Shopping List for Unit 1
How many of these items do you already have? We’ve tried to keep it simple for you by making the majority of the items things most people have within reach (both physically and budget-wise), and even have broken down the materials by experiment category so you can decide if those are ones you want to do.
Here’s an easy way to decide which materials to get: look over the list, and if the group of materials seems to difficult to obtain, just skip it for now and go onto the next group within the unit. Most items are obtainable from the grocery store, hardware store, and Radio Shack (you can even order the RS parts online!) You do not need to do ALL the experiments – just pick the ones you want to do!
Shopping List for Unit 1: Force, Gravity, & Friction Click here for Shopping List for Unit 1.
Force Experiments
Balloon (7-9″ Latex works great)
Ping Pong Ball
Tissue paper or newspaper
Handful of packing peanuts or paper confetti
Bubble juice (make your own with 12 cups cold water and 1 cup liquid dish soap)
Ball (any size)
Compass (or make your own from a needle, cup of water, magnet, and a cork)
Paper clips (10-15)
Magnet
String or yarn (about 2 feet long)
O-shaped cereal (any brand is fine)
Milk (or water)
Spoon and bowl
Rope (about 3′ long)
Paper (copy paper is fine, but if you can find at least one sheet of heavy paper like cardstock, that would be even better)
Two pencils or sticks
OPTIONAL: (These are not required, but still nice to have…)
Neon bulb (You’ll need to take it apart – remove the outer plastic casing to extract the inner bulb for this experiment.)
Fluorescent bulb
Wool sweater
Plastic bag (like from the grocery store)
Gravity Experiments
Ball (any size)
Stopwatch or timer
Pencil
Paper
Ruler
2 quarters
Ping Pong Ball and Golf Ball (or two different kinds of balls that are the same size but different weight)
OPTIONAL: Hovercraft Project Click here if you’d like to order the Hovercraft Parts from us at a discount.
1 wood skewer
1 wood popsicle stick
1 straw
16 oz. styrofoam cup (the kind used for sodas). Note that waxed paper cups will not work!
1 foam hamburger container (the one in the video is 5.5″ square and 3″ high when closed)
1 foam meat tray (the one in the video is approx. 10″x12″x1″ – it does not need to be these exact dimensions – try a few different sizes out to see what happens! You can get them for free if you ask for a clean one from your butcher.
2 3V DC motor (if you can find it, use this motor for the thruster (remove the gear first) and this motor for the hover motor)
2 three-blade propellers (the ones in the video are 3″ diameter, so check your local hobby store and get a variety to test out)
9V battery clip with wires
9V battery (get a good kind, like Duracell or Energizer)
1 SPST switch
Additional Items for Grades 9-12:
Calculator
Paper
Pencil or pen
Shoes (you won’t be damaging these – any shoes with treads will work fine)
Yarn or string (about 2′ long)
Rubber band
Ruler
Heavy book
2 magnets (preferably the flimsy business-card style)
Rope (3′ or longer)
Dowels or round pencils (not the hexagonal-shaped ones – these need to be smooth cylinders… use cut pieces of 1/2 PVC pipe if you have it)
Handful of marbles
2 cookie sheets
A board (about 2 feet by 12 inches, but anything about that size will do – watch the video first so you can see what it’s used for. You can also use a table propped up on one end.)
Index card or scrap of cardboard
2 small mirrors
2 rare earth magnets
Nylon filament (thin nylon thread works, too)
4 donut magnets
Laser pointer (any kind will work – even the cheap key-chain type)
Water glass (or cleaned out pickle jar)
Wooden spring-type clothespin
Hot glue gun
Is it possible to get the shopping lists for a few more units to come? I find it takes me a while to get ALL of the needed items together for my kids, so the end result is we are usually behind.
Does it matter what kind of SPST switch we use? Does it need to be 120v or less?
Any chance you can have a PRINT button feature for the shopping list? That would be easier than copying and pasting it into a Word document. And I’m in agreement with Veronica on requesting perhaps six weeks’ worth of shopping lists so we can do all the shopping at once instead of having to go back to the same places again and again for items and given the fact it is sometimes difficult to find some items. Thanks!
Robin Angaiak wrote: “Does it matter what kind of SPST switch we use? Does it need to be 120v or less?”
The switch rating you have should be fine – we’re using only 3 volts, so you’ll be just fine. The rating is to be sure you don’t melt the switch by putting too much current (or voltage) through it.
We’re working on getting you shopping lists that are 1-2 months out… those will be posted soon. And we’ll get you a PRINT button as well. Thanks for the great feedback!
I would love the shopping list to be a pdf file like you do on the teleconferences. Thanks!
Michelle
Yes – the shopping lists are in PDF format – hang on another day or two and they will be up for you.
Thank you and congratulations. I am honored to have you filed here under Stars and Bars. Kudos. You are the star attraction here in my house today. You have helped me raise the bar a little higher!
My oldest child is strictly by-the-book literal due to his Aspergers Syndrome. He will be fourteen next month and is currently absorbing every thing there is to learn about the cosmos. . outer rings and other things. . .and his younger brother lives somewhere between the two. We call this place “Rickyland,” a nickname that stuck after years of trying to get his attention. On some days I wonder if he hears anything I say. I can read to him but he thinks up new endings and beats me there every time with a better “idea.” I always catch myself and say “I think you are right!”
Needless to say, and the teachers of oddlings will agree, boys like mine find their niche in this life and be honored and revered by their peers (even if they end up eating lunch alone). The typical classroom setting was no place for either of them to thrive. I can give you a list of reasons but I will spare you of that for now. One of my biggest challenges has been to come up with a good K-12 science plan. I have spent the better part of two years figuring out a cumulative way to address all of our needs that would carry us straight through high school.
So, here I humbly stand, thanking God for the internet once again. ( And as a graduate of The Old School, which I fought back like a lion, I confess is a big deal.) My oldest went straight to Lesson 7 and my other can’t wait to make his hovercraft cub scout meeting. (!) There was a sprinkle of twinkle in his eyes as he recited back to me the entire list of needed items. It’s very nice to know that what needs to stick does so.
So, today on my 50th birthday, I dub you queen of all things science because someone needs to be! And that is that.
Now that the bells have tolled, let there be great slumbering sounds among the people as they all live happily-ever-after. Well, sort of. . .