Send us your questions

Some of our visitors have sent emails with interesting questions, we decided to start having a space to answer them. In this space the blog "Restless Minds" will answer all questions you send us
Send us your question for the email: Restless Minds.

Science progress affects our daily life and "to know" means you are going to chose right, because it allows you to form your own opinion on scientific everyday issues. On the other hand, having an elegant and harmonious vision of the world where we live in leads to a feeling of intellectual satisfaction.
We believe this kind of scientific day to day knowledge should be encouraged from an early age, and that's why this project was born: science, culture, knowledge, crafts for your restless mind.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Instant facts- Just add water 60

There are five products that come from the hive: Honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly.
in http://www.ontariobee.com

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Old socks can for your pencils craft DIY

Today we are going o see how to reuse and recycle old socks and old glass jars, pots or cans; it’s easy and creates a great effect.

This idea is from our restless mind Maria João, thank you

What we need:
  • old socks,
  • old glass jars, plastic cups, or metal cans,
  • super glue,
  • scissors.
How to:
  1. Cut the socks by the heel, about 1 inch above;
  2. Place the can/jar/cup inside the top half of the sock;
  3. Apply the glue on the top of the can/jar/cup;
  4. Press the sock against the glue;
  5. Use it to place your pencils, pens, marbles, pins...
Et voilá!
Simple things are the most beautiful!
Enjoy!

Instant facts- Just add water 59

Honey has natural preservatives and bacteria can't grow in it.
in http://www.ontariobee.com/

Monday, March 12, 2012

Overcome the force of gravity


When we add salt to water we increase its density, which will allow some objects to float.

What we need:
  • 6 glass jars,
  • different objects, like beans, grains, paper clips, eggs, etc.. we used dry beans, dry grain and an olive;
  • salt,
  • dessert spoon,
  • water,
  • pen,
  • labels,
  • your notepad.
How to:
  1. Clean the jars;
  2. Label them with letters or numbers;
  3. Select the objects you want o test,
  4. Write on your notepad which letter goes with each object, one of the jars will be the control, for example A- control; B- olive; C- bean....;
  5. Fill the jars with the same quantity of water, we used 250ml;
  6. Verify if any of your objects floats;
  7. Write down your results;
  8. Take the objects from the jar;
  9. Add 1 dessert spoon of salt to the B jar, 2 to the C, 3 to the D... don't add any salt to the first jar (control);
  10. Mix it well until the salt is all diluted, if you are using jars with lid is easier to close the jar and shake;
  11. Test all the objects, one by one, jar by jar;
  12. Write down your results.
At the end you will have precise notes about the number of spoons you need to add to water in order to float  a certain object.

These were our results:

A- 0 salt
B- 1 salt
C- 2 salt
D- 3 salt- floats: grain
E- 4 salt- floats: red bean; black bean
F- 5 salt- floats: white bean; olive

Attention: you may get different results; those depend on the beans/grain/olive trademark, size and water content.

It's possible to find on internet and some books some references to some restless minds that made heavier objects to float, like marbles, or stones, using larger amounts of salt. We didn't test those objects, in theory, yes it's possible to make it happen, but the amount of salt in the water will be hugely high.
Accept this challenge and try to float denser objects.

What happens?

As you salt the water, this will become denser, in other words, heavier. This density is closely linked to the force that water exerts on the items, if this force is higher then the force that pushes objects down (gravity) the objects are boost up and float.
With this experiment you can also observe water saturation, write down the number of salt spoons you need to saturate the water.

It is possible to do some variations to this essay:
  • Use only one kind of bean but with different water levels (1 dry, hydrated but raw and 1 cooked);
  • Use only one kind of bean with different water levels, from 3 different trademarks (dry, hydrated, cooked from trademark A, dry, hydrated, cooked from trademark B; dry, hydrated, cooked from trademark C);
  • Use green olives or black, with pit, without pit...
Write down your results.

Et voilá!
Can you make it work with the marble?

Enjoy!

Instant facts- Just add water 58

The oceans occupy nearly 71% of our planet's surface.
in http://www.savethesea.org/STS%20ocean_facts.htm

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Turtle recycled can to your pencils, great father's day idea

This is an idea o reduce and recycle the metal can's. With a bi of imagination we can use them to keep pens, pencils, paper clips, marbles... or you can offer it to your dad in father's day.

What we need:
  • empty can,
  • double tape or super glue,
  • scissors,
  • pliers,
  • pen,
  • charcoal pencil,
  • tracing paper,
  • craft knife, with a new blade,
  • felts, in your favorite colors.
How to:
  1. Clean the can, remove all the glue and paper;
  2. With the pliers fold the  sharp edges inwards, this is a easy procedure that can avoid accidents;
  3. Choose your base color, the one that will cover all the can;
  4. Cut out a felt rectangle, a 1/2 inch larger then the felt you will need to cover all the can, the easiest way to do his is to roll the can on the felt, and mark the spot where you have to cut;
  5. Trace the design on your tracing paper, use the pencil, in this tutorial the design is a turtle;
  6. Chose the colors, we are going to use 2 different shades of green;
  7. Trace the felts, like we did here;
  8. We are going to give depth to the turtle, trace the body, the shell and the spots, like in the picture;
  9. Cut out the pieces, note: cut all the pieces the same way, inside the line, outside the line or in the line, otherwise the puzzle will not fit;
  10. Assemble the turtle with super glue or double tape;
  11. Glue the assembled turtle on the rectangular felt you cut out on the step 4, glue it 1 inch above the base;
  12. Apply the glue /double tape on the can, in all area;
  13. Quilt the can with the base felt;
  14. Cut out the excess with the craft knife;
  15. Use it well :)

Attention:
Ask an adult to help you with the craft knife and the scissors! Be smart! Avoid accidents!

Et voilá!
It looks nice!

Enjoy!

Felt door sign DIY

Do you know those Hotel signs? Today we will learn how to do a felt sign to hang in your bedroom door. This is a great idea and you can recycle at the same time.

What we need:
  • felts of different colors, depending on the design,
  • scissors,
  • tracing paper,
  • charcoal pencil;
  • pen,
  • glue, or double side tape,
  • cereal box,
  • ruler,
  • roll of scotch tape.
How to:
  1. Choose your design;
  2. Trace it with the tracing paper, don't draw the background;
  3. Open the cereal box with the scissors;
  4. With the tape roll draw 2 circles, one interior and another one exterior;
  5. Use the ruler to draw a rectangle exactly with the scotch roll width, as in the picture;
  6. Cut the sign;
  7. With the charcoal pencil trace the draw to the cardboard;
  8. Use your imagination and add the background, we used horizontal strips;
  9. Trace the background elements to the tracing paper; ignore any other elements, like the pillow.
  10. Trace the bed sheet fold and the blanket strips;
  11. Choose the colors for those elements;
  12. Trace the felt, use felt back side;
  13. Cut them out;
  14. Apply the double side tape to glue the background elements, like the image;
  15. Do a new tracing for the pillow, chose the color, trace it, cut it out, and apply it in place;
  16. Repeat it all over again for the baby, baby elements are: face, hair, hands and body;
  17. With the pen draw the face elements, like eyes, mouth, nose, freckles....

NOTE: You can choose other designs; the important thing is to be able to separate the design into layers. First the background, second the middle elements, like the pillow, and finally the most important element, in this case, the baby. Of course you can do all the design, and make the pieces fit like a puzzle, but this will take a lot of time, precision and patience, and the design will not show depth.

Et voilá!
Write DO NOT DISTURB on it!

Enjoy!
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