Finding the Direction of Sound Materials Required: Seven friends Fourteen pencils A blindfold A large bowl Safety scissors Paper We have five senses to learn about our environment. Our ears are the wonderful organs that enable us to hear sounds. Since our ears are placed, one on either side of the head (instead of both on the same side), our brain can figure out from the signals, as to where a...

Double Shadows Materials Required: Pencil Some sheet to type on A book A ruler Some clay Two flashlights The diameter is generally defined as the measure of a width, from one side to the other. Though the sun is located at a gargantuan distance from the earth, its size is so huge, that it can send a wide path of sunlight, from both sides of its diameter. It even seems to...

Deforming Ovals Materials Required: Proximity to a photocopying machine Some paper Myriad optical illusions are created when figures are drawn on a disk and rotated slowly. Here is how you can try it. Use a photocopying machine to copy the square shown in the illustration, with the three nested ovals. Cut the square out and crease it along both diagonals (dotted lines) to form two “valley” creases (that is creases that...

Converging Light Materials Required: A cardboard box of 60 cm to 90 cm high Two flashlights A clear evening, at dusk Galileo’s discovery of the telescope in 1609 was a huge development in the science of Astronomy. This allowed people to see hitherto unseen things in the sky at night. What we see at night with the naked eye, are not merely shining points of light, burning with different intensities, but...

Changing Colours  Materials Required: Crayons Five paper plates Five sticks A cloudless dark evening Adhesive tape It becomes hard to see, as the sun goes down. We will find out if it becomes more difficult to spot colours, as the sun goes down. Draw two crossed lines on a paper plate, thereby dividing the plate into 4 equal parts.  With a red crayon, colour two opposite sections, leaving the other two...

Distance and Size Materials Required: A full moon evening Some coins A Street with telephone poles A measuring stick With a diameter of 865,000 miles, it is very evident that the sun is very big. The moon on the other hand, with a diameter of only 2,160 miles is rather small. An eclipse is caused when the moon’s path, brings it between the sun and the earth. The sun is blocked...

Bending the Light Materials Required: A small steel ball bearing A strong magnet A flat table Something that causes a change in something else is known as a Force. Gravity is a force which stops us from moving upwards. Larger objects have greater gravity and this is why the Sun’s gravity forces the planets to remain stuck to it. Similarly, the moon too exerts its gravitational pull on the Earth and...

A Mask That Moves Materials Required: A Party mask Paints A lamp or any other source of light Scare the wits out of your friend. Use a Party Mask to create a scary optical illusion. Use crayons, water colours or other hues of paints to colour the lips red, cheeks pink and eyes blue. Darken the eyebrows. Hang the mask on the wall, painted side out. Direct light at it, from...