The Sandpaper Test
You will need the help of a grown-up or older brother or sister to help you with the following kids science activities, especially with the sandpaper.
Materials:
3 small pieces of rough wood (about 4 inches by 5 inches in size)
3 pieces of sandpaper in different grits
a bowl of hot water
a cube of ice
a fleece blanket
Instructions:
Ask the grown up to sand down one side of each of the pieces of wood, using a different piece of sandpaper.
While the adult is doing that touch the fleece blanket and rub your fingers on it. What do you notice?
Next, hold the cube of ice. Let go when it gets too cold! What do you notice?
Next, touch the bowl of hot water to warm your hands. What do you notice?
If the adult is done sanding the wood, rub your fingers along each piece of wood. What do you notice?
Concept Explanation
The sense of touch is very sensitive. These kids science activities show us how sensitive our sense of touch is through the many different feelings our fingers get when it touches the different objects. The fleece blanket should feel soft and smooth. The ice cube should feel cold and hard and after a while, it will be too cold! Ice can feel smooth or rough, depending on how it was frozen. Hot water will warm your cold hands, but after a while it will be too hot. The limits for what is too hot and too cold changes per person. Do these kids science activities with your friends and compare to how long you can hold the ice or the bowl of water. You will find that each of you will hold it for different amounts of time.
Finally the sandpaper test. This test really shows us the sensitivity of touch. You should have noticed that each piece of wood will be of a different smoothness because of the different grits of sandpaper used to sand each one. The fleece blanket was also smooth, but different from how the wood is smooth!
