Experiments Taken from Creation Anatomy: A Study Guide to the Body by Felice Gerwitz and Jill Whitlock
1. Squeeze a tennis ball. The force needed to squeeze a tennis ball is like the force needed to squeeze blood out of the heart. Measure your child’s pulse rate (for example, sixty-six times per minute.) Squeeze the tennis ball that amount of times. Can you imagine how hard your heart works in one hour? One day?
2. Has your child (or you!) had a cut or scraped knee lately? The next time you do, observe the injury. What happens to the wound once the bleeding is stopped? How long does it take to clot or for a scab to form? Why does this happen?
3. Observe how uniquely God made us by fingerprinting each child.
a. Make a pencil smudge by shading a two-inch square until there is a layer of graphite.
b. Next have your child rub his index finger into the graphite
c. And then place a piece of clear tape over the darkened finger.
d. Remove the tape
e. Stick it on a sheet of typing paper.
f. Repeat this process until all the fingers are done.
g. Observe the patterns with a magnifying glass. Have several children do this activity. Are any of the
prints the same?
4. Demonstrate osmosis of a cell membrane (a semi-permeable barrier).
a. Put two tablespoons of cornstarch into a small sandwich baggie and mix it with water until the bag will sink in a small beaker of water.
b. Put a twisty tie on the baggie and place it into a beaker making sure it is above the water level (so that water won’t seep in).
c. Add a few drops of iodine to the water turning it a pale brownish color.
d. Leave overnight.
e. Observe the effects on the cornstarch mixture.
i. Why did this happen?
ii. Why didn’t the water change color?
iii. How could evolution explain the complexity of cells to allow certain molecules, such as water, free passage through the cell membrane, while other substances, such as proteins, can only pass through at a certain site? (How the Body Works).
5. Study the art of fingerprinting. How did this practice begin? When was it discovered to be an effective means of identification? What is the latest trend in identification? (eyes) What steps are being taken in various forms of identification?
6. Take a glass of water and add several teaspoons of salt to it. What happens? (This is an example of a decomposition reaction. The water molecules break the bonding of the salt crystals into sodium and chlorine ions.) Continue to add salt, a teaspoon at a time, until no more salt will dissolve. Keep track of how many teaspoons you have added. Now heat the solution. Can you add more salt? Record how much salt you added in all. Let the water evaporate and observe. What happened and why?
Felice Gerwitz has lectured extensively on the topic of science fairs. She is an award winning author and her book “An Insider’s Guide to Successful Science Fair Projects” was chosen book of the month by God’s World Publishing.
