The human body is amazing! Here at Fun Science we love learning about our biology so all of the experiments in this kit will help us to understand some of the different parts of our body. In you kit you should have:
Mucus powder
2 PTC strips
3 pipe cleaners
6 beads
Teeth
You will need:
Scissors
A small bowl or pot
Teaspoon
Paints & paint brush OR colouring pens
DNA part 1
First, Chemical Cress is going to explain what DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) is, and why it is important –
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbEwEdOLgQ[/embedyt]
You may want to try this experiment with someone, either a grown-up, a sibling or someone else in your household.
Can you roll your tongue like Magnetic Maggie? —–>
What colour are your eyes?
Can you wiggle your ears?
Can you make a V sign by putting your first and second finger together, and your third and forth finger together? Like this —–>
Are you a super-taster? Let’s find out!
Take your PTC strip, it has a chemical on it called PTC (Phenylthiocarbamide) which is found in some foods like cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts.
Place the strip on your tongue. Can you taste anything?
75% of the world’s population CAN taste this chemical, and only 25% of the population CAN’T. So if you CAN taste it, that means you are a super taster. But if you can’t that means you are more rare!
All of the things that you just tried are decided by your DNA, so if you aren’t a super-taster, it doesn’t matter, it is just because of your DNA.
DNA part 2
What do you think DNA might look like? It’s too small for us to see without a microscope! It has a shape called a ‘double-helix’ which looks like a twisted ladder. On the steps of the ladder there are some chemicals! Here is Chemical Cress to explain a bit about these chemicals and help you with the next steps-
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbOxPZJXRLQ[/embedyt]
Take one of your pipecleaners and chop it into 3 evenly sized pieces.
Take one of your smaller pieces and wrap it around one of the longer pieces, so it looks like a rung on a ladder, but don’t attach the other end to the other pipe cleaner yet.
Choose a bead to thread on the shorter piece.
Thread on its matching piece, remember red always goes with yellow and blue always goes with green.
When you’ve got a pair, attach the other end to your other long pipe cleaner.
Do this with your other short pieces.
When your ‘ladder’ is complete, gently twist it half way round, it should look a bit like this –
Mucus
Did you know? The scientific word for bogies, or snot, is mucus! Mucus might be a bit gross, but it is a really important part of our immune system, that’s the thing that keeps us healthy and fights off disease. Here is Chemical Cress to tell us what mucus is and why it is so important –
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh0zPQDProo[/embedyt]
Pour your mucus powder into a pot or small bowl.
Add 3 teaspoons of water.
Stir!
Using your spoon, or a stick, slowly stretch some of your “mucus” out of the pot to see how stretchy it is.
Make sure to keep it in the bowl or pot, and away from carpets!
Teeth
For our final experiment, we are going to learn about our teeth, and why we have different types of teeth. If you’ve lost some of your baby teeth, yours might be a little bit different to these! You will need 3 different colours.
Molars – paint/colour 4 at the back on one side and 4 at the back on the other side.
Molars are for grinding and mashing food ready for eating. There is a kind of molar called premolars which are smaller and have more force for breaking hard stuff but you only get them when you are an adult. Children only have 8 molars in total (2 on each side) and children’s molars are bigger because there are less of them so that there will be enough space for when the adult molars arrive.
Canines – using a different colour – paint/colour the 2 pointy teeth.
Canines are used for ripping and tearing tougher food like meat.
Incisors – using a different colour – paint/colour the 4 front teeth.
Incisors are like a pair of scissors, we use them for cutting and biting bits off our food to make it easier to eat!
In you kit you should have:
