Monday, February 2, 2015

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Hearts on Fire Valentines Science Experiment

I have a little boy who loves fire and explosions, so this Hearts on Fire Valentines Science Experiment was his favorite activity during the last week!  He's even asked to do this science project again...several times!



This super-engaging science project lets your children predict, observe, test, analyze, and (optionally) quantify data!  And it combines all these science, math, and technology skills with fire and Valentines!  How could it get any better?!!

Simple Supplies:

* hearts cut from a variety of paper (We used crepe paper, construction paper, computer paper, and tissue paper)

* candle and lighter

* safe place to burn the hearts

* (optional) stop watch


Easy Procedure:

1- Show your kiddos the different kinds of hearts and let them touch them.  





2- Ask your children which type of heart they think will take the longest to burn up.  Why do they think that?  Everyone here voted for the construction paper because it was the thickest!




3- Carefully light one heart on fire!  Observe how long it takes to burn.  Younger children may count the seconds while it burns.  Older children may enjoy using a stopwatch to time how long it burns.

Caution: Fire is inherently dangerous.  If you cannot do this experiment safely, try one of our other science activities!  All activities are meant to be done with competent adult supervision!




Our children's hypothesis (that the construction paper would burn the longest) turned out right!  They were also happy to see that the tissue paper burned the fastest (as they expected)!  We were all a little surprised to see that the crepe paper did not actually burn, but sort of melted away. The computer paper also burned nicely, but not for as long as the construction paper.

If your children time the experiment with a stopwatch, you could help them graph or plot the data so they have a visual representation of their experiment also!

Do you enjoy Valentine's science projects?  Be sure to check out our Love Potions Lab, Exploding Hearts Science Experiment, Fizzy Exploding Hearts, and Crayon Resist Heart Paintings!


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I may share at any of these parties!



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2 comments:

OneMommy said...

What a fun experiment to try! Mine love to watch me light the fire in the fireplace... We will have to talk about what burns faster next time!

Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said...

You could totally add different papers to your fireplace! What a fun place to test the experiment too!