3 STEM experiments high school students can try at home

High school students are often ready to take up new and exciting projects that not only further their learning process but also give them real-life, hands-on experience on areas that help in career growth. Various science experiments which can be easily conducted at home can go a long way in enhancing their life skills as well as furthering their career goals. These are advanced versions of what students have done in their middle-school. Encourage your high school student to carry out these science experiments by following safety measures. However, you need to monitor your kids while they are busy experimenting.  We are here with a list of few such easy-to-carry-out home experiments for high school students.  

Measuring calories in food

In order to determine how nutritionists count the calories in our favourite food items, high school students can build a calorimeter of their own with the help of a few tools and basic math. All they need is some aluminum foil, digital scale, food items like bread and cake slices, matchsticks and two pre-drilled cans with the larger can without its lid or simply buy a DIY calorimeter kit online and see the magic of thermodynamics. The different size of the cans allows effective heat/energy transfer from one can to another, all as the result of chemical reaction of burning food, revealing how much calories each food has. 

Detecting invisible fingerprints

A high school student who is equally interested in Chemistry and Biology, will find the experiment of finding latent fingerprints thrilling. A part of forensic science, this is one of the easiest yet compelling science experiments that exists. Just like forensic scientists find invisible fingerprints from the crime scene, a high school student can detect a hidden fingerprint by performing a simple procedure. All they have to do is take some iodine in a tube and leave its lid on, so that the iodine can evaporate. When the iodine has only left behind a crystallized form, it’s time to take the tube near a burning flame and then gradually let it sublimate. Now, a finger needs to be pressed on a piece of white paper, which needs to be inserted inside the tube. Once this is done, the sublimized iodine detects the invisible fingerprints. 

 Boiling water in a paper cup

Logic tells us not to take any paper-made thing near fire. But physics can defy this logic by making it possible to boil water in a paper cup, without burning the cup. This is a simple way to learn about heat transfer and thermal conductivity. During the experiment, instead of lighting the burner first, a paper cup needs to be placed on top of the oven and water should be poured into it. Now, as soon as the burner is lighted, the water quickly consumes the heat from the cup’s surface and doesn’t let the paper heat up enough to ignite.