We’re producing short daily videos (3-5 minutes in length) of experiments that students can do at home using everyday materials. We will post these on our website and use on social media for the period while schools are closed. We welcome guest presenters, including scientists, teachers or students! No video editing skills are required, we can help with that.
Just follow the steps below and upload your file to our submissions page. We’ll take care of the rest!
We also welcome photos or videos of students trying our experiments at home!
Audience: students in grades 3-8, plus parents and teachers
Before you record:
- Please wear a plain shirt (no large logos), small patterns are OK. If you work for a science company, it’s fine to wear a shirt with your company logo!
- Locate a tripod to hold your phone still. In a pinch, you can also lean your phone against a cabinet, pile of books, etc.
- Turn your phone sideways so that the video will be taken landscape-style (not up and down)
- Eliminate as much background noise as possible.
- Have all of your materials pre-arranged on a surface such as a table or counter. Take a 3-5 second video of the overall setup before you begin so that all materials are showing.
Video Outline
Press record and then stand back and count to 5 before you begin. Please follow the following video outline when recording for this project:
- Intro animation (to be added at the beginning of your video by Learning Undefeated)
- Introduce yourself
SAMPLE: Hi, I am [name, title, organization], and I am a guest scientist for Learning Undefeated’s At Home Science Experiment of the Day.
- Introduce the activity
SAMPLE: Today, we are going to be doing an experiment called [experiment name and brief description]. By doing this experiment, you will learn [1-3 learning objectives. These don’t have to be complicated but should help the kids understand what they will be learning].
- Introduce the materials
SAMPLE: In order to complete this experiment, you need the following everyday materials:
- Name each material and hold it up to the camera individually.
- Perform the experiment
- Narrate each step as you go along, making sure that the camera can easily see what you are doing.
- Sometimes, a top-down shot will help students see what you are doing (think using a doc cam in your lab). If you need a top-down shot, get a friend or co-worker to shoot some video of you doing the experiment a second time, after you have completed the face-on video.
- Congratulate the student and wrap up.
- SAMPLE: Great job! By doing this experiment you learned [reiterate learning objectives].
- Learning Undefeated has lots of other cool science activity ideas; visit us at learningundefeated.org/athomescience !
Questions? Contact Kate Muma for help!