Science Buddies Blog

"Elemental" Essay Contest

March 31, 2011 7:14 AM

What's your Periodic Table style? Do you like things: light (He)? with a bit of patina (Cu)? on the salty side (Na)? noxious (N)? fire-retardant (Br)? metallic (In)? radioactive (Pu)? With 118 elements on the Periodic Table, there is something for everyone and plenty of chemical reactions to go around. If you have something to say about one of the six elements listed above, you should put your thoughts on paper and enter Nature Chemistry's essay competition, part of… Read more

Second Grader Puts Squanto's Advice to the Test

March 24, 2011 12:59 PM

McCray, a 2nd grader at Piney Grove Elementary in North Carolina, won 2nd place with his "Which Fertilizer Works Best" science project! Science Buddies knows that students are often most successful doing science projects that tie in with an interest or hobby. Students can browse our library of 1,200+ project ideas by area of science (e.g., Biotechnology, Electricity & Electronics, or Energy & Power) or they can use the Topic Selection Wizard. By answering a set of questions, they give… Read more

Birds on the Move

March 21, 2011 10:38 AM

Cedar Waxwing. Source: Wikipedia. Field Scientists Putting Today's Science in the Hands of Students Recent additions to the Science Buddies library of Project Ideas utilize animal movement data from Movebank.org. Among the field scientists who worked on developing these student-accessible explorations with Science Buddies: Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum. You can follow Roland's current research and tracking of "fishers"—6-13 pound… Read more

Did You Do One of These Science Projects?

March 18, 2011 10:30 AM

Share Your Science Project Experience and Be Entered in Our iTunes GiveawayWe are giving away iTunes gift cards! Students who completed one of the projects below could win one of ten $50 iTunes gift cards! To enter our random drawing, students need to complete the following steps by March 21: Make sure you have a free Science Buddies account. (To register for a free… Read more

Programming a Logo

March 15, 2011 8:53 AM

With over 40,000 versions, MIT Media Lab's new logo is computer-driven design. You can see some of the permutations of the algorithmic logo in this video.As anyone interested in (or who dabbles in) computer programming knows, computer programs can be written to perform an infinite array of 'make-life-easier' or 'help-pass-the-time' tasks. Having spent more hours than I should probably admit carefully choosing my launch direction and pull-back strength and sending cute little chubby (albeit… Read more

Watch Science Mom on Mom's Homeroom

March 11, 2011 9:46 AM

Courtney Corda, AKA "Science Mom," appeared in a video segment (Episode 6) of Mom's Homeroom this week with a roundup of great tips for parents whose students are doing science projects or preparing for the school science fair. Walking a group of students through the Give It a Lift with a Lever physics project, Courtney explains that there are six kinds of "simple machines," the lever being one of them. The project, geared for grades 3-6, guides students through the building of a … Read more

Summer Science Programs

March 10, 2011 10:29 AM

Roller coasters? Pinball machine design? Model planes? Stop motion animation? Renewable energy? "Myth-busting" (putting those science stories to the test)? Video game programming? Kite flying? Greenhouse gardening? Cooking? Photography? Medicine? Animal care? Biochemistry? Architecture? Earthquake detection? Wind power? Geo-sciences? Aqueduct and river ways engineering? Robotics? Invisible ink and spies-like-us skills? When it comes to summer science, that's just the tip of the… Read more

DIY Musical Instruments

March 9, 2011 9:02 AM

[Note: The following list of projects appeared in the May 2010 Science Buddies Newsletter. To view the full newsletter, which was all about the science of music, click here. Parents, you'll find great at-home music science projects in that issue as well!] Sometimes, rolling up your sleeves and recreating the wheel really is the best way to understand from the inside out what is happening, how something works, and what the science at hand really means. Patience, ingenuity, and a DIY… Read more

A "Science Mom" Thumbs-Up Science Detectives Series

March 7, 2011 12:43 PM

One mom's view of the value of science-themed chapter books like Doyle and Fossey. Image source: screenshot from video trailer of The Case of the Terrible T. Rex. We love our math and our science and our computers in our house, and when we see a description of a coin launcher made from a toilet paper roll and a piece of leftover balloon, it sticks in our heads until we try it. (Of course, concerned about the relative weight of a coin flying through… Read more

Natalie Portman: A Winning Combination

March 4, 2011 3:42 PM

The President's comments aside, if the big screen is more your game than the Super Bowl, and if you go starry-eyed over the red-carpet, then you might have been watching last week as Natalie Portman (making style lists for her purple dress, as well) took home the golden statue for her lead role in Black Swan, a thriller with an obsessed ballerina, and a production of the classic Swan Lake, at its dark heart. You may not have seen Black Swan (rated R), but you probably know Portman's… Read more

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