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Easy Science for Kids: The Lemon Battery

We always love to find easy science experiments that we can do at home!

And when I mean easy, I’m talking the quick set-up with very few items type of science 🙂

Those types of experiments seem to be plentiful when you’re studying botany/nature (like our How does a Leaf Breathe? experiment) or physics (see this Does your Food Float? activity).

But if you want to do a little chemistry with the kids, finding a simple project can be more of a challenge so today’s Lemon Battery experiment is one of those pleasant surprises!

 

 

Easy Science for Kids: The Lemon Battery

STEM is a BIG thing at our house — mainly because I don’t think the kids get enough of an opportunity at school to learn everything they really need to know in this area.  So many careers are in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) areas that we feel it’s important to introduce our kids (along with any friends who visit 😉 to new ways to learn and explore these concepts.

Today we’re working with Green Works, a company looking for unique and fun ways to continue inspiring young girls to pursue a career in science.

Did you know that only 1 in every 1,000 girls pursuing STEM careers?!!  Shocking!

 

 easy science for kids: lemon battery

One of the things I really love about the StemBox is that everything you need (except the lemons which you can easily grab at the store) is included!  These boxes are perfect to give as birthday gifts (giving experiences not things is our motto) and also fun to have on hand for those busy times of the year.

AND the items that come with the kit can be reused with other experiments (another big plus!)

In each box, you’ll find the following:

LED Bulbs (we had green, white and red)
Alligator Clips
Zinc Nails
Copper Wire
Goggles (that fit a kid!)
Gloves (again, that are fit to kid-sized hands)
Instructions Page
A fun Pin your daughter can wear or put on her backpack
Green Works Wipes which are perfect for cleaning up after the experiment
Mini Clock
Sheet of cool science symbols
And a STEM Sticker

 

easy science for kids - make a lemon battery

First up with any project – lay out all your supplies to be sure you have everything you need.  Then have the KIDS read the DIRECTIONS 🙂

Feel free to read along with them but it’s important with projects like this that they take the lead — and if they need to read through them twice, that’s fine too.

 

easy science for kids - make a lemon battery

Here’s one of the things we loved about the box — gloves that fit a girl!  That was the first thing my daughter said when she put them on “Mom!  These gloves it nice! They fit better than the ones we get at the store.”  I

The girls will need to roll the lemons to make them nice and juicy — and they really smell lemon-y when you do this!

 

easy science for kids - make a lemon battery

The kit include copper wires and metal nails that need to be inserted into the lemons. 

This is really a self-guided activity — the girls can do everything on their own!  Plus, they will learn some great vocabulary that fits with the chemistry and materials used in the experiment.

 

easy science for kids - make a lemon battery

Basically, the goal is to create a circuit with the lemons acting as a ‘juice’ (yes, I did just go there 😉 to power the LED lights and mini digital clock that are sent in the kit.  So in addition to talking about the chemistry (anode, cathode, electrolyte — all of this is on the instruction sheet), you’ll also be discussing the basic idea of a power circuit.

 

easy science for kids - make a lemon battery

Once all the alligator clips were connected, the last 2 clips are used to power on the LED lights — go green!  Just being able to experiment with items like copper wires and alligator clips is a cool thing for kids.

 

easy science for kids - make a lemon battery

Also included in the kit is a digital clock that can be inserted into the lemon and powered. 

Our next experiment is to see how many hours one lemon will actually power the clock!

 

 easy science in a box: lemon battery experiment

The StemBox has a wonderful introductory note inside and the instructions are very detailed with illustrated set-up for the entire experiment.  There’s also additional challenges offered along with a link to a video tutorial for the experiment.

Stem Boxes are designed to be fun and engaging for girls ages 7 to 13.  They have a variety of subscriptions too – we like to get the 3 month subscriptions and use them during holiday breaks or over the summer:

Month to month = $36
3 month pre-pay = $28
6 month pre-pay = $170

And I LOVE that a portion of proceeds from each March Green Works StemBox subscription will be donated to AAUW, The American Association of University Women, to continue their work of empowering women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research. 

If you’d like to learn more about Green works and its continued support of Girls in STEM visit GreenWorksCleaners.com.

 

 

MORE SIMPLE SCIENCE FOR KIDS

Looking for more fun science experiments?  Try these!

Dissecting a Flower

12 Citizen Science Projects for Kids

20 Science Experiments you can do in a Jar

 

 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Green Works . The opinions and text are all mine.