Science Sleuth

After the pinewood derby, we went to Science Sleuth at the University of Missouri.

I weigh ten pounds on the moon. I weigh 68 pounds on Earth. Gravity is made because of the spinning of the earth. 

This is a skull of a mouse that we found in an owl pellet. An owl pellet is made of hair and bones of animals that the owl eats. The owl coughs up the pellets and you can find pellets in the woods where owls live. 

Now we are at a finger printing station. I am putting my fingers on an ink pad. Then I put it on a paper and my finger showed. Fingerprints are important because everyone's is unique. Then I put my fingerprint on a balloon and then the helper blew it up. We could see the fingerprint very well because it got really big. 

The next station taught me about Bernoulli's Principle. I have a straw in my mouth and I'm blowing on it to make the ball fly. When I blow through the straw, the speed of the air changes the air pressure around the ball, which makes it float. That principle is what helps scientists design airplanes. 

In this station we learned about air pressure. The helper put a can with a little water on a little stove. Then when steam was coming out of the can, he took the can, turned it over, and quickly put it in cold water. Air pressure crunched the can! Then he recycled the cans.

This was the circuit station. We learned that conductors can make electricity work. Metals and humans are examples of conductors. Insulators cannot make electricity. Plastic, rubber, wood, and paper are examples for insulators. Wires are made out of metal inside and plastic on the outside so you won't get electrocuted or shocked. 

The last station was all about animal bones. For example, there were toucans, anteaters, bison, wolves, coyotes, squirrels, and sea otters. 

It was really fun. I learned a lot of science. 

Pinewood Derby Race

These are all the cars from my den. The third one is mine. The first one is Ian's. He got first place for his design. 

Here is the first race with my car. It went well. I won this race!

I was happy because I won the first two races.

I won second place in my den for speed. I got to race the other dens and I get to race in the district pinewood derby races next month.

Here is my certificate for second place for speed. 

This is my dad and I after the race. We were happy because we won second place for speed.

Final steps of making the car

This is me I'm sanding on the car because it has lots of bumps.

This is me painting the car with orange.

I put painters tape on the car on each side and I painted the strip in the middle that didn't have tape. 

After we painted it, we let it dry. Then we went back to it and we pulled off the painter's tape. 

I am putting on an unusual sticker. First you have to get it off the sticker sheet. Second you have to put it on the car. Third you draw on the sticker with a dull pencil. Last you peel off the back and then it sticks. The number is chose was 6 because I'm six years old. 

Day two of pinewood derby

This is me sanding my pinewood derby car. That thing that I am sanding with is called a sanding sponge. I am sanding the side of the pinewood derby car. I am sanding it because it has bumps on it and we do not want bumps on it. 

This is me measuring it after we sanded. We put the lead weight on there. We knew we needed to add three ounces to get close to the five ounce limit. We want to make it as heavy as possible so it can go as fast as possible. 

 

We were going to melt lead to put in the car but it smelled bad. So we stopped doing that and went to Michaels...

And we bought weights. My daddy drilled holes inside the pinewood derby car on the bottom where the driver's seat goes. Then we carved all of holes together to make one rectangle. Next we put weights inside the rectangle and we glued them inside. 

My dad and I puttied the rectangle with wood filler. We did that because we wanted to make sure the weights stay in the car and it will make the car look fancier. Then we wait for it to dry...

Day one of pinewood derby

We were planning out how to make the car. I like fancy cars. If there is more weight in the back the car will go faster. The bump is the driver's seat. 

That is me making the car. I am wearing safety glasses because wood dust will go inside my eyes and that will hurt. 

We are measuring how much the car weighs. It weighed 3 and a half ounces before we started. This is what it looked like. 

This is after our first cuts. Me and daddy worked together to make that. My daddy used a coping saw to cut it. 

We weighed the car to see how much it weighs after the first cuts. It now weighs one and a half ounces. We cut off 2 ounces. It can weigh five ounces for the race. 

I am nailing a practice race track. We are making it to test how fast the car is.