Feburary of 2016. Join the club by signing up here!

Wiggly Frankenworms: Halloween Science Experiment for Kids

In honor of Halloween, we’re trying the Wiggling Worms Halloween Science Experiment.  It seems pretty straightforward. You need:

• Gummy worms
• 3 TBS baking soda
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• Scissors
• Measuring cup & spoons
• Clear glass or jar

Start by cutting the gummy worms in quarters, lengthwise.

Then put 3 tablespoons of baking soda into 1 cup of water & mix well.

Drop your cut gummy worms into the baking soda and water solution, and let them soak for at least 15-30 minutes.

Pour the vinegar into a clear glass or glass jar.  Carefully remove your worms from the baking soda solution and drop them into the vinegar, one at a time.  Don’t put too many in, or they get weighted down at the bottom & won’t dance!

After a few minutes, your worms should begin to float and dance!

Our Results

The first time we ran this experiment, the solution bubbled but the worms just sat on the bottom and didn’t dance. We tried  fresh baking soda and still no luck. Then we tried another brand of gummy worms & a different kind of white vinegar and then they started dancing!  So you might need to experiment with which kind of baking soda, vinegar & gummy worms produce the best results for you.

What’s Happening?

The worms soaked up the baking soda in the first step.  When you drop them in the vinegar, the baking soda reacts with the vinegar to form carbon dioxide gas bubbles on the worms. The carbon dioxide gas bubbles rise up through the vinegar and make the worms float and wiggle. The worms will wriggle until the reaction stops!

Sign Up for the Top Secret Science Club!

Please support Max in his goal to launch the Top Secret Science Club! Right now we are collecting emails & preparing for our launch. If we can get to 2,000 subscribers, we’ll be able to launch!

The Business Plan

Just in case there’s any doubt who’s in charge of this company, here’s Max’s handwritten business plan!  He’s super excited about this & I couldn’t be more proud of him.