Science Experiment

Week 1 of our science lessons was entitled "What Scientists Do". One of the things we learned about was science experiments. We did our own science experiment to determine if adding salt to water would make a difference in floatation. 

We added 10 heaping tablespoons of salt to a glass of water. It took a lot of stirring to dissolve that much salt!

 

The girls were surprised to discover the egg in the salt water floated, while the egg in the freshwater sank. 

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

This was my first attempt at making laundry detergent. It was surprisingly easy!

Ingredients:
4 c hot water
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
1 c Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 c Borax

You'll also need:
Grater
5 gallon bucket with a lid (can be purchased at any home improvement store. I used an empty kitty litter pail)
Long-handled stirring utensil- not wooden (I used grill tongs)
Empty plastic laundry detergent container

Yield: 10 gallons laundry detergent

1. Grate bar soap. This took less than 5 minutes.
    Helpful hint: the smaller you grate the soap, the faster it melts.

2. Add soap to hot water, stir constantly over medium-low heat until the soap is completely dissolved, remove from heat. This took about 15 minutes. Next time I will grate the soap into smaller pieces.

3. Fill 5-gallon bucket with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot tap water and stir.



4. Cover and let sit overnight.

5. The detergent will become gel over night. Stir vigorously until gel is broken up enough to pour the liquid. Fill laundry soap container half full with detergent. Fill the rest of the way with tap water. Shake before each use. Store bucket of remaining detergent in a cool place.

Use 5/8 c of detergent per load for a top-load washer. (makes approx. 180 loads)
Use 1/4 c of detergent per load for a front-load washer. (makes approx. 640 loads)


In my family of 5, we have a lot of laundry! This batch of detergent cost less than $3.00 to make and will last my family about 3 months. That's only $1.00 per month for laundry detergent! Now that's stretching a buck!!

New adventure

Monday June 6th, 2011 marks the beginning of our life as a homeschooling family. Caia and Allie are very excited to get started! Our first week we will be learning about the Vikings and Leif Ericsson, the Pledge of Allegiance, Science Overview, Map Overview, Place Value, the Color Wheel and other fun things. We will also be creating a timeline to which we will add the historical events we study this year.