It's crazy when the temperature in Alaska is warmer than
the high forecasted where you live. That happened this week. Monday's wind
chill was -50s. I heard they're calling it a polar vortex. Whatever it is, it has
caused life to grind to a halt here in the Midwest.
On the second day of school cancellations, I decided we
had to do something - get out of the house, even if for just a second or two. So
that's what we did. Three times yesterday we conducted some quick experiments
in the frigid outdoors.
#1: Frozen Bubbles
Did you know that if bubbles are suspended in the air long enough in
very cold temps (it was 8 degrees F. here), they will freeze? Yeah, I know. So
cool, right?
Check out these phenomenal
images on Weather.com of frozen bubbles.
I made our bubble solution with three simple household
ingredients.
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. liquid dishwashing detergent
1/4 c. white corn syrup
The corn syrup makes the bubbles stronger.
At first, we
were disappointed. Then we realized that we needed to keep our bubbles floating
longer in order for them to freeze. We started blowing our bubbles upward and several caught the wind. By the
time they came down and popped on the driveway, instead of disappearing, what
was left looked like a translucent plastic grocery sack. We were amazed!
#2 Frozen Stiff
Shirt
This (and the next activity) were shared by friends
on Facebook. The results are crazy cool.
We wet a shirt and rung out the excess water and took it
outdoors. I asked my son how long he thought it would take to freeze. His
guess? 30 minutes. My guess? 4 minutes.
Six minutes was the right answer! My son was shocked.
#3 Shooting Snow
Squirt Gun
Lots of folks around here are throwing pots full of
boiling water out into the frigid air. Sounds like a weird Midwest thing, doesn't
it? The truth is, the result is so extraordinary, you'll want to see it for
yourself.
Since a pot of boiling water in the hands of an 8-year
old sounded a little too dangerous, I followed a highschool classmate's lead.
My son's eyebrows arched when I made him run to the garage to get his water
gun.
I carefully poured the boiling water into the gun's
reservoir, capped it and handed it to him. He went outside and fired it up,
immediately shooting a cloudy stream of snow into the air.
When I asked him which of these three activities was the
best, this one won out.
All three of our Winter
experiments made being stuck at home a whole lot more fun!
NOTE: Always dress
appropriately to guard against the dangers of frostbite and hypothermia. Heed
warnings and cover exposed skin and limit the duration of time spent outdoors.
Safety first, then fun!
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