Make a Lemon Juice Battery   

Create Your Own Electricity ... and commit an illegal act. Says who? Says the Central Electricity Act of India 1948! According to this act individuals, communities and organisations cannot generate or distribute their own electricity in India.

Materials

• A nice juicy lemon
• A plate of zinc and a plate of copper (coins, nails of the same will do, if neither are available, then you can also proceed with two different metals like an aluminum foil and steel
• Electrical alligator clips
• An electric meter

Method

• Stick the zinc plate on one side of the lemon and the copper one on the other side. (Note, the two shouldn't touch) Your battery is ready for testing.
• Connect the clips to the meter and you will see that a faint current is passing through it.

You can also...

increase power of the battery you have made as it won't be powerful enough to light a bulb. You can take a number of lemons and connect them together, as shown in the figure. After that, connect them to an LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulb which consumes less electricity.

You can carry out this experiment using different metals and you'll see that different combinations produce different voltages.

     Design Project    

Design your own green, clean vehicle

Get your designers hat on and start creating your ideal vehicle – car, bus, non-motorised, flying carpet...whatever. Remember the criteria is to create a ‘green’ transportion mode that is non-polluting, safe and emissions free. You’ll need the creativity of a designer, the imagination of an inventor and the skills of an engineer. Send us your design of a futuristic vehicle, that you could be using in 2025 - drawings, explanations and all.
 

   Do-it-yourself   

Build a Solar Cooker

Insulated Box

1.  Draw the outline of the reflector segment and cut the 4 cardboard segments.

   
    

2. Spread the glue evenly over the cardboard segments and cover them with Aluminum foil with the shiny side up. Avoid wrinkles and creases as this would decrease the efficiency of the reflector.

   
                                                        
    

3. Arrange the panels keeping a 2mm space between them as shown above. The wide sections alternating with the narrow sections. Use a duct tape to join them. Flip the panel on the other side and reinforce the joint.

Insulated Box

1. Fasten the cardboard to the bottom of the reflector by its flaps using the duct tape. Be sure the box is centered.

                                               

2. Shred some newspaper and put it into the gaps between the box and the reflector.

Baking Chamber

1. In a plastic container mix black tempera paint with one teaspoon of white glue and two teaspoons of water.

   

2. Apply two coats of this black paint evenly over the inside of the aluminium foil loaf tin and set it aside to dry.
3. Find painted tins that fit exactly in your baking chamber.

Test It

1. Preheat the painted tins inside the solar cooker before cooking with them.
2. Place the baking chamber into the bottom of the reflector.
3. Prop up the reflector with the help of bricks etc to keep it at right angle to trap more heat from the sun.

   

Your dishes are ready !!!

www.solarshopee.com/solar/some_recipes.htm
Dr Ashok Kundapur on Solar cooker
http://ashokk_3.tripod.com

    Make your own toy!!!    

What if all the toys shops disappeared, what would you do? Earlier children used to make their own toys with materials available around them. There are many things lying around your house that can be used to make simple toys. So just switch off your television and put on your thinking cap. Here are a few ideas for you!

     Matchbox Rattle    

Things you need: A thin bamboo stick Two empty matchboxes A pen-knife Few pebbles Get set go!

1. Split the thin bamboo stick into with the help of a pen-knife.
2. Insert the two split ends into the depression in each of the two matchboxes.
3. Place a few tiny pebbles inside the matchboxes.
4. Shake the toy and you can hear the rattling sound.

     Yo-Yo   

Things you need: Two circular pieces of thick cardboard (15cm in diamter) A small pencil stub A piece of thread (50cm long)

1. Make a hole in the centre of each disc.
2. Fix the pencil between the two cardboard disc as shown in the diagram. The distance between the discs should be around 2 cm.
3. Tie the thread to the pencil and wind it as shown in the diagram.
4. After tying the thread hold the free end of the thread in one hand.
5. Let the reel go down. As soon as it reaches give it a slight jerk when it almost reaches the end of the thread.
6. The reel winds and unwinds itself – and your new toy is ready!