Experiment with rubbish

Science at home

Discover fun and educational science experiments you can do at home using everyday rubbish and recycled materials! Turn trash into treasure with hands-on activities that inspire creativity, learning, and sustainability for the whole family.

Elephant Tube

Sound like an elephant with just some garbage!

Materials needed:

Strong tube + Rubber glove + Scissors + Tape + Straw

Step one

Stretch the glove over the end of the tube so that only the thumb part is sticking up.

Step two

Tape your glove to the tube then cut the tip off the thumb part of the glove.

Step three

Tape the straw inside the thumb opening. Stretch the thumb to the side, so that it is at over the edge of the tube, and blow through the straw.

Exploring with your elephant tube

Ideas to try
  • This bit can be a bit tricky so make sure to keep practicing if it doesn’t work the first time, eventually you’ll get it sounding like an elephant.
  • Try experimenting with different sized tubes. Does the pitch of the sound get lower or higher? Can you figure out why?
  • If you find one tube that can fit in another, get a friend to move it up and down while you play. How does the sound change? Can you find out why?
  • Try different materials and see if they make different sounds.

Musical Cups

Experiment with instruments as you explore how strings make sounds!

Materials needed:

A cylinder with one open end, a cup is easiest to start with + String + Sharp pencil + Damp fabric

Step one

Carefully poke a small hole in the bottom of your cup with the sharp pencil. Push the string through the hole. Make sure the hole is not too big.

Step two

Tie a few knots on top of each other on the side that is in the cup.

Step three

Get a damp piece of fabric and drag it down the string.

Exploring with your musical cups

Ideas to try
  • You can make these with any cylinder with one open end and something that can vibrate attached to the base.
  • Experiment with different size and material ‘cups’ like buckets or tins with an adult's help. How does the size change the sound? How does the material change the sound?
  • Try using different kinds of strings, or even other things that can vibrate like slinkies. How do different things change the sound?

Catapult

Explore historical engineering with these simple catapults!

Catapult materials:

Nine paddlepop sticks + five rubber bands or tape + one spoon + light item to launch, like a ping pong ball or pom pom.

Step one

Bunch 7 paddle pop sticks in a stack and hold them together with rubber bands on either end.

Step two

Connect the other paddle pop sticks together at one end with a rubber band, then wedge the stack between them and hold in place with a rubber band.

Step three

Slide the end of the spoon under the rubber band in the middle and wrap another rubber band around it at the top of the paddle pop stick.

Exploring with your catapult

Ideas to try
  • Test fire, just make sure to always aim away from people. Even though we only launch light things, it could still hurt someone if it gets in their eye.
  • Make changes to your catapult, one at a time, and see what happens differently. You can try:
    • Making the catapult arm longer or shorter,
    • Making the angle steeper or shallower,
    • Making different parts of the catapult heavier or lighter,
    • Making a similar catapult with different materials,
    • Anything else you can imagine. 
  • Set up something to aim for and try some catapult Challenge your friends and see who can get the most shots in the shortest time, or who can get their catapult to launch the ball in the hoop from furthest away.
  • Can you imagine some other games you might be able to make with catapults? Could you play catapult lawn bowls? What about catapult mini golf with obstacles?

Air cannons

Investigate air with these rubbish air cannons!

Air cannons materials:

Cup + Balloon + Tape + Scissors + Sharp pencil

Step one

Carefully poke a hole in the bottom of the cup with your pencil. For this one you want to poke right through so the hole is as wide as the pencil.

Step two

Tie a knot in the balloon, cut off the top third. To deflate used balloons, tape the top and poke a small hole through the tape with a skewer.

Step three

Stretch the remaining balloon end over the cup's opening, tape it securely. Pull the knot back and release to launch your air cannon.

Exploring with your air cannon

  • Anything stretchy that air can’t get through can help to make one of these. What other materials could you use, instead of a balloon?
  • Can you make bigger air cannons?
  • Try making some targets to aim at. Try making things that fall or sway. How well can your air cannons move them?

On the lands that we study, we walk, and we live, we acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians and cultural knowledge holders of these lands.

Enter