Halloween hat craft

This is a simple project, inexpensive and suitable for all ages

What we need:

• 2 sheets of black cardboard
• sheet of felt (green, orange, purple, or red), you can use other materials like fake cobwebs, paper gloss, or anything your imagination wants,
• white glue,
• scissors,
• tape,
• ruler
• compass. 

How to:

1. Fold the cardboard in a cone shape, this cone has to be so tight as your head;
2. Fix the cone with tape;
3. Cut the free ends in the bottom of the cone with the scissors, this free end is the triangle that is formed on the base of the cone when you fold the paper, cut it, so that the base becomes a circle;
4. With the compass, draw a circle on the second card sheet with less 1in of radius then the opening of the hat, use a ruler to measure the diameter of the opening (the diameter is the distance between 2 points in the circle passing in the center of it). Now, divide this value by 2, you will get the radius;
5. Draw a second circle, concentric with the first but with more 2 to 3 in in radius then the first one, concentric circles have the same center;
6. Cut out the larger circle;
7. Cut out the inside of the smaller circle, This is where your head goes;
8. Place the cone centered on top of the circle;
9. Apply a layer of glue in this junction;
10. Let it dry;
11. Turn the hat up side down;
12. The small circle is slightly smaller than the opening of the hat, about 2in remember?, with small scissors make small cuts on this cardboard flap, at the end you must be able to flap it inside;
13. Apply glue inside the cone;
14. Bend the cardboard in;
15. Press;
16. Let it dry;
17. Cut some felt strips;
18. Wrap and glue them around the hat;
19. Use stencil-like images to decorate your hat.

Halloween colors:

Black, orange, purple, red and green.

You can use theses 5 stencils to decorate your hats:

Ghost

Bat:

Spider:

Pumpkin

 

Witch

Et Voila!
Bu!

Enjoy!

Spiders with plastic bottles

This is a great and easy idea from decor e culinaria" blog. his project will keep your restless occupied for a few hours and will save you some money when the time to decorate Halloween comes. In addition is a project that recycles and reuses old plastic bottles.

What we need:

• plastic bottles, any size will do,
• craft knife,
• scissors,
• thin rope or twine,
• electric driller, small,
• black acrylic paint,
• small brush,
• fishing line,
• sewing needle,
• old newspaper, to protect the surface.

How to:
(this project requires adult supervision!)

Drill 2 small holes near the bottle opening;

Drill a 3th hole in the bottom;

With the craft knife cut the bottle in 2 parts, like the image- one will look like a funnel, the other like a cup;

Paint the 2 parts with the black paint;

Let it dry;

Paint the interior;

Let it dry;

Use the scissors to slice the cylindric half, like image 7, this will do a sider with more then 8 legs... it's a Halloween mutant;

Bend the plastic slices in two points, one near the spider body, and the other like a knee (halfway the end of the leg).

Follow the image 9 and 10 to cut and bend the other half of the bottle;

Remember the drilling job you did at steps 1 and 2? Use the holes, the fishing wire, and the needle- if you need it- to hang the spiders on the celling;

 

Et Voilá!
Everyone will love this black and huge spiders!

Enjoy!

Emulsion, oil/ water coloring droplets

Cleaning the fryer back home is not exactly easy. Who usually does this knows that is a messy, sticky and dirty work. To minimize this greasy effect we usually fill the fryer with boiling water and add detergent on a very generous amount. In fact I usually pre wash all the dishes before putting them in the machine. Why? Because it allows the fat to dissolve in the water and not inside the machine or in my hands.

Why?
Because the detergent is an emulsifier, and as such promotes the formation of emulsions.
An emulsion is a system consisting of two immiscible liquid phases (oil and water). We may have emulsions of oil in water (O / W: external aqueous phase) and water in oil (W / O: oily external phase).
The emulsion stability is ensured with use of emulsifying agents such as detergent, surface-active substances generally.

We will need:

• 3 transparent cups, glass or plastic,
• water, enough to fill two cups,
• cooking oil,
• food coloring,
• pencils.

How to:

1. Fill one of the containers with water (2/3) and the other with the same amount of cooking oil;
2. Add 3-5 drops of food coloring to each, leave some space between the drops so that they do not touch each other;
3. What happens?
4. Fill the third container with water up to 2/3, add some oil, enough to form a layer on top of the water.
5. Add the food coloring the same way as in the previous point. Try to predict what will happen;
6. What happens?
7. With the sharp pencil touch a droplet of colorant of the third cup;

What happens?
When the food coloring is added to water, it blends completely with it. When you add the same food coloring to the oil, a small sphere is formed on oil surface.

Why?
Water molecules are polar, in other words they have a small positive charge at one end and a small negative charge at the other, for this reason they remain together, by forming hydrogen bridges. Unlike water molecules, the oil molecules are non-polar - have no charge-, for this reason, the molecules of oil also tend to stick together.

When we "force" an oil to mix with a water based solution (the food coloring) those form an emulsion.
A emulsifier it's a molecule with to different ends, one that loves water (hydrophilic) and a second that hates water (hydrophobic). Imagine a wood stick with two ends, one of them "sinks" in the oil- the hydrophobic end- the other in the water- hydrophilic end. This phenomena is responsible for the formation of small oil droplets -spheres- in the water. This is a stable structure and it's what we call emulsion, many things around us at home are emulsions like mayonnaise and face creams, for example.
If you try to mix the jar 3 emulsion you will verify that after a while the oil will came back to the top..

When you use food coloring (FC), what happens is that the FC droplets drag a small amount of oil with them as a "coat", that's why the FC stop in the oil. the oil acts as a life saver coat, preventing the droplets to drawn. When you punch the droplets with the sharp pencil, the "oil coat" is broken and the FC- a water based solution- blends, almost immediately, with the water bellow the oil. 

Go further
If you want to go further change the variables, one at time and take notes.

• Use different kitchen oil types;
• Use vinegar or any other kitchen liquid instead of FC.

Et voilá!
Now you can avoid your daily bath: "Mom I'm hydrophobic!"

Enjoy!

The air takes space- water in the jar

This is a very simple demonstration that proves the air takes space


We will need:

• 2 jars,
• funnel,demonstração, experiência de física, pressão, propriedades do ar, água,
• water,
• modeling clay, a lot,
• coloring, food coloring is the best,
• pencil, or a pen, a wood stick, something good to punch the clay ...

How to:

1. Fill half of the jar with water;
2. Add a few food coloring to the water, 3 or 4 drops;
3. Place the funnel in the jar;
4. Seal the jar area around the funnel with the modeling clay, the air can't go in or out through the jar/funnel contact zone;
5. Now fill the funnel with some more water.

What happens?
A small quantity of water rolls through the funnel into the flask, but in a few seconds stops, despite the funnel is full of water.

Why?
There is no more space in the jar! The jar is half full of water and half full of air, we must to take the air out in order to get the water get in.

Use the pencil to open a hole in the clay.

What happens?
The water immediately falls into the jar.

Why?
The water "falls" and pushes the air out the jar, now the air can get out through the hole.


Et voilá!
Easy uh?

Enjoy!

Growing crystals at home

What is a crystal?
Crystals are regular structures formed by a regular repeating pattern of atoms or molecules.

These structures grow by a process called nucleation. During nucleation, the atoms or molecules of what we want to transform in a crystal (solute) are dissolved in a solvent. The particles of the solute will tend to cluster together, forming subunits of atoms or molecules. These larger particles will also group with each other and eventually become large enough to "pop out" the solution (crystallize).

Other solute molecules will continue to adhere to the surface of the crystal, causing it to grow until equilibrium is achieved between the solute molecules in the crystal and the solution.

Growing crystals
Three factors that can influence the growth of "home" crystals:

• A good/poor solution saturation- The first stage of home crystal growth is a saturated solute. In a saturated solution the probability of molecules colliding with each other in order to form a core for initiating nucleation is greatly increased.

• Surface type-A rough surface tends to be more attractive for nucleation. It is more likely that a crystal is formed on a piece of rough rope than the in the smooth walls of a glass.

• The presence of deposits in the bottom-This occurs when the solution is not scrambled or means that too much solute was added to saturate the solution. The presence of these deposits create areas for optimum crystal growth however prevents crystal formation in the "target."

Lets see how to grow sugar crystals, these crystals can be sucked and eaten like a lollipop. This demonstration may take up to 3 weeks.


We will need:

• 3 cups of sugar, we have to adjust this quantity, we want to saturated at 100% but no precipitate,
• cup of water, to boil,
• food coloring,
• small jar,
• small bowl,
• wood stick, or rope,
• kitchen paper or paper filter.

How to:

1. Boil the water, careful with burns!;
2. In the bowl, mix the boiling water with the sugar;
3. Stir the water until all the sugar is dissolved;
4. If you want to give sugar some color, now it's the time, add the food coloring;
5. Place this solution in the jar, attention! wash the jar really well to avoid nucleation in it's walls;
6. Avoid any amount of sugar precipitate in the jar- any not dissolved sugar-, this sugar will be a good nucleation "start point";
7. Suspend the stick or rope in the solution, do not wash those, we want this to be a suitable "start up" spot for nucleation;
8. Chose a nice and quiet spot to place your jar for at least 3 weeks;
9. Wait until the solution cool and cover it with a paper filter. 

What happens?  
After cooling the solution will use nucleation spots to form crystals.

NOTE: You must check the jar on daily basis, if you see any nucleation in jar walls, change the jar;

Wait about 3 weeks for excellent results.

Go further:

• Follow the growing crystals with a graph;
• Use salt and compare the growing velocity with the sugar;
• Use 3 jars, in the first one use boiling water, in the second tepid water, and in the last one repeat the essay with cold water;
• Try to dissolve the sugar/salt/other while the water is boiling;
• I am sure you can remember other ways to change this demonstration into a experiment...

 Source: about.com; squidoo.com; buzzle.com
Et Voilá!
Science you can eat!  

Enjoy!

Princess Rashid- Art with science

I found Princess Simpson Rashid while I was googling in Internet about the Periodic Table of chemical elements, her paintings just popped up when I asked google to see "images".  My first thought was "wooo this is soberb, I have to post this". I found it so amazing that, for the first time in "Mentes Irrequietas/ Restless Minds Boosters" blog history, I felt I should write the artist before I post it, and so I did it, Princess Simpson Rashid answered me next day giving Restless Minds permission to post her work, thats why for the first time- of many more, I hope- the image has the "used with permission" statement.

Princess Simpson Rashid is a passionate with science. She is a Bachelor in Physics- Georgia State University-, and she studied printmaking and painting at the Escuela de Artes Plastica in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Science-Inspired Abstraction, Modern Sport-Fencing, and Expresssionistic Landscapes are the main themes she turns to in her work. Today we are going to see only a small part of her work, the Science-Inspired Abstraction.
If you like the images you are going to see next, I strongly advise you to check Rashid website, her work is "super restless" and full of color and good energy.
At this moment Rashid lives in Tampa, Florida, USA, and in her own words:

"My current body of work explores the relationship between abstract art and math, color and music, composition and perception. I use line and color to convey movement. My painting technique often involves dripping and pouring paint until I’m satisfied with the composition. My artistic goal is to capture the individual energy and essence of the subject matter by whatever means available to me. Color, texture, design and energy are the components that make up all of my work.." in http://www.foglefineart.com/artists/profile/rashid-princess/

In this paintings Princess Simpson Rashid is a true art scientist, or "sciencartist" if you want, she uses the elements of Periodic Table, the x's and y's from math and even Pi constant from geometry (the famous 3,14). Super Restless uh?

©Princess Simpson Rashid, "Periodic Table-2",  Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 60 inches. www.princessrashid.com,  Used with permission.

©Princess Simpson Rashid, "Periodic Circles 2",  Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 36 inches. www.princessrashid.com,  Used with permission.

©Princess Simpson Rashid, "Composition B",  Acrylic on Canvas,48 x 24 inches. www.princessrashid.com,  Used with permission.

©Princess Simpson Rashid, "Composition A",  Acrylic on Canvas,48 x 24 inches. www.princessrashid.com,  Used with permission.

©Princess Simpson Rashid, "Periodic Circles 1",  Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 36 inches. www.princessrashid.com,  Used with permission.

©Princess Simpson Rashid, "Pi-1",  Acrylic on Panel, 24 x 24 inches. www.princessrashid.com,  Used with permission.

For more informations please consult Rashid website, and her blog.

Sources: 
http://www.foglefineart.com 
http://princessrashid.com

Et voilá!
Science and art holding hands!

Enjoy!

Nature finds a way- light labyrinth

It's amazing how the sentence "Nature finds a way" is incredibly correct, everyone knows at least one story about animals saving people or about animals doing thousands of  km despite the unimaginable difficulties- like monarch butterflies or salmon going up the river.

Nature follows a small set of rules that allow ecosystems to function in equilibrium theoretically "ad eternum" if they are not disturbed by the "human hand".

Today I bring you a demonstration of how nature always finds a way to overcome the difficulties.
The test is very simple allows direct observation of the struggle for life.

We will need:

• potato;
• small plastic container/pot, like a cup,
• soil,
• shoe box,
• wooden blocks, legos®, or other small obstacles.

How to:

1. Allow the potatoes a few weeks at room temperature, so they can germinate, this procedure should be done in dry conditions, with light and warm. This procedure can take up to 6 weeks; 
2. Take the potatoes and place them in the container with the "little eyes" facing upwards;
3. Cover the potatoes with moist soil;
4. In the narrow side of the box make a round hole the size of a small coin;
5. Put the pot inside the box at the opposite end to the hole that opened in the box;
6. build small walls and obstacles using the legos®;
7. Place these obstacles inside the box, make sure that there is at least one free path to the hole, don't close the hole;
8. Close and seal the box, make sure no light can get in except from the hole;
9. Place the box somewhere with direct light with the hole facing the light source;
10. Wait 3 or 4 days and observe.

What happens?
After a while the potato will grow in light direction, sprouts will naturally go around obstacles in light direction

Why?Because the plant needs light to produce food, and thus growth will always be towards the light.
 
Go further: 
Repeat this with other plants.
"Do all plants grow in the same way?" 
you can use dry beans, onion.
 
Et Voilá!
Nature finds a way!

Enjoy!

Recycled lanterns, DIY project

For Christmas, Halloween or any acasion, handmade lanters with cans! Its a great way o reuse and recycling metal can's thats would end in trash can..
I found this super restless idea here and i think the final result is great. 
this project needs adult supervision and I fond it to be a bit more difficult o execute then it appear.


What we need:

• cans, sausage cans, mushrooms, peas ... in short, those who we often have around in the kitchen,
• hammer, careful with your fingers,
• nail, it will look better if you use a thin nail,
• water, enough to fill up the cans,
• dishcloth,
• freezer, ya the one in refrigerator,
• candles, as many as the cans;
• indelible marker.

How to:

1. Fill up the cans with water;
2. Place then in the freezer;
3. Wait about 24 hours;
4. With the indelible marker draw the form you want to illuminate in the can, you can draw it in a piece of paper and secure it with tape to the can;
5. Cover a table with a cloth, make sure the table is resistant;
6. With the nail and the hammer punch some holes along the drawing lines, those must be equally spaced;
7. Place the can in the sink, wait until you can remove the ice block;
8. Dry the can; 
9. Now you can paint it like they did here; 
10. Place the candle inside.

Et voilá!
Light effects!

Enjoy!

Paper clip hearts, so lovely, so simple

Mother's day is almost here and today we will see how to bend a paper clip in a heart shape.
I saw it here for the first time and it was love at first sight.

You can bend your hearts using any size or paper clip color.

Et voilá!
Thank you Tais for this wonderful restless idea. Very simple and very restless

Enjoy!

1+1 sometimes is not 2

This is one of the greatest math problems, side by side with the one that states that 0 is different than 0. But this demonstration is not about math, is about Archimedes' Principle.

Archimedes' Principle states:
" a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the displaced fluid"

In other words, when we place a body in a fluid, like water, the volume of the object equals the volume of displaced water.

The simplest example is a bath. If we fill the tub with water up to the top and we lay down inside it, the water will exit, and your bathroom will be a very wet place similar to a lake. The amount of water that came out equals your body volume. You can, with some time and work, calibrate the tub to find out your body volume, 1L=1dm3.
In this example 1+1=2, but sometimes 1+1= "not sure" 

What we need :

• glass container,
• tape, one you can write on
• pen,
• sugar,
• glass container with a scale,
• paper towel,
• straw,
• spoon,
• hot water.

How to:

1. Clean the container;
2. Apply a vertical strip of tape in the container;
3. Fill the scaled container with hot water (container A);
4. Pour the water in the other container (container B); 
5. Use the pen on the tape to mark the water level in container B;
6. Fill the container A again and add the water to the container B
7. Use the pen again and mark the water level in container B;
8. Reject the water;
9. With the paper towel clean and dry container B;
10. Repeat step 3, 4 and 5;
11. Now fill up the container A with sugar;
12. Add the sugar to container B;
13. Use the spoon to mix the solution;
14. Use the pen to mark the level;

What happens?
1 volume of hot water + 1 volume of sugar it's different from 2 volumes of hot water.

Why?
Water molecules are organized like a net. This net is stable and cohesive due to hydrogen bridges. When this net is formed some hydrogen atoms link to neighbor water molecules by a "false" bond with the oxygen, those are called hydrogen bridges. When this happens some "blank spaces" are left between the molecules- in the net. This spaces are as big as the molecules are excited, thats why we used hot water- more empty space makes dissolution more efficient.

When we add the sugar the sugar molecules occupy the empty spaces between water molecules, thats why:

1 sugar unit+ 1 water unit doesn't equal 2 water units

This is a demonstration, but you can make it an experiment:
Go further:
Try with 1 unit of water+ 1 unit of sugar. Does that equals 2 units of sugar?
Try with cold and ice water, what happens?

Et Voilá!
Now you can teach some stuff to your math teacher

Enjoy!

Why eat seasonal fruit

Eating strawberries or cherries in December is a small but expensive luxury brought to us by development. Nothing is better for the soul then smell the summer through the out of season fruit, it's like a beach walk in a hot day.
But nature is always right, and we don't have cherries in December for a reason. 
We can eat cherries all year but there is a reason that cherries grow on spring/summer and not in December. Past generation lived in tune with season, knew all the natural cycles and ate what the land gave them, was unthinkable eating persimmons in August or figs in March. Many things were conserved in several ways, primarily by cold, to be available all year, but these were limited resources.

Today we have at our disposal all we want, when we want, like we want. I even think that satisfying pregnant women wishes with never ending trips is now a myth, all we need to do is going to the market.

But eating season fruit and vegetables bring advantages to the health, the planet and to economy.
Some of the products we eat are brought from the other side of the world, some of them are season products there but they are out of season here. As a result they are picked green so they can ripe during the trip. This fact makes the fruit and vegetables poor in nutrients, the formation of sugar is linked to the sun exposure, and the vitamins are very degradable in this conditions.  

Scientists from Consumers Association of Austria confirmed that vegetables picked and frozen at the right season are richer in nutrients than the ones that were transported off-season! in http://bodyecology.com/articles/benefits_in_season.php

Of course we can not be extremists, not everyone has the opportunity to eat fruit "directly from the tree" or pick carrots "directly from the soil," it is clear that without the greenhouses we could not produce food for all inhabitants of the planet (even with them is hard). 
Another important concept is food manipulation, this is just one more tool we can use to feed people, perhaps without it we would never be able to feed half of the people we are feeding now, in most of the cases most of us confuse manipulation with selection, both are valid, both are important, and both bring food to your table.
Some parts of the process we can't control, but we can try to assume control on the last bit of the process: What to buy, when to buy, and how to buy. 

Eat only 2 to 3 fruit pieces a day, fruit is rich in fructose, fructose is sugar, more then 3 pieces will mean you are ingesting to many sugar. Eating seasonal fruit is more satisfying, the fruit is sweeter, fresh and the body asks for it. It's no accident that nature produces cherries on spring and persimmons on fall, there's always a reason, for example a evolutionary reason related with the nutritional necessities of the all animals during the different seasons.


The fruits/vegetables season table is different for each globe zone, the one here is for the US territory, other tables can be found all over the internet:

Making children eat fruit and not cake as a snack, even if the fruit is out of season looks like a good habit and strategy, with more benefits then losses.

Et voilá!
Eat your vegetables... on season! its cheaper and tasteful!

Enjoy!

Origami tsuru DIY

The art of folding paper is called Origami.
Origami (etymological meaning: fold(ori) and paper(Kami)), is the art of folding paper without using instruments like scissors or glue. It´s possible to fold paper to form figures, some more complex then others, some using a single sheet some using more.

Origami was born in Japan, in middle age. This art was very formal, and was related with religious ceremonies.

The true is everyone knows how to do origami, the simple paper hat or the famous paper boat, are simple origami folding. Origami is a wonderful art that captivates everyone from 8 to 80.
 
In Japan every folded paper figure has a different and symbolic meaning. As an example:

• Frog: symbolizes love and fertility;  
• Turtle: symbolizes longevity; 
• Tsuru (the bird that often symbolizes origami art), also known as grou or stork, symbolizes good luck, happiness and health.

About tsuru
Tsurus are big and beautiful birds, they are full of color and it's a sacred bird in Japan.

An hermit is a person who lives alone without any luxury. The story says that nn Japan some of this hermits lived in mountains with this birds as companions. It's said this hermits had extra human powers- they here capable to stop aging. For this reason the Tsuru is known as the "longevity bird".

Some believe that if you fold 1000 tsurus and at the same time wish something that wish will become true, other believe if you are ill you will get better as fast as the number of tsurus you fold.

Use the schema to fold your first tsuru, it's not hard just requires some skill.

Or try the movie:

Origami is recognized as an educational resource for over 100 years. The first square 15cm papers begun to appear in the third decade of the century XX (paper used nowadays to make origami).

Today, origami has been shown to be an important aid in teaching basic geometry and develop motor skills and individual creativity.

Resources: Núcleo de tecnologia educacional de Jaraguá do Sul; Mundo Nipo; Baú do Professor

Et voilá!

Keep going, 999 to go!

Enjoy!

Homemade glue

This is a non toxic, easy and inexpensive way to do child craft glue.

This needs adult supervision, remember that the kitchen can be a dangerous place to play in.

What we need:

• 1/2 cup hot water,
• 1 tablespoon vinegar,
• 2 tablespoons of milk powder ,
• 1/2 tablespoon of  baking soda,
• water,
• 1 coffee filter, 
• 1 funnel,
• a plastic/ glass containner,
• 1 tablespoon,
• plate.

How to:

1. Mix the hot water and the powder milk until dissolves;
2. Add the vinegar, the milk will form 2 distinct parts, the serum and the curds;
3. Keep mixing this mixture until curds and serum are well separated;
4. Place the filter in the funnel;
5. Place the funnel in the container;
6. Filter the previous mix;
7. If necessary raise a little bit the funnel so the air can flow, remember that air takes up space;
8. When the funnel is full "squeeze" the filter a bit, carefully;
9. Discard the serum;
10. In a small plate, using the spoon, break the serum layer into small pieces;
11. Add one hot water teaspoon and about 1/4 teaspoon baking soda;
12. Mix it all well until the adhesive becomes soft and more fluid;
13. If the mixture is too thick add a little more water, if it has lumps add more baking soda.
14. When not in use the adhesive covering it with transparent paper. 

With time the glue becomes more transparent and liquid. Trash the glue when it starts to smell slightly spoiled milk.

Note:
If the milk does not curdle try:

• add more vinegar;
• heat the mixture;
• use more hot water.

Et voilá!
you can almos eat it

Enjoy!