PBN - Solar Science Lab: Part Two - The Experiments

Discovery Channel Store's Solar Science Lab comes with a 42-page Activity Guide that includes directions for a possible 31 different experiments/activities from How Much Heat Do You Get from the Sun In Your Room (c'mon, guys...a little help here...do you know how many times a day I have to explain to my daughters that they actually aren't the center of the universe, and now you go and tell them that there is a sun in their room...*sigh*) to How Do Solar Cells Work?

The introductory materials list all the equipment provided in the kit, along with some Very Important! alerts regarding those experiments that might warrant a bit more adult supervision than me yelling "Just where do you think you're going with that hair spray and a pack of matches!" from my comfy computer chair.

There is also a helpful reminder written in cheery red print to Avoid looking directly at the sun or at a concentrated image of the sun, as this can damage your eyes.

Also in the Activity Guide are a scant three paragraphs summarizing Some Facts About Solar Energy (it's a great source of energy, it's non-polluting, our earth receives it in bucketfuls) and although there is a mention of the sun as an important energy resource especially in light of the fact (no pun intended) that oil, gas, and coal are not going to around forever, any hint of warning is pithy and the tone optimistic, as in "We can do it, kids! We can save the world as we know it! Cool beans!"

And that's as it should be. We're here to have fun and learn stuff, right? It's a generally held truth that kids just don't learn when they are anxious or afraid, I don't care what Sister Charlotte and her Knuckle-whacking Ruler of Christian Morality will tell you, so a paragraph on the importance of renewable energy written in the style of, say, James Howard Kunstler or, worse yet, written from notes taken by this guy just would suck the joy out of learning about the power of our good friend, Mr. Sun. (Seriously...don't read that second link unless you're a fan of Stephen King novels and don't normally need a whiskey highball to get to sleep at night.)

But I digress....

So what activities did we try and how did they go?

Well, first up, we tried Setting Stuff On Fire with the Magnifying Glass . Okay, that's not the official title of the activity according to the book, but it's a special sort childhood moment when you discover for the first time that you can set fire to stuff with just a piece of glass, and this is quickly what the Solar Science Lab sanctioned activity devolved into: burning stuff.

A candle, a piece of paper, some dried grass, a sock (sans foot), a soccer ball....

I waver between a feeling of acute apprehension at the destructive power this solar knowledge may unleash in my six-year-old, and at the same time I feel oddly and stoically serene, perhaps with my own knowledge that if my kids ever got lost in the cold woods, they could now, at least, possibly, get a fire going with a shard of broken bottle and some sort of tinder. Their socks, for instance.

Anyway, this line of scientific inquiry ("What ELSE can we burn with our awesome solar power!") continued for some time and sort of sidetracked any enthusiasm over the other experiments. As a result, my recommendation would be to save this one for last. Other activities such as Assembling the Solar Cell Support and even Solar Energy Powers an Electric Motor definitely didn't have the same "wow" factor.

Although, I thought that the Solar Powered Electric Motor was cool.

Or maybe, having read my share of Jim Kunstler and enough Peak Oil doomsday scenarios - most of which turn the suburbs into a set piece from Mad Max - my watching that little propeller turn on the tiny solar-powered electric motor simply eased my own anxieties and elevated my own false hope that just around the corner, any day now, Toyota would be unveiling the Helios minivan, complete with solar PV array roof and stormy day wind-to-wheel conversion via a tiny windmill you could hang off the side view mirror.

Anyway....

Most of the experiments and activities seem like they could be conducted by my six-year-old and my nine-year-old with little actual overseeing on my part (Score! Where's my soduko book?), the activities needing the most grown-up fretting and fussing being Weather in a Casserole Dish which requires using the stovetop or an electric hot plate (wha?) and again, any activity that involves using the magnifying glass to focus the rays of the giant nuclear furnace in the sky onto combustibles and/or your sister's head.

All in all, the Solar Science Lab was a hit.

Mom's Rating: 4 Bleenies out of 5
Kid's Rating: 4 Bleenies out of 5